Opinion ID: 787298
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Indorsement Levels on March 1984 and January and June 1985 OERs

Text: 60 Mr. Roth's June 1983 OER had been indorsed by the Vice Commander of Ninth Air Force, Brigadier General Robert McCann. The indorsement on his March 1984 OER, however, dropped to that of Colonel Coward, serving as Ninth Air Force Inspector General. Not only then was Mr. Roth's March 1984 OER substantively downgraded, but also Colonel Coward admitted that [t]he false allegations against [Mr. Roth] preempted [his] intentions of requesting the same level of indorsement in 1984 that Mr. Roth had received in 1983. (Board R. 140) This reflects a violation of AFR 36-10, paragraph 3-14(a), for it demonstrates that the investigation against Mr. Roth, which was not complete as of the closing date of the March 1984 OER, was considered in connection with the level of indorsement on Mr. Roth's March 1984 OER. 61 In turn, the downgrade in the indorsement level in March 1984 precipitated subsequent downgrades in the indorsement levels on Mr. Roth's January and June 1985 OERs. On both, Mr. Roth was indorsed only by a colonel, rather than Brigadier General McCann. Lieutenant Colonel William Atkinson, the additional rater on Mr. Roth's January 1985 OER, admitted that 62 [b]ecause of the previously documented substandard performance, as reflected in that now-corrected OER of 21 June 1983 through 27 March 1984, Major Roth's following OER, from 28 Mar 84 through 28 Jan 85, for which I was the additional rater, could also not be sent forward for the 9th Air Force Vice Commander's indorsement.... This OER for duty with 9AF/IG would most certainly have been forwarded for the Vice Commander's indorsement had it not been for the previous incident for which Major Roth has since been absolved of any wrongdoing, and the substandard OER of 21 June 1983 through 27 March 1984, which has now been corrected. 63 (Board R. 138) 64 Similarly, both the rater and additional rater on Major Roth's June 1985 OER, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Heller and Brigadier General John Garrison, respectively, explained that the January and June 1985 OERs would most certainly have been forwarded for the Vice Commander's indorsement had it not been for the previous incident for which Major Roth has since been absolved of any wrongdoing, and for the substandard OER of 21 June 1983 through 27 March 1984, which has now been corrected. (Board R. 136, 139) In addition, the Vice Commander himself, Brigadier General McCann, confirmed that allegations of misconduct by Capt. Roth, subsequently found to be without basis, drove the decisions by rating and additional rating officers not to forward Capt. Roth's OERs to me for indorsement. (Board R. 145) General McCann also stated that he would have indorsed all three OERs had they been forwarded to him, and he requested that the Board correct any OER shown not to have been forwarded to him because of the allegations against Mr. Roth to reflect his indorsement. (Board R. 145) 65 It is therefore clear that the lowered indorsements on Mr. Roth's March 1984 and January and June 1985 OERs resulted directly from the initial violation of AFR 36-10, paragraph 3-14(a), the downgrading of Item 9 on his March 1984 OER, and constituted independent violations of that regulation as well. Notably, the AFMPC agreed in its advisory opinion to the Board and conceded that if it chose, the Board could order the OERs to be reaccomplished. Memorandum from the AFMPC to the Board at 4. Because of these violations of AFR 36-10, the Court of Federal Claims determined the decision to lower the indorsement levels on all three OERs to be a justiciable military decision. We agree, and we affirm the decision to order that Mr. Roth's March 1984 and January and June 1985 OERs be reaccomplished to reflect the indorsement of then-Vice Commander Brigadier General McCann. 66