ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS IN THE CASE OF:BOARD DATE:  24 October 2022 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20220005013 


APPLICANT REQUESTS: in effect, correction of his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) by adding: 

•"Air Crew Flight Wings" (Aircraft Crew Member Badge - now known as theAviation Badge)

•All awards of the Air Medal

•Any other unit citations for 1st Aviation Brigade, 213th Assault Support HelicopterCompany (ASHC) or 203rd ASHC



APPLICANT'S SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS CONSIDERED BY THE BOARD: 

•DD Form 149 (Application for Correction of Military Record)

•DD Form 214

•3 DA Forms 759-1 (Individual Flight Record and Flight Certificate – Army


(Part II))
•2 DA Forms 759 (Individual Flight Record and Flight Certificate – Army (Part I))

•2 Air Medal Certificates



FACTS: 

1.The applicant did not file within the three-year time frame provided in Title 10, UnitedStates Code, section 1552(b); however, the Army Board for Correction of MilitaryRecords (ABCMR) conducted a substantive review of this case and determined it is inthe interest of justice to excuse the applicant's failure to timely file.

2.The applicant enlisted in the Regular Army on 25 January 1971.

3.His DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows:

•his military occupational specialty (MOS) as 67V (CH-47 Helicopter Repairman),effective 23 July 1971;

•he qualified and was awarded the Marksman Marksmanship Qualification Badgewith Rifle Bar (M-16);

•he served in the Republic of Vietnam from 20 August 1971 to 4 May 1972; and


•he served with the 213th ASHC from 25 August 1971 to 9 February 1972 andwith the 203rd ASHC from 10 February to 4 May 1972.



4.General Orders (GOs) Number 787, issued by Headquarters, 1st Aviation Brigade,on 14 March 1972, awarded him the Air Medal (1st through 5th Awards), from15 October 1971 to 30 January 1972.

5.GOs Number 1790, issued by Headquarters, 1st Aviation Brigade, on 23 June 1972,awarded him the Air Medal (1st through 2nd Awards), from 16 February to 20 March1972.

6.He was honorably released from active duty and transferred to the Army NationalGuard on 26 October 1973. Item 23a (Specialty Number and Title) of his DD Form 214shows his MOS as 67V2O and the title of this MOS as "CH-47 Hel Repairman."Additionally, item 24 (Decorations, Medals, Badges, Commendations, Citations andCampaign Ribbons Awarded or Authorized) shows he was awarded or authorized the:

•Air Medal (First thru Fifth Award)

•Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal with Device (1960)

•Vietnam Service Medal with 3 bronze service stars

•National Defense Service Medal

•1 overseas service bar



7.The applicant provides 3 DA Forms 759-1 (Part II), from 15 October 1971 to25 March 1972, which indicates he completed a total of 70 combat missions and379 hours of CH-47, First Pilot combat duty flight time.

8.Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states that the Air Medal is awarded intime of war for heroism and for meritorious achievement or service while participating inaerial flight. This award is primarily intended for personnel on flying status but may alsobe awarded to those personnel whose combat duties require them to fly, for examplepersonnel in the attack elements of units involved in air-land assaults against an armedenemy. As with all personal decorations, formal recommendations, approval through thechain of command, and announcement in orders are required. The version of theregulation in effect at the time the applicant served stated that an oak leaf cluster wouldbe awarded to denote the second and subsequent awards of the Air Medal. However,the regulation currently in effect provides that Arabic numerals are now used instead ofoak leaf clusters for the second and succeeding awards of the Air Medal. The numeral"2" denotes the second award of the Air Medal.



BOARD DISCUSSION: 

1.The applicant's request for a personal appearance was carefully considered. In thiscase, the evidence of record was sufficient to render a fair and equitable decision. As aresult, a personal appearance before the Board is not necessary to serve the interest ofequity and justice in this case.

2.After reviewing the application, all supporting documents, and the evidence foundwithin the military record, the Board determined that relief was warranted. The Boardcarefully considered the applicant’s contentions, the military record, and regulatoryguidance. Based on the preponderance of the evidence available for review, the Boarddetermined the evidence presented sufficient to warrant a recommendation for relief.

3.Prior to closing the case, the Board did note the analyst of record administrativenotes below, and recommended the correction is completed to more accurately depictthe military service of the applicant.



























BOARD VOTE: 

Mbr 1 Mbr 2 Mbr 3 

:XXX :XXX :XXX 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 partial relief. As a result, the Board recommends that all Department of Army records of the individual concerned by amending the applicant’s DD214 by awarding and adding:  
•Air Medal with numeral 5 (5th award)

•Aviation Badge






Microsoft Office Signature Line...







ADMINISTRATIVE NOTE(S): In accordance with Department of the Army Pamphlet 672-3 (Unit Citation and Campaign Participation Credit Register) and Army Regulation600-8-22 (Military Awards), add the following awards to his DD Form 214 for the periodending on 26 October 1973 without action by the Board -

•Marksman Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Rifle Bar (M-16)

•Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm Unit Citation




REFERENCES: 

1.Title 10, United States Code, section 1552(b), provides that applications forcorrection of military records must be filed within 3 years after discovery of the allegederror or injustice. This provision of law also allows the ABCMR to excuse an applicant'sfailure to timely file within the 3-year statute of limitations if the ABCMR determines itwould be in the interest of justice to do so.

2.Army Regulation 672-5-1 (Military Awards), in effect at the time states commandersof any unit with Army aircraft assigned could publish orders allowing qualified membersof that command to wear the Aircraft Crew Member Badge. For award of the AircraftCrew Member Badge an individual had to be on flying status in the case of crew chiefs,electronic sensor system operators, and flight engineers or as a non-crewmember in thecase of observers, medical aidmen, gunners, aircraft maintenance supervisors,technical inspectors, crew chief, flight engineer, aircraft maintenance supervisor,observer, gunner, or technical inspector. For permanent award of the Aircraft CrewMember Badge, an individual must have performed in one of the duties specified abovefor not less than 12 months (not necessarily consecutive) or must have been schooltrained for a principal duty specified above. Further, an individual who participated in atleast 15 combat missions under probable exposure to enemy fire while serving in theprincipal duty of crew chief, flight engineer, aircraft maintenance supervisor, observer,gunner, or technical inspector was entitled to permanent award of the Aircraft CrewMember Badge. Military Personnel (MILPER) message number 00-138 (date/time group101221Z April 2000) changed the name of the Aircraft Crew Member Badge to theAviation Badge.

2.Army Regulation 95-1 (Flight Regulation) covers aircraft operations, crewrequirements, and flight rules. The regulation specifies that each crew member mustpresent his or her individual flight records to the unit of assignment. The flyingexperience and qualification data for each rated crew member and flight surgeon inaviation service and each non-rated crew member will be documented on several formsamong which are the DA Form 759 and the DA Form 759-1 (Individual Flight Recordand Flight Certificate-Army (Aircraft Closeout). 
3.The "Mission Data" column on the DA Form 759-1 lists a single character for themission identification (ID). During the Vietnam War, the following Mission IDs wereused:

Mission Symbol 
 Service Missions 
 
A 
 Acceptance test Flight 
 
F 
 Maintenance Flight 
 
S 
 Service Mission 
 
T 
 Training Flight 
 
X 
 Experimental Test Flight 
 
C 
 Combat Mission 
 


4.U.S. Army Vietnam (USARV) Regulation 672-1 (Decorations and Awards) providedguidelines for award of the Air Medal. It stated passenger personnel who did notparticipate in an air assault were not eligible for the award based upon sustainedoperations. It defined terms and provided guidelines for the award based upon thenumber and types of missions or hours. Twenty-five Category I missions (air assaultand equally dangerous missions) and accrual of a minimum of 25 hours of flight timewhile engaged in Category I missions was the standard established for which sustainedoperations were deemed worthy of recognition by an award of the Air Medal. However,the regulation was clear that these guidelines were considered only a departure point.

a.Combat missions were divided into three categories. A category I mission wasdefined as a mission performed in an assault role in which a hostile force was engaged and was characterized by the delivery of ordnance against the hostile force or delivery of friendly troops or supplies into the immediate combat operations area. A category II mission was characterized by support rendered a friendly force immediately before, during, or immediately following a combat operation. A category III mission was characterized by support of friendly forces not connected with an immediate combat operation, but which must have been accomplished at altitudes which made the aircraft at times vulnerable to small arms fire or under hazardous weather or terrain conditions. 

b.To be recommended for award of the Air Medal, an individual must havecompleted a minimum of 25 category I missions, 50 category II missions, or 100 category III missions. Since various types of missions would have been completed in accumulating flight time toward award of an Air Medal for sustained operations, different computations would have had to be made to combine category I, II, and III flight times and adjust it to a common denominator. 

5.USARV Regulation 672-1 further provided guidelines for award of the Air Medal forsustained operations. Appendix IV required that recommendations for award of the AirMedal for crewmembers or non-crewmembers on flying status would be submitted onUSARV Form 157-R. The recommendation for award must also have stated that theindividual "met the required number of missions and hours for award of the Air Medal";that "the individual has not caused, either directly or indirectly, an aircraft abort, latetake-off, accident or incident"; and that the "individual’s accomplishments and servicethroughout the period have reflected meritorious performance, with no instance of non-professionalism, mediocrity, or failure to display an aggressive spirit."

6.Department of the Army General Order 8, dated 1974, awarded Headquarters, U.S.Army Vietnam and its subordinate units the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross withPalm Unit Citation, for the period 20 July 1965 to 28 March 1973.

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