ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 18 June 2019 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20170009676 APPLICANT REQUESTS: reconsideration of his earlier request for award of the Combat Infantryman Badge. APPLICANT'S SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS CONSIDERED BY THE BOARD: * DD Form 149 (Application for Correction of Military Record) * Congressional correspondence * Self-authored letters FACTS: 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 AR2015--19056, on 11 May 2017. 2. The applicant states that the Army incorrectly concluded that a Combat Infantryman Badge was not earned although he served as an 11B (Light Weapons Infantryman) on Infantry Track A28. He was assigned to A Troop, 2nd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 12 December 1967. He never worked as a Turret mechanic when he got to A Troop. He was in Texas in an Artillery Unit as a TM (military occupational specialty (MOS) 45G and he was sent to the 2nd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment Of Dragoons in Texas as they were shipping out and given instantly a few days leave to go home and say goodbye to his pregnant wife. When he returned, he was sent to qualify on Auto Weapons, flown to San Francisco. He adds: a. He recently noticed on his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) that came along with his SS documents that although it says in box 4 "Infantry": and in box 23a "11B10," there is no Combat Infantryman badge listed. He was in the Infantry in the 2/1 Cav in Vietnam in both A Troop and B Troop serving on the Infantry tracks which are designated as Infantry tracks by ending in 8, i.e., A28 and B18. His platoon leader in A Troop, Lieutenant Jones at that time told him that he was eligible and entitled for it, and he never gave it any other thought. b. It was soon after being told that when he was transferred to B Troop where he was also on the line in the Infantry. Although he was trained and brought in to the cavalry as a Turret Mechanic the cavalry already had 2 Turret Mechanics so he was sent almost immediately to the line platoons as an 11 Bravo where he went on all the ambush and night patrols, was sniped at, walked through the mine fields and in front of the tanks and took part in repelling the convoy ambush on highway 19. He thinks that occurred in November 1967 and was written about in Camp Enari's Newspaper the IVY LEAF under the article headlined Blackhawks Foil NVA Ambush. He was never in Camp Enari except to process out and he was rarely in the Firebase. He was always out in the field. For his tour, he performed all the duties as an Infantryman that every other 11 Bravo did. He presumed it was in his record. 3. The applicant provides a statement wherein states: a. He has waited as suggested well over a year and he has yet to hear from anyone. If this information helps clarify where and what he did when he served in Vietnam, maybe it might move things along. He was taken out of a Mechanized Artillery company while in Fort Hood, TX, where he served as a turret mechanic and transferred along with Lieutenant Taylor to the 2nd Squadron, 1st cavalry. Lieutenant Taylor was KIA (killed in action) later on while serving with an Airborne Company. He was given a week leave and when he returned the unit shipped out within a day or two to San Francisco where they boarded a ship that took us to Qui Nhon in September 1967. b. There, he was flown ahead of the troops to camp Enari outside of Pleiku. The first or second night he was placed to guard the Motor Pool with an unloaded weapon, the executive officer came up to him and recognizing him he saluted him. He became very upset with him for doing this. No one had ever given him any tips on not saluting officers etc. He never took into account that he had no training whatsoever in anything and this started him off on his bad foot. The troop had 2 other Turret Mechanics and not needing him, they sent him into the field with Headquarters. Three days out in the field a loutish Sergeant Johnson came up to him and said "Get your sh--- R___, you're going to the Infantry." He said it in a nasty way that led the applicant to believe it was the worst thing that could ever happen to him. The thought of it had no effect on him. Although he had no training in infantry other than basic training, he was an expert shot and he had hunted all of his life with his family so he really didn't have a fear of not intuitively knowing what to do and when. His secondary MOS was listed as 11 Bravo at that time. c. He was sent to the Infantry track where Sergeant X__ sent him and Private First Class (PFC) Xa___ out on every ambush patrol. It became a platoon joke where Sergeant X__ would ask over the radio "28, who else are you sending for the patrol tonight besides "Romeo and Juliette?" (X and X X__ and X__). Whenever a patrol was to be sent out, some of the other Infantrymen would be rotated and given turns, but never he. He never complained about being sent out, but it did start to take a toll on PFC X__. As a matter of fact, the applicant became aware of the stress on some other members of the platoon, including Sergeant X__ himself. d. In the last few years, he found a few of his old comrades when someone told him to go on line and check out the website for his old Cavalry unit. One in particular was Richard X__ who was with him in A troop and was the driver of the Infantry track. He would tell the Board that he (the applicant) was singled out constantly and sent out on every patrol. When out on some mission if the Platoon leader called for boots on the ground, Sergeant X__ would always say "Infantry Dismount'' and leave two or three people remaining on the track, but again, he (the applicant) was never one of those. e. He was transferred out to B Troop right around Christmas and was sent home on an emergency leave. When he returned to B Troop, he was again stationed in the Infantry track, B18, as an 11 Bravo. He was however sometimes sent over to sit in as a temporary gunner on one of the tanks while a gunner was on a 3 day R&R. This happened two or three times when his platoon leader found that he was trained as a turret mechanic and so he would know how to operate all the weapon systems in the tank. Other than that he remained and served as an 11 Bravo. f. As a matter of fact, he was the point man on an ambush patrol the very last night he spent in the field before being sent to Camp Enari and transferring out of the Army. He never checked what was on his file. To him, they were all meaningless letters and he gave them no notice. He just wanted to get home to his young wife and his infant daughter. He never had to wear his uniform again since he was from New York City and with so many people joining the Guard, he did not have to attend. He moved to Houston a year later and again, he never had to attend any reserve duty or meetings so the matter of any citations or medals was the furthest thing from his mind. As he stated, none of the ribbons or citations meant anything to him, but that one Combat Infantryman Badge. It said what he did, that he showed up and that he was there. 4. Review of the applicant's service record a. He was inducted into the Army of the United States on 8 September 1966. He completed the 9-week Turret Maintenance Course and he was awarded MOS 45G (Turret Maintenance Specialist) on 11 March 1967. b. Following completion of MOS training, he was reassigned to the 2nd Squadron, 1st cavalry Regiment at Fort Hood, TX, in MOS 45G. c. He served in Vietnam from 10 August 1967 to 21 August 1968. He was assigned to the 2nd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, as follows: * 10 August to 22 December 1967, A Troop, duty MOS 45G * 23 December 1967 to 29 August 1968, B Troop, duty MOS 11B d. He was honorably released from active duty on 1 September 1968. His DD Form 214 show she completed 1 year, 11 months, and 24 days of active service, of which 1 year and 22 days was foreign service. It also show she was awarded or authorized: * NDSM - National Defense Service Medal * VCM - Vietnam Campaign Medal * MKM (M-14) - Marksman Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Rifle Bar (M-14) * EXP (M-16) - Expert marksmanship Qualification Badge with Rifle Bar (M-16) * 2 OD bars - 2 overseas service bars 5. By regulation (AR 600-8-22 - Military Awards), there three requirements for award of the Combat Infantryman Badge: * the Soldier must be an infantryman satisfactorily performing infantry duties * the Soldier must be assigned to an infantry unit during such time as the unit is engaged in active ground combat * the Soldier must actively participate in such ground combat BOARD DISCUSSION: After reviewing the application and all supporting documents, the Board found the relief was warranted. The applicant’s contentions were carefully considered. He was awarded PMOS 11B on 30 November 1967 while assigned to a Calvary unit. After a preponderance of evidence, the Board agreed he most likely than not was involved in CIB qualifying incidents as early as when his MOS was awarded. The Board agreed to award him the CIB on 30 November 1967. BOARD VOTE: Mbr 1 Mbr 2 Mbr 3 X X X GRANT FULL RELIEF : : : GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF : : : GRANT FORMAL HEARING : : : DENY APPLICATION BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION: The Board determined the evidence presented is sufficient to warrant a recommendation for relief. As a result, the Board recommends that all Department of Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by amending the applicant’s DD Form 214 by awarding and adding the Combat Infantryman Badge. 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. REFERENCES: 1. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides for award of the Combat Infantryman Badge. There are basically three requirements for award of the Combat Infantryman Badge. The Soldier must be an infantryman satisfactorily performing infantry duties, he must be assigned to an infantry unit during such time as the unit is engaged in active ground combat, and he must actively participate in such ground combat. Specific requirements state, in effect, that an Army enlisted Soldier must have an infantry or special forces specialty and must have satisfactorily performed duty while assigned or attached as a member of an infantry, ranger, or special forces unit of brigade, regimental, or smaller size during any period such unit was engaged in active ground combat. 2. U.S. Army Vietnam (USARV) Regulation 672-1 (Awards and Decorations) governed award of the Combat Infantryman Badge to Army forces operating in South Vietnam. This regulation stated: a. The criteria for award of the Combat Infantryman Badge identified the man who trained, lived, and fought as an infantryman and that the Combat Infantryman Badge was the unique award established to recognize the infantryman and only the infantryman for his service. Further, "the Combat Infantryman Badge is not an award for being shot at or for undergoing the hazards of day to day combat." This regulation also stated the Combat Infantryman Badge was authorized for award to infantry officers, to enlisted personnel, and to warrant officers who had an infantry specialty/military occupational specialty and required that they must have served in active ground combat while assigned or attached to an infantry unit of brigade, regimental or smaller size. b. Appendix V of USARV Regulation 672-1 states that during the Vietnam era the Combat Infantryman Badge was awarded only to enlisted individuals who held and served in MOS 11B, 11C, 11D, 11F, 11G, or 11H . ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20170009676 2 1