Son is prior service Army, 3 year break in service and is now being told his awards are unauthorized?

2020-07-06T10:00:07-04:00

My son reenlisted in the Army after having been out 3 years. The unit he just reported to has informed him his service record is unavailable and his DD214 is not sufficient for these purposes. Before I retired from the Navy, all of ours service records had become available on line. I also know milconnect is a place I could have gone to obtain all this information ?

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 6 at 2020 10:04 AM

2020-07-06T10:04:27-04:00

If he has the original certs with order #'s and/or the recommendation form(s) signed by the approving authorities, he will be good to go on that. If not, then submit a SF 180 request for all documents thru the Nation Archives. This route will take a bit though....depending on how long the service was and what areas of documents you are requesting.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 6 at 2020 10:46 AM

2020-07-06T10:46:25-04:00

If it is on his DD214, it is an authorized award. Whoever told him it’s not, do not have an understanding of their job and need to re-read the regulation. Your DD214 list any awards you received while serving, as well as time served, deployments, training, and schools. The DD214 can be used to receive credit for all of these. When they do the input in eMILPO, the date of the award (etc) would be the date of the DD214.

I took a 12year break in service and used my DD214 for my source documents for the awards I no longer had copies of.

Response by CW4 Keith Dolliver made Jul 6 at 2020 12:31 PM

2020-07-06T12:31:09-04:00

All his service records should be available from Army Human Resources Command (HRC). (Provided he actually had his records straight before his break in service.) https://www.hrc.army.mil/content/Accessing%20or%20Requesting%20Your%20Official%20Military%20Personnel%20File%20Documents

HRC Homepage

The security accreditation level of this site is UNCLASSIFIED and below. Do not process, store, or transmit any Personally Identifiable Information (PII), UNCLASSIFIED/FOUO or CLASSIFIED information on this system.

Response by MSG Felipe De Leon Brown made Jul 6 at 2020 2:56 PM

2020-07-06T14:56:49-04:00

The people who are telling your son that the the awards, decorations and so forth that are recorded on his DD-214 are unauthorized are lying.
Two options: 1–He can download a complete PDF version of AR 600-8-22, Military Awards, 5 March 2019 or 2-Go to the office of the IG and/or JAG and ask for their assistance in resolving the situation. I would advocate for the first option because it shows initiative and determination.
I experienced several instances (of many) during my career that caused me to take action to resolve or eliminate the barriers that I (and others) faced. I have no doubt that to some I was a pariah but then, if you don't fight for what you've earned you'll not receive it. There were also some instances when I elected not to fight and it might have disadvantaged me. However, I'm proud that I am authorized to wear all of the "fruit salad and glitter" that I earned.

Response by LtCol William Bentley made Jul 6 at 2020 6:05 PM

2020-07-06T18:05:21-04:00

I think the AR's in question are AR 600-8-22, and/or AR 601-210:

https://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/DR_pubs/DR_a/pdf/web/ARN18147_R600_8_22_admin2_FINAL.pdf
and
https://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/DR_pubs/DR_a/pdf/web/ARN6642_AR601-210_ADMIN_WEB_Final.pdf

So, tell your son, if he hasn't already cleared it up, to see his servicing admin office, get a "DA Form 4187 (Personnel Action)," and request authorization to wear all his prior awards, listing them out, attach the DD-214 and if possible a print-out of his old personnel file showing they were credited by that Service, and submit up through the chain. The Admin people should be helping him do this, and this should be their bread and butter, open right to the page.

Good luck, and cheers,

ARN18147_R600_8_22_admin2_FINAL.pdf

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 6 at 2020 6:54 PM

2020-07-06T18:54:01-04:00

I am not surprised. I had a similar situation when I switched to the Army. I made an appointment with the Military Personnel Division and they squared me away.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 6 at 2020 8:49 PM

2020-07-06T20:49:07-04:00

Does the word “Congressional” mean anything to you? Tell him to call your Representative in Congress or Senator and ask to speak with the Constituent Liaison who handles military affairs. I’m sure that they can get this straightened out in less than a week. They have a way of contacting HRC and correcting things faster than the average Soldier. Good luck!

Response by 1SG John Livingston made Jul 7 at 2020 10:02 AM

2020-07-07T10:02:56-04:00

DD214 is a listing of his summarized military life, including all authorized awards. If it is listed here, it is authorized for wear.
Out of curiosity...Does he still have the orders authorizing him these awards? If so, have him return to that same ill-trained soldier and show this additional proof of awards. Additionally, it is any soldier's right to get a second opinion from the ill-trained soldier's supervisor.
Service records unavailable??? This is unheard of!!!! I retired 16 years ago and I can access my records.
What a crock of dung!!!

Response by PO1 Bill Adams made Jul 7 at 2020 10:14 AM

2020-07-07T10:14:56-04:00

If it's in his record, they are authorized.
Which is the reason you always make sure any awards received ACTUALLY appear in your record.

OTH, When I reenlisted after 4 years of broken service, one of the things I had to do was sit through a records review at PSD. Part of that was reviewing for any awards I had earned but for whatever reason were not in my records. This was usually things like awards to your command received after you left it at end of service, but you were aboard during the time the award was awarded for.

While I was out, the Navy had invented The Sea Service Ribbon. The PO1 who was doing my review asked me how many major deployments I had been on during my previous enlistment. I answered 3. He awarded me three Sea Service Medals. One ribbon, two stars.

It was years later after I left the Navy that I learned the you can only get 1 Sea Service Ribbon retroactive. But I wore those two extra stars for years. And they are on my DD-214. I'm sure one day some PN is going to show up at my door.....

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 13 at 2020 3:35 AM

2020-07-13T03:35:35-04:00

There are two kind of “awards” I can think of that have “expirations” in the Army.

Weapons Qual expire after a year and Unit Citations where the soldier was not part of the unit at time of issue but wears while in the unit but removes when transferred.

Outside of that the soldier should just stand his ground if they have proper documentation and force the hand of the accuser

Response by SPC(P) Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 13 at 2020 5:05 AM

2020-07-13T05:05:58-04:00

I had the same issue reenelisted last year after being out for 3, My Old S1 did not add ANYTHING to from my old ERB, to my new one, and everyone from TRADOC to my new units S1 gave me the run around with "Oh you next Unit will be able to fix that..." to "Oh the DDForm 214 is not a authorized form that states your awards and deployment is verified." Have him go to Retention, it is literally their MOS to know these things, and they told me that any official form you have is authorized with awards, deployments and training that have not expired. I wish having these would make it easy for the new unit to give you these awards so you are able to add then to your IPerms, but as they say the biggest enemy to the Military is "Paperwork"

Response by SGT Christopher Doyle made Aug 12 at 2020 9:16 AM

2020-08-12T09:16:48-04:00

His DD214 is the go to for everything you did before , sounds like someone doesn't want to do the work to recreate his service records.

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 1 at 2020 2:39 PM

2020-10-01T14:39:10-04:00

I thought you can get your DD-214 through FOIA at St. Louis, Missouri?