ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS BOARD DATE: 15 July 2019 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20180009914 APPLICANT REQUESTS: correction of his DA Form 1 (Morning Report), dated 23 December 1968. APPLICANT'S SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS CONSIDERED BY THE BOARD: * DD Form 149 (Application for Correction of Military Record) * DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) * DA Form 1 FACTS: 1. The applicant did not file within the three year time frame provided in Title 10, United States Code (USC), section 1552 (b); however, the Army Board for Correction of Military Records conducted a substantive review of this case and determined it is in the interest of justice to excuse the applicant's failure to timely file. 2. The applicant states that Company C, 227th Aviation was located at Phuc Vhin. On 23 December 1968, he was at the Rest and Recuperation (R&R) Center of the 1st Cavalry Division in Ahn Khe, waiting for his flight to go on R&R. Ahn Khe was where he was wounded, which means he was not at Company C, 227th Aviation at the Morning Report indicates, which makes the report wrong. 3. A review of the applicant’s service records shows: a. He enlisted in the Regular Army on 15 August 1966. b. He served in Vietnam from on or about 25 August 1967 to on or about 20 March 1969. He was assigned to C Company, 227th Aviation from 9 September 1967 to 20 March 1969. c. DA Form 1, dated 23 December 1968, for C Company, 227th Aviation Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division, shows the Company strength and the duty status of its assigned/attached personnel on that date. The applicant’s duty status is shown as having departed on ordinary leave for 7 days, authorized by the 1st Cavalry Division on 15 December 1958. d. He was honorably released from active duty on 23 March 1969. He was issued a DD Form 214 that captured his active service and listed his last unit of assignment and major commander as C Company, 227th [Aviation], 1st Cavalry Division, U.S. Army Vietnam. 4. By regulation (AR 335-40), the morning report is a document that detailed changes in Soldiers’ status in a unit on the day the change occurred, such as transfers to or from the unit, temporarily duty, leave, promotion or reduction, and other such events. Other important entries included KIA (killed in action), WIA (wounded in action), MIA (missing in action), and AWOL (absent without leave). At the time morning reports are prepared, the reporting unit is shown in block 4 and the parent unit is shown in block 5. Unless the reporting unit was a separate organization in which case the separate unit is considered a parent unit and block 4 is left blank. 5. The Morning Report is a snapshot of a unit’s personnel data as it was at the time the form was produced and it was used as an internal management tool to assist commanders and first sergeants manage their units by supporting strength accountability. The DA Form 1 is no longer active or accessible after a Soldier's discharge, and the form became obsolete shortly after the Vietnam War ended. The ABCMR limits corrective action to documents that can be individually reviewed after a Soldier's separation. The DA Form 1 is not normally accessible by individuals other than the Soldier. BOARD DISCUSSION: After reviewing the application and all supporting documents, the Board found the relief was not warranted. The applicant’s contentions were carefully considered. The ABCMR limits corrective action to documents that can be individually reviewed after a Soldier's separation. Since the DA Form 1 is not normally accessible by individuals other than the Soldier, there is no basis for the Board to correct it. Therefore, the applicant is not entitled to the requested relief. BOARD VOTE: Mbr 1 Mbr 2 Mbr 3 : : : GRANT FULL RELIEF : : : GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF : : : GRANT FORMAL HEARING X :X :X DENY APPLICATION 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. 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. Title 10, USC, section 1552(b), provides that applications for correction of military records must be filed within three years after discovery of the alleged error or injustice. This provision of law also allows the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) to excuse an applicant's failure to timely file within the three-year statute of limitations if the ABCMR determines it would be in the interest of justice to do so. 2. Army Regulation 335-40 governed the preparation of the DA Form 1 (Morning Report). The morning report was a document that detailed changes in Soldiers’ status in a unit on the Army. It was produced every morning for every basic unit of the Army, by the unit clerk, detailing personnel changes for the previous day. It was used from World War II through the end of the Vietnam Conflict when an automated system (SIDPERS) was introduced in the 1970s. It was signed by the unit's commanding officer, and submitted to the appropriate higher administrative unit. It was the source for tabulation of the Army's centralized personnel records. The report detailed changes in the status of soldiers in the unit on the day the change occurred, including for example, transfers to or from the unit, temporarily assignment, leave, promotion or demotion, and other such events. Other authorized notations used on the morning report included familiar abbreviations such as KIA (killed in action), AWOL (absent without leave), WIA (wounded in action), and MIA (missing in action). When a Soldier was transferred to or from another unit, his/her orders specified an effective date of change of strength accountability specifying the exact date that the soldier is counted as leaving one unit and officially joining the other. The morning reports of the respective units would show the Soldier was transferred out, or in, on that date, as the case may be. //NOTHING FOLLOWS// ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20180009914 4 1