IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 12 October 2022 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20220001875 APPLICANT REQUESTS: removal of the DA Forms 4187 (Personnel Action), 1 September 2012 and 3 October 2012, from his Army Military Human Resource Record (AMHRR). APPLICANT'S SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS CONSIDERED BY THE BOARD: * DD Form 149 (Application for Correction of Military Record under the Provisions of Title 10, U.S. Code, Section 1552) * DA Forms 4187, 1 September 2012 and 3 October 2012 FACTS: 1. The applicant did not file within the 3-year time frame provided in Title 10, U.S. Code, section 1552(b); however, the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) 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 he began to review his promotion board file and Interactive Personnel Electronic Records Management System records in preparation for his staff sergeant promotion board on 6 December 2021. He observed that there were two documents listed under the disciplinary section of his file. Those documents were two DA Forms 4187, 1 September 2012 and 3 October 2012, which changed his duty status from present for duty to absent without leave (AWOL) and then back to present for duty. He requests removal of these documents because they are erroneous. He further states: a. On 26 September 2012, he was performing charge of quarters duty for a 24-hour period. The shift ended the morning of 27 September 2012, at which time he was placed on 24 hours of recovery per unit standing operating procedures. When he reported to work following the 24-hour recovery period, he was asked by his supervisor where he was the 2 days prior. b. He was never contacted about his whereabouts or told his duty status had been changed to AWOL. Neither the unit nor his supervisor made any attempt to contact him by phone or at his residence during 26-27 September 2012. They did not launch an inquiry into his whereabouts or annotate the findings of an inquiry on a DA Form 4187 in accordance with Army Regulation 630-10 (Absence Without Leave, Desertion, and Administration of Personnel Involved in Civilian Court Proceedings) prior to changing his duty status to AWOL. He was never counseled on the incident. He never received corrective training or disciplinary action regarding the AWOL. The incident was not reported on his noncommissioned officer evaluation report. c. The DA Forms 4187 were uploaded to his IPERMS in 2018, 6 years after they were signed. The DA Form 4187, 1 September 2012, is signed by a first lieutenant who indicated he was the acting commander in his signature block, but no assumption of command orders are attached authorizing him to change his duty status. In addition, section IV (Remarks) states he was AWOL as of 27 September 2012, but the DA Form 4187 was signed on 1 September 2012, 26 days prior to the date the DA Form 4187 indicates he was AWOL. 3. His duty status was changed from present for duty to AWOL effective 0630, 27 September 2012. The DA Form 4187 states "at 0630 26 September 2012 [Applicant] failed to report to Battery formation at BLDG 7133. On 27 September 2012 [Applicant] is AWOL." The DA Form 4187 is signed by the acting commander and dated 1 September 2012 (presumed to mean on or about 28 September 2012). The DA Form 4187 reflects a date stamp of 29 September 2012 and a Provost Marshal stamp. 4. His duty status was changed from AWOL to present for duty effective 1000, 28 September 2012. The DA Form 4187 states "at 1000 28 September 2012 [Applicant] reported to the Battery formation at BLDG 7133. Change duty status from AWOL to PDY." The DA Form 4187 is signed by the commander and dated 3 October 2012. The DA Form 4187 reflects a date stamp of 4 October 2012. 5. On 1 March 2013, he was honorably released from active duty and transferred to the U.S. Army Reserve Control Group (Reinforcement). Item 29 (Dates of Time Lost This Period) of his DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) does not reflect any lost time during this period. 6. His records do not contain and he did not provide a copy of the charge of quarters schedule. 7. On 27 February 2019, he again enlisted in the Regular Army. BOARD DISCUSSION: 1. After reviewing the application, all supporting documents, and the evidence found within the applicant's military records, the Board found that relief was warranted. The Board carefully considered the applicant's record of service, documents submitted in support of the petition and executed a comprehensive and standard review based on law, policy and regulation, Upon review of the applicants petition available military records the Board determined that the applicant did demonstrated by a preponderance of evidence that procedural error occurred that was prejudicial to the applicant and by a preponderance of evidence that the contents of the DA Forms 4187 (Personnel Action), 1 September 2012 and 3 October 2012, are substantially incorrect and support removal. The applicant provided evidence to support the DA Form 4187 was in error. The Board concluded based on the preponderance of evidence found in the military record the applicant’s claim for removal of the DA Form 4187 is warranted. 2. The purpose of maintaining the Army Military Human Resource Record (AMHRR) is to protect the interests of both the U.S. Army and the Soldier. In this regard, the AMHRR serves to maintain an unbroken, historical record of a Soldier's service, conduct, duty performance, and evaluations, and any corrections to other parts of the AMHRR. Once placed in the AMHRR, the document becomes a permanent part of that file and will not be removed from or moved to another part of the AMHRR unless directed by an appropriate authority. There does appear to be evidence the contested DA Forms 4187 (Personnel Action) was unjust or untrue or inappropriately filed in the applicant's AMHRR. Therefore, relief was granted. 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 the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by removing from his Army Military Human Resource Record (AMHRR) the DA Forms 4187 (Personnel Action), 1 September 2012 and 3 October 2012. 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, U.S. Code, section 1552(b), provides that applications for correction of military records must be filed within 3 years after discovery of the alleged error or injustice. This provision of law also allows the ABCMR to excuse an applicant's failure to timely file within the 3-year statute of limitations if the ABCMR determines it would be in the interest of justice to do so. 2. Army Regulation 600-8-6 (Personnel Accounting and Strength Reporting), 20 May 1994, prescribed the policies and mandatory operating tasks for the personnel accounting and strength reporting function of the Military Personnel System. a. Paragraph 2-2 (Duty Status Codes) stated any time the duty status of a Soldier changes so as to meet the definition of another duty status, a Standard Installation or Division Personnel System transaction is necessary. All duty status changes must be supported by authorizing documentation (for example, DA Form 31 (Request Authority for Leave), DD Form 1610 (Request and Authorization for Temporary Duty Travel of Department of Defense Personnel), and DA Form 4187). b. Paragraph 2-3 (Rules for Preparing and Distributing the DA Form 4187) stated a DA Form 4187 will be completed to support absences and returns to duty, which have a direct impact on strength accounting, pay entitlements, and other administrative actions. Care will be taken in preparing the DA Form 4187, as it may be used in court-martial proceedings and in the adjudication of claims, based on the duty status of a Soldier. Because of its importance: (1) incorrect entries will be corrected by drawing a line through the incorrect entry and entering the correct information. This corrected entry will be initialed by the certifying official. Erasures are not authorized on the form; (2) incorrect forms previously submitted will be changed or deleted by preparing and submitting a new form; and (3) forms made retroactive will reflect the actual effective date of the duty status change and the reason for late preparation. (4) The duty status entries in section II (Duty Status Change) will be spelled out. Abbreviations in this section are not authorized. For example, "920625/DYST/OLV/ HOS/0930" is spelled out as "Duty status ordinary leave to hospital, effective 0930, 25 June 1992." (5) Instructions for completing section IV of the DA Form 4187 for certain duty status transactions are contained in table 2-3 (Duty Status Change Remarks (Section IV, DA Form 4187)). (6) If necessary, a plain sheet of white paper will be used as a continuation sheet. The top portion of the continuation sheet will fully identify the Soldier and reporting unit. c. The Soldier's current duty status determines distribution of the DA Form 4187. The form will normally be distributed as follows: (1) Copy 1 – Personnel Service Company/Military Personnel Division Records Section for filing, in the action pending section of the Military Personnel Records Jacket; (2) Copy 2 – supporting finance and accounting office; (3) Copy 3 – unit files; and (4) Copy 4 – Soldier (or unit of attachment). d. Paragraph 2-5 (Rules for Correcting a previously Submitted DA Form 4187) stated if a previously submitted duty status change must be corrected or deleted, complete a new DA Form 4187 as follows: (1) complete "To" and "From" blocks; (2) complete section I with appropriate personal identification; (3) on the first line in section II, enter the words "CORRECTION" or "DELETION," as appropriate, followed by "See section IV (Remarks)"; (4) in section IV, enter the remarks as stated in section II of the original DA Form 4187. On the next line, enter the words "SHOULD BE." On the next line, enter the corrected data, or the words "DELETE ERRONEOUS ENTRY," as appropriate. An example follows: "Duty status ordinary leave to hospital (civil), 1045, 25 June 1992. SHOULD BE: "Duty status ordinary leave to hospital (civil), 1045, 23 June 1992." "Present for duty to absent without leave, 0001, 20 June 1992. SHOULD BE DELETED ERRONEOUS ENTRY"; and (5) enter any additional information clarifying the reason for the correction or deletion action. 3. Army Regulation 635-5 (Separation Documents), 30 September 2000, prescribed the separation documents prepared for Soldiers upon retirement, discharge, or release from active military service or control of the Army. It established standardized policy for preparation of the DD Form 214. The purpose of a separation document is to provide the individual with documentary evidence of his/her military service. It is important that information entered thereon is complete and accurate. a. The general instruction stated the following documents will be used as a basis for preparation of the DD Form 214: Enlisted Record Brief; separation approval authority documentation, if applicable; separation orders; and any other document authorized for filing in the Official Military Personnel File (OMPF). b. The specific instructions in paragraph 2-4h(29) stated to verify time lost as indicated by Defense Finance and Accounting Service agencies has been subtracted from net active service this period (block 12c (Net Active Service This Period) if the lost time was not "made good." If the expiration of term of service (ETS) was adjusted as a result of lost time and the Soldier served until ETS, the lost time was "made good." Lost time under Title 10, U.S. Code, section 972 (Members: Effect of Time Lost), is not creditable service for pay, retirement, or veteran's benefits. However, the Army preserves a record (even after time is made up) to explain which service between date of entry on active duty (block 12a (Date Entered Active Duty This Period)) and separation date (block 12b (Separation Date This Period)) is creditable service. Time lost after ETS is non-chargeable time under Title 10, U.S. Code, section 972, but it must also be reported to ensure it is not counted in computation of total creditable service for benefits. For enlisted Soldiers, show inclusive periods of time lost to be made good under Title 10, U.S. Code, section 972, and periods of non-chargeable time after ETS. 4. Army Regulation 600-37 (Unfavorable Information), 10 April 2018, provided policies and procedures to ensure the best interests of both the Army and Soldiers are served by authorizing unfavorable information to be placed in, transferred within, or removed from an individual's AMHRR. Paragraph 7-2a(3) (Appeals Involving Document with Regulatory Appeal Authority) stated this regulation does not apply to documents that have their own regulatory appeal authority, such as evaluation reports or records of courts-martial. 5. Army Regulation 600-8-104 (Army Military Human Resource Records Management), 7 April 2014 and currently in effect, prescribes the policies and operating tasks for the Army Military Human Resource Records Management Program. The AMHRR includes, but is not limited to, the OMPF, finance-related documents, and non-service related documents deemed necessary to store by the Army. It provides that once properly filed in the OMPF, a document becomes a permanent part of that file. The document will not be removed from the OMPF or moved to another part of the OMPF unless directed by competent authority. //NOTHING FOLLOWS// ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20220001875 1 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1