Legal Update with Oliver Mintz

from 2022 Summer NGAT News

Salute to Retirees

CORRECTING MILITARY RECORDS

You may find yourself in a situation where you have been the victim of an injustice at the hands of the military. This injustice may be an unfair investigation or punishment, or an uncorrected error because of an administrative process. If you have exhausted all administrative remedies to correct the problem, you may still have recourse.

The Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) is part of what is known as the Army Review Boards Agency and is the highest administrative board in the Army. The Air Force equivalent is The Air Force Board for Correction of Air Force Records. All other services are also required to have similar processes to correct military records within that branch. The two purposes of the ABCMR are to correct errors in military records and to remove injustices from any military record. This is included, but not limited to, awards, separations, promotions, retirements, and pay. The actual Board consists of civilians with a Regular Board consisting of three civilians and a Formal Board consisting of five civilians. At the end of the process, a final decision is made by the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army.

The Board begins with a presumption that everything has been done correctly and it is your burden to provide evidence to the contrary. There are time constraints to apply for a correction by the ABCMR. You must file your initial complaint withing three years of learning about the error or injustice, and any appeal from an ABCMR ruling must be filed within one year of the decision you wish to appeal. Remember, to appeal a decision of the ABCMR you must provide a new argument or new evidence that was not included in your original request.

The ABCMR has a reputation for fairness as they are not affiliated with any organization or command channel. They also have broad authority to correct injustices including awarding back pay and allowances, adjusting dates of rank, and many other equitable remedies to make the aggrieved service member whole again. Army Regulation 15-185 is the governing regulation for Soldiers and will provide a great starting place to learn about the process. As always, the process begins with submitting a form (in this case Form DD149) and then providing supporting information.

If you feel there are injustices or errors in your military record the ABCMR may provide you a path to getting them corrected. Remember that you have a limited window of time to submit your case and be prepared to present supporting evidence. H

Oliver Mintz is an Attorney with O’Connell West, PLLC law firm. Ollie is a retired TXARNG Colonel and NGAT Life Member. Ollie can be contacted at (512) 5477265 or Oliver@OConnellWest.com.