IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 13 December 2023 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20230006094 APPLICANT REQUESTS: award of the: * Air Medal with Numeral 4 * Army Good Conduct Medal (1st Award) APPLICANT'S SUPPORTING DOCUMENT(S) CONSIDERED BY THE BOARD: * DD Form 149 (Application for Correction of Military Record under the Provisions of Title 10, U.S. Code, Section 1552) * Headquarters, U.S. Army Materiel Command, Special Orders Number 11, 19 January 1970 * DD Form 122 (Certificate for Performance of Hazardous Duty), 5 February 1970, covering the period 1 November 1969 to 28 February 1970 * DA Form 759 (Individual Flight Record and Flight Certificate – Army, Part I), 5 February 1970, covering the period October 1969 – February 1970 * DA Form 759-1 (Individual Flight Record and Flight Certificate – Army, Part II) covering the period October 1969 – November 1969 * DA Form 759-1 covering the period November 1969 – December 1969 * DA Form 759-1 covering the period January 1970 – February 1970 * DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) for the period ending 7 February 1970 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, in effect, he should have been awarded the Air Medal with Numeral 4 during his service in Vietnam and the Army Good Conduct Medal (1st Award) for his honorable enlisted service.? 3. The applicant enlisted in the Regular Army on 26 June 1967. After completing initial entry training, he was awarded military occupational specialty (MOS) 35H (Calibration Specialist). 4. The Army Commendation Medal Citation states the Army Commendation Medal is presented to him for exceptionally meritorious service in support of military operations against communist aggression in the Republic of Vietnam during the period 18 February 1969 to 13 August 1969. 5. His records do not contain orders awarding him the Army Commendation Medal. 6. Headquarters, U.S. Army Materiel Command, Special Orders Number 11, 19 January 1970, placed him on flight status as a crewmember effective 1 November 1969. 7. Item 5 (Oversea Service) of his DA Form 2-1 (Personnel Qualification Record – Part II) shows he received overseas tour credit for service in Vietnam from 6 January 1969 through 2 February 1970. 8. His DD Form 122, 5 February 1970, shows he was authorized additional flight pay as a crewmember for the period 1 November 1969 to 28 February 1970 (whole months). 9. His DA Form 759 and several DA Forms 759-1 show his flight hours and mission types. The DA Form 759, 5 February 1970, shows his service with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Transportation Battalion (Aircraft Maintenance Depot) (Seaborne), Vietnam, from October 1969 to February 1970. This form captures his completion of 207 flight hours as a crewmember. The corresponding DD Forms 759-1 show he completed 83 combat missions. 10. He was honorably released from active duty in the rank/grade of specialist five/E-5 on 7 February 1970 and transferred to the U.S. Army Reserve Control Group (Reinforcement). He completed 2 years, 7 months, and 12 days of total active service during this period, including 11 months and 28 days of foreign service. Item 24 (Decorations, Medals, Badges, Commendations, Citations, and Campaign Ribbons Awarded or Authorized) of his DD Form 214 shows he was awarded or authorized the: * National Defense Service Medal * Vietnam Service Medal * Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal with Device (1960) 11. His records contain no orders or other evidence indicating he was awarded any Air Medals. 12. His records are void of orders awarding him the Army Good Conduct Medal. His records are also void of a commander's disqualification statement related to an initial award of the Army Good Conduct Medal or documentation showing any disciplinary or derogatory actions during his period of service, including court-martial convictions. 13. U.S. Army Reserve Components Personnel and Administration Center Letter Orders Number 05-1108099, 22 May 1973, honorably discharged him from the U.S. Army Reserve Control Group (Standby) effective 1 June 1973. BOARD DISCUSSION: 1. After reviewing the application, all supporting documents, and the evidence found within the applicant's military records, the Board found that partial 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 applicant’s petition and available military records the Board determined there is sufficient evidence to support the applicant met the criteria for award of the Air Medal w/Numeral 3 based on his 83-combat mission in accordance with the specific number of missions and hours of flight time. Additionally, the Board determined the applicant's service record did not reflect he was awarded the Army Good Conduct Medal (1st Award) and his record shows he received "excellent" conduct and efficiency ratings throughout his service for the period of 26 June 1967 to 7 February 1970. Based on this the Board granted relief for correction of the applicant’s record to award the Air Medal w/Numeral 3 and award of the Army Good Conduct Medal. 2. Prior to closing the case, the Board did note the analyst of record administrative notes below, and recommended the correction is completed to more accurately depict the military service of the applicant. BOARD VOTE: Mbr 1 Mbr 2 Mbr 3 : : : GRANT FULL RELIEF xx xx xx GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF : : : GRANT FORMAL HEARING : : : DENY APPLICATION BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION: 1. In addition to the administrative notes annotated by the Analyst of Record (below the signature), 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 the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by amending his DD Form 214 for the period ending 7 February 1970 to show * award of the Air Medal w/Numeral 3 and * awarding him the Army Good Conduct Medal (1st Award) for exemplary service from 26 June 1967 to 7 February 1970 and adding the medal to his DD Form 214 for the period ending 7 February 1970. 2. The Board further determined the evidence presented is insufficient to warrant a portion of the requested relief. As a result, the Board recommends denial of so much of the application that pertains to award the Air Medal with Numeral 4. 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. ADMINISTRATIVE NOTE(S): The applicant is authorized administrative correction of his DD Form 214 for the period ending 7 February 1970 without Board action to show: a. the following awards: * four bronze service stars with his Vietnam Service Medal * Meritorious Unit Commendation * Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm Unit Citation * Republic of Vietnam Civil Actions Honor Medal First Class Unit Citation b. the entry "Vietnam – 6 Jan 69 through 2 Feb 70, Indochina – Yes, Korea – No." 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 15-185 (Army Board for Correction of Military Records) prescribes the policies and procedures for correction of military records by the Secretary of the Army acting through the ABCMR. The ABCMR will decide cases on the evidence of record; it is not an investigative body. The ABCMR begins its consideration of each case with the presumption of administrative regularity. The applicant has the burden of proving an error or injustice by a preponderance of evidence. 3. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) prescribes Army policy, criteria, and administrative instructions concerning individual and unit military awards. a. The Air Medal is awarded in time of war for heroism and for meritorious achievement or service while participating in aerial flight. This award is primarily intended for personnel on flying status but may also be awarded to those personnel whose combat duties require them to fly; for example, personnel in the attack elements of units involved in air-land assaults against an armed enemy. As with all personal decorations, formal recommendations, approval through the chain of command, and announcement in orders are required. (1) Numerals, starting with 2, will be used to denote second and subsequent awards of the Air Medal. (2) All Air Medal recommendations that are downgraded will be approved as an Army Commendation Medal. b. The Army Commendation Medal is awarded to any service member of the Armed Forces of the United States who, while serving in any capacity with the Army after 6 December 1941, distinguishes himself or herself by heroism, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service. Award may be made to a member of the armed forces of a friendly foreign nation who, after 1 June 1962, distinguishes himself or herself by an act of heroism, extraordinary achievement, or meritorious service, which has been of mutual benefit to a friendly nation and the United States. It may be awarded for combat-related service or achievement after 29 February 1964. c. A bronze service star is authorized with the Vietnam Service Medal for each Vietnam campaign a member is credited with participating in. Appendix B shows that during the applicant's service in Vietnam, participation credit was awarded for the following campaigns: * Vietnam Counteroffensive Phase VI – 2 November 1968-22 February 1969 * Tet 69 Counteroffensive – 23 February 1969-8 June 1969 * Vietnam Summer-Fall 1969 – 9 June 1969-31 October 1969 * Vietnam Winter-Spring 1970 – 1 November 1969-30 April 1970 4. Army Regulation 95-1 (Flight Regulation) provided guidance for aircraft operations, crew requirements, and flight rules. The regulation specifies that each crew member must present his or her individual flight records to the unit of assignment. The flying experience and qualification data for each rated crew member and flight surgeon in aviation service and each non-rated crew member will be documented on several forms among which are the DA Form 759 and the DA Form 759-1. The "Mission Symbol" column on the DA Form 759-1 lists a single character to identify the type of mission performed. During the Vietnam War, the following mission symbols were used: Mission Symbol Service Missions A Acceptance Test Flight F Maintenance Flight S Service Mission T Training Flight X Experimental Test Flight C Combat Mission 5. U.S. Army Vietnam Regulation 672-1 (Decorations and Awards) provided guidelines for award of the Air Medal. It stated that passenger personnel who did not participate in an air assault were not eligible for the award based upon sustained operations. It defined terms and provided guidelines for the award based upon the number and types of missions or hours. Twenty-five category I missions (air assault and equally dangerous missions) and accrual of a minimum of 25 hours of flight time while engaged in category I missions was the standard established for which sustained operations 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 was defined as a mission performed in an assault role in which a hostile force was engaged and was characterized by 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 have completed 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. 6. Army Regulation 672-5-1 (Awards), in effect at the time, stated the Army Good Conduct Medal was awarded for each 3 years of continuous enlisted active Federal military service completed on or after 27 August 1940 and, for the first award only, upon termination of service on or after 27 June 1950 of less than 3 years but more than 1 year. The enlisted person must have had all "Excellent" conduct and efficiency ratings. Ratings of "Unknown" for portions of the period under consideration were not disqualifying. There must have been no convictions by court-martial. 7. Department of the Army Pamphlet 672-3 (Unit Citation and Campaign Participation Credit Register) lists the awards received by units serving in Vietnam. This pamphlet shows Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Transportation Battalion, was cited for award of the: * Meritorious Unit Commendation for the period 1 November 1968 through 31 January 1970 in Department of the Army General Orders (DAGO) Number 51, 1971 * Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm Unit Citation for the period 20 July 1965 through 28 March 1973 in DAGO Number 8, 1974 (Headquarters, U.S. Army Vietnam, and its subordinate units) * Republic of Vietnam Civil Actions Honor Medal First Class Unit Citation for the period 1 April 1966 through 31 October 1972 in DAGO Number 6, 1974 8. Army Regulation 635-5 (Separation Documents), effective 23 May 1972, stated to indicate Indochina and Korea service performed on or after 5 August 1964 in item 30 (Remarks) of the DD Form 214 by entering inclusive dates of service for Vietnam and indicating "Yes" or "No" for service in Indochina and Korea. To show Vietnam service only, for example, enter "Vietnam – 25 Apr 70 through 28 May 71, Indochina – Yes, Korea – No." //NOTHING FOLLOWS// ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20230006094 1 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1