IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 22 August 2018 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20170000434 BOARD VOTE: _________ _______ ________ GRANT FULL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING ___x____ ___x____ ____x___ DENY APPLICATION 2 Enclosures 1. Board Determination/Recommendation 2. Evidence and Consideration IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 22 August 2018 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20170000434 BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION: The evidence presented does not demonstrate the existence of a probable error or injustice. Therefore, the Board determined the overall merits of this case are insufficient as a basis for correction of the records of the individual concerned. ___________x______________ CHAIRPERSON I certify that herein is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in this case. IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 22 August 2018 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20170000434 THE BOARD CONSIDERED THE FOLLOWING EVIDENCE: 1. Application for correction of military records (with supporting documents provided, if any). 2. Military Personnel Records and advisory opinions (if any). THE APPLICANT'S REQUEST, STATEMENT, AND EVIDENCE: 1. The applicant, the brother of a deceased former service member (FSM), requests reconsideration of his previous request for the FSM to be awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge and the Bronze Star Medal (2nd Award). 2. The applicant states: a. For the past ten or twelve years the Board has used the ill-gotten terminology of "they (the 7th Material Squadron 5th Air Base Group) have never been shown to have been assigned to any infantry "Table of Organization." b. With recently released formerly secret and classified Bataan files to the public, he has found a "Table of Organization" that shows the 7th Material Squadron 5th Air Base Group was attached to the 1st Battalion, Air Corps Provisional Regiment. This material also shows Lieutenant Colonel Irwin E. DXXXX, Infantry, was given command of the Provisional Air Corps Regiment, replacing recently promoted Colonel RXXXX who moved to the rear when promoted. Therefore, it was on 28 January 1942, that the men of the Regiment were placed directly under the command of an infantry officer, and thus shown on the "Table of Organization" for that unit. c. Recently he had a lengthy visit with a friend who is a retired West Point Graduate Infantry Colonel. He proposed a scenario where he would be serving as an Infantry Colonel and his commanding officer ordered him to take over a certain unit. Would he not develop, or have access to a "Table of Organization" for the unit? His answer was "the Army has a "Table of Organization" for every unit". "The new Commanding Officer is not the one who develops the "Table of Organization." d. In addition, he explained to the colonel, that he has been trying to obtain the Combat Infantryman Badge for his brother, and that the Board has denied his request using the "Table of Organization" and the military occupational specialty as an excuse for denial. The colonel stated, presumably based upon his military education and length of service, that "there are only two requirements for receiving the Combat Infantryman Badge and they are, you must have served in combat and to have been shot at least once by the enemy." 3. The applicant provides a 5 page personal statement that includes a summary of another Soldier's service history. CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE: 1. Incorporated herein by reference are military records which were summarized in the previous consideration of the applicant's case by the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) in Docket Number AR20140007692 on 15 July 2014 and AR 20140015370 on 5 May 2015. 2. The applicant provides new evidence which warrants consideration by the Board in the form of the reference to another Soldier who also served in same unit as the FSM. 3. It is believed that the applicant's military records were lost or destroyed in the National Personnel Records Center fire of 1973. Information herein was obtained from reconstructed personnel records and documents provided by the applicant. 4. On 10 April 2012, in response to a request from the applicant to obtain all awards and decorations to which the FSM was entitled, the Awards and Decorations Branch within HRC stated they were unable to verify the FSM's entitlement to the Combat Infantryman Badge and a second Bronze Star Medal (awarded based on the Combat Infantryman Badge). They were not able to find any documentation which clearly showed the FSM held an infantry military occupational specialty or was assigned to an infantry unit performing infantry duties, as is required by the governing regulation. REFERENCES: War Department (WO) Circular 269, dated 27 October 1943, established the Expert Infantryman and Combat Infantryman Badges. It was amended by WO Circular 105, dated 18 March 1944, wherein the award of the Combat Infantryman Badge was permitted to be made retroactive to 6 December 1941 (emphasis added) for "any infantryman." WO Circular 269 was later rescinded, in part because the initial guidance provided by WO Circular 269 was not clear enough in defining eligible recipients. a. It stated, "The present war has demonstrated the importance of highly proficient, tough, hard, and aggressive infantry, which can be obtained only by developing a high degree of all-around proficiency on the part of every infantryman. As a means of attaining the high standards desired and to foster esprit de corps in infantry units, the Expert Infantryman and Combat Infantryman badges are established for infantry personnel." (emphasis added). b. It further stated infantrymen, including officers, established eligibility to wear the Combat Infantryman Badge by: (1) Exemplary conduct in action against the enemy, or (2) By satisfactory performance of duty in action against the enemy in a major operation as determined and announced by the theater commander. DISCUSSION: 1. The applicant has not provided any evidence that was not previously of record and he did not provide the alleged Table of Organization upon which he bases his arguments. 2. Further the Table of Organization is not the primary issue. The primary issue is whether the FSM held an infantryman MOS. 3. As has been previously noted in both of the prior decisional documents, the FSM was not an infantryman. He was a member of the Army Air Corps, held an aviation MOS, but was assigned to an infantry command and served with an infantry unit in the defense of Bataan. While he served in an infantry capacity it did not change his official status to infantryman. 4. The criteria statement from the applicant's unnamed friend is incorrect. A Combat Infantryman Badge is in fact component and MOS as well as unit restrictive. The earliest Combat Infantryman Badge regulation states the Combat Infantryman Badge is awarded to infantryman. Later regulations further clarified which Soldiers met the eligibility requirements and designation as being infantryman for the purpose of this award. 5. The fact that another Soldier assigned to the FSM's unit was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge does not in and of itself show entitlement to this award for all members who served in the defense of Bataan or in similar situations. 6. Without award of the Combat Infantryman Badge entitlement to a second Bronze Star Medal cannot established. //NOTHING FOLLOWS// ABCMR Record of Proceedings Enclosure 1 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20170000434 2 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Enclosure 1 ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20170000434 4 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Enclosure 2