Claim for Compensation Due to Change in Discharge Status

A former Air Force member requested reconsideration of the Claims Group's settlement which denied his claim for unpaid pay and allowances that he believed were due to him incident to an upgrading of his discharge to honorable from other than honorable. The Claims Group denied the claim because there was no determination that the member remained on active duty following his discharge, and there was insufficient documentation to establish the validity of the claim arising prior to his discharge since his pay records had been destroyed pursuant to law. At the request of the member, the Air Force deleted the designator showing the reason for his discharge. Subsequently, the member asked for a reconsideration of his claim. The deletion of the designator was not material to the member's claim. His service record was amended solely to show an upgrade in the character of his discharge to honorable. Where the record is corrected to show a change in the character of the discharge only, the former member is entitled only to the benefits he would have received had the initial discharge been under honorable conditions. To be entitled to pay and allowances for the period following discharge to the end of the enlistment in which the former member was serving, his records would have to show a determination that he remained on duty during that period. However, the member's records did not show that he remained on active duty during this period. Accordingly, the Claims Group's settlement was sustained.