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CCK, 314 TAW Blanket Orders T-121 issued on or around April 67


Asticou
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Looking for Travel orders with my name on it, one order is T121. I was assigned to the 776TAS from March 67 to July 69. I am trying to get my DD214 corrected. The Air Force did not always track our TDY assignments, thus those CRB and Tuy Hoa rotations didn't make it to the DD214. After a lot of reading and research I have come to realize that most of us that served at CCK and made those trips are missing that very important information. Our VA system won't give you an Agent Orange test/evaluation in less you can prove boots on the ground in Vietnam.

Also looking for the following airmen

Adley Eisen

Doyle Frazer

Raymond Ryan

fist name? Last name Warren

Thanks in advance

Dale Johnson

Belchertown, MA

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Looking for Travel orders with my name on it, one order is T121. I was assigned to the 776TAS from March 67 to July 69. I am trying to get my DD214 corrected. The Air Force did not always track our TDY assignments, thus those CRB and Tuy Hoa rotations didn't make it to the DD214. After a lot of reading and research I have come to realize that most of us that served at CCK and made those trips are missing that very important information. Our VA system won't give you an Agent Orange test/evaluation in less you can prove boots on the ground in Vietnam.

Also looking for the following airmen

Adley Eisen

Doyle Frazer

Raymond Ryan

fist name? Last name Warren

Thanks in advance

Dale Johnson

Belchertown, MA

The blanket orders won't be much help because they covered the entire Western Pacific. No, TDYs are not on personnel records except for credit for days in SEA (which includes Thailand). The only record is travel vouchers, which are in pay records. However, the official history of the USAF tactical airlift mission is proof that personnel from Naha, Clark, Mactan, Tachikawa and CCK operated in South Vietnam. A far as Agent Orange goes, there really is no "test" or "evaluation" for it. There is some kind of Agent Orange registry. For Agent Orange benefits, the veteran has to be diagnosed with one of the illnesse that are attributed to it. Go to www.va.gov to find out which ones they are. Prostate cancer and Type II diabetes are two. Any veteran can apply for VA medical treatment but there are income and other considerations that can prevent acceptance except for service-connected disabilities.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Sorry, but that's unacceptable. I can and now have the proof of all my TDY rotations into Cam Rahn, Tuy Hoa and Bangkok. Since my last posting, I have received written notarized letters from former crew members that I served with. These documents, along with my VA, Vietnam service connected disability papers, plus several photos and movies will provide a preponderance of proof to correct my DD214. I strongly suggest to others who served at CCK and spent time, boots on the ground in RVN to take action to have your DD214's corrected and updated. After all, you earned it.

DJ

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There is no place on the DD214 that we were issued that shows countries of service. only overseas time, VSM award stuff like that. MY proof of "boots on the ground", ( I hate that term, second only to "downrange" and 'war-fighter") is in my travel vouchers.............., copies of which I got lasdt fall, and unless I have hallucinated about some places i was at, they don't seem complete, now in fairness it could be the way i filled them out, i don't know, but that is what i have found...

Giz

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  • 1 year later...

The blanket orders won't be much help because they covered the entire Western Pacific. No, TDYs are not on personnel records except for credit for days in SEA (which includes Thailand). The only record is travel vouchers, which are in pay records. However, the official history of the USAF tactical airlift mission is proof that personnel from Naha, Clark, Mactan, Tachikawa and CCK operated in South Vietnam. A far as Agent Orange goes, there really is no "test" or "evaluation" for it. There is some kind of Agent Orange registry. For Agent Orange benefits, the veteran has to be diagnosed with one of the illnesse that are attributed to it. Go to www.va.gov to find out which ones they are. Prostate cancer and Type II diabetes are two. Any veteran can apply for VA medical treatment but there are income and other considerations that can prevent acceptance except for service-connected disabilities.

I too am having issues with finding out what flights I was on while traveling between U-Tapao and CCK. I have a record of 315 TAW mission #475 leaving CCK at 0900 0n 3 Feb 71.

My DD214 doesn't list me as being in Vietnam but I do remember while on a return trip to CCK, we had to stop at Cam Rahn Bay for an engine change. While there I took a hop to Saigon and was able to get out of there a couple of days later. I was in-country I would say three days or so. If anyone knows about that particular situation, please let me know so I can add Vietnam to my DD214 paperwork.

BTW, I made three TDY trips from CCK to U-Tapao between 1970 1nd 1971.

Thanks for any assistance.

HV

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Got a question or comment, whatever, But anyway, I read a bunch of you guys mentioning TDY's to here and there, with in-country destinations, etc. I wonder why you did not have to submit travel vouchers for them. I know as a loady, I must have submitted dozens of them, not jsut for SEA, but everywhere. I would have thought you would have, if for nothingelse than the travel pay. It was my travel vouchers that secured my AO claim for diabtetes II.

Giz

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Giz, Its like you said before; we vets can submit the same paperwork requests and get totally different answers. For example: After you posted the success you had getting travel vouchers, I submitted the same using the SF180. I got a letter back saying copies of travel vouchers were not kept for longer than 6 (or so) months. I then got a personal call from a fellow at the finance section at Randolf essentially telling me the same thing. (WTF ????) :mad:

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Giz, Its like you said before; we vets can submit the same paperwork requests and get totally different answers. For example: After you posted the success you had getting travel vouchers, I submitted the same using the SF180. I got a letter back saying copies of travel vouchers were not kept for longer than 6 (or so) months. I then got a personal call from a fellow at the finance section at Randolf essentially telling me the same thing. (WTF ????) :mad:

Yep, there does not seem to be any consitancy, does it??? I was just wonderin' about the guys who have TDY orders, but nothing else. Just because you have orders, you don't necessarily go... one of my housemates from langley was a base firefighter, and he got PCS orders to Korea, something like six days before he was to leave, they told him never mind, you are too short. BUT he stil had the orders...............I wish back in the green and brown era, somebody would have emphasized save every damn piece of paper that has your name on it, like the guys on this site do now....What I still have I have no idea why I kept them..................To soon old, too late smart...............

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While I was TDY to SEA I was given one (1) set of orders when I went TDY and had to turn them in with my travel voucher with every place we landed at listed to get paid for missed meals or an overnite stay.

Back then even $2.00 was a lot of money to a GI. At least it was to me.

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While I was TDY to SEA I was given one (1) set of orders when I went TDY and had to turn them in with my travel voucher with every place we landed at listed to get paid for missed meals or an overnite stay.

Back then even $2.00 was a lot of money to a GI. At least it was to me.

Yep, That is my story, too. Sometimes, only get a few bucks, but like you say, that was pretty good foubd money back then.....It was strange, too, some times we would go to POB just for a day of drops and come back, no TDY orders, etc, no pay... go do the same thing except RON, and you could collect, I don't remember, but maybe $25 or so???? Of course if yiu stayed at such garden spots as the Bonny Prince Charley, then you got that back, provided they hadn't set up contract rooms...............

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Ohhh yeah ! TDY's could be nice little money makers. When every penny counted, volunteering for every TDY I could get was a bonus. Considering that during my first year in the AF I made $985 (just checked my SS earnings statement to verify my facts) TDY's were gravy. (That is the pay was gravy, not necessarily the TDY). As far as the Prince Charley goes.....I suppose you are referring to the AF contract hotel in Fayetteville, NC. I almost lost my virginity there.

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It was strange, too, some times we would go to POB just for a day of drops and come back, no TDY orders, etc, no pay... go do the same thing except RON, and you could collect, I don't remember, but maybe $25 or so????

Giz,

I'm not sure when, but a couple of years before I retired in 1985, they changed the rules and you could use your flight orders in lieu of TDY orders to file for per diem; i.e. an out and back to POB for drops, etc. Made things a lot easier.

The best money-maker TDY's I had were the BAT trips to Saudi Arabia with the 37th TAS. Good flying and relatively big bucks.

Don R.

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I have piles of old paperwork that says I was in-country. I also have a VSM, DFC, and 7 AMs on my DD214. The VA will not accept any of it because of something not marked on the DD-214. They won't even look at the other evidence. They just give me some print outs that say a VSM is not proof of boot on the ground which is a term I never even heard of until recently. I am waiting now for a DD215 from St. Louis. Went through the county Veteran's Service Officer to get the DD215. He said it could take from a month to 6 months. Been over a month already.

Where ever you young guys go keep all your paperwork! The VA does not listen to common sense and is full of bureaucratic crap heads.

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I have piles of old paperwork that says I was in-country. I also have a VSM, DFC, and 7 AMs on my DD214. The VA will not accept any of it because of something not marked on the DD-214. They won't even look at the other evidence. They just give me some print outs that say a VSM is not proof of boot on the ground which is a term I never even heard of until recently. I am waiting now for a DD215 from St. Louis. Went through the county Veteran's Service Officer to get the DD215. He said it could take from a month to 6 months. Been over a month already.

Where ever you young guys go keep all your paperwork! The VA does not listen to common sense and is full of bureaucratic crap heads.

As I have said before, unless you have definitive proof of actually standin' on VN soil, you cannot expect to get your claim realized. Travel orders, medals, none of that shows you were actually in Nam. For example, Navy guys qualified for the VSM, but operated off the coast....We Air Force types have a problem usin' our DD214 to prove in-country because, unlike the Army or marine corps, ours usually do not show specific countries and locations of service, just total overseas time and that sort of thing.AND, to take the cake, it seems that there is NO consistancy with what the VA will or will not accept, what records do or do not exist, and such bullshit........... Sorta makes the " Thanks for your service" ring a little hollow sometimes, don't it????

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"Thanks for your service" does ring hollow. But hope springs eternal. I sent in a DD149 for correction of military records a few weeks back. Received an official letter a couple of days ago sayin my request (and supporting documents/arguments for boots on the ground) had been scanned into their system and have been assigned a docket number. They are saying it will take up to 90 days for a decision. I figure all they can say is no and I've heard that before. We will see.........

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"Thanks for your service" does ring hollow. But hope springs eternal. I sent in a DD149 for correction of military records a few weeks back. Received an official letter a couple of days ago sayin my request (and supporting documents/arguments for boots on the ground) had been scanned into their system and have been assigned a docket number. They are saying it will take up to 90 days for a decision. I figure all they can say is no and I've heard that before. We will see.........

Keep at 'em, Sparks..............sooner or later they will get tired of you goin' after them, and actually help you. I am still waitin' to get my payment corrected, damn lame asses said they needed my wife's SSN, which I had sent them a year ago, and when the payments were to start, theysaid they couldn't send it because they needed a financial institution routing number to send it, WHICH I also had given them..........Ya know, if I had done my job that poorly, or the rest of any crew I flew with, or the maintainers who worked on the birds, I wouldn't be here to collect anything, anyway....But by damn, squirt out a trio or so of bastards whose birth certificates should read 'We the People", not Mr and Missus, and ya damn near get run over by a Brinks truck bringin' your "entitlements."

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What got the VA to recognize my "boots on the ground" was the citation that accompanied my DFC -- it said something about "while on the ground at Khe Sanh, RVN ..." That did it for me.. So, Graywolf88 should check the citations with his medals; what he needs could be there...

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What got the VA to recognize my "boots on the ground" was the citation that accompanied my DFC -- it said something about "while on the ground at Khe Sanh, RVN ..." That did it for me.. So, Graywolf88 should check the citations with his medals; what he needs could be there...

Exactly, anything that specifically says you were on the ground..........Many times, though, I was the only member of my crew to actually get off the plane. Now suppose the only time the rest of the crew got off the plane was out of country. Would that still count for them? Now nothing says I actually set foot on the ground, so do you see how ridiculous this "boots on the ground" bullshit can be???? By the VA standards, then, I guess the BUFF crews out of Guam, for instance, do not qualify for AO registry, unless they were shot down, or landed near the perimeter of a Thai base that had AO sprayed around............So by all means, try to find ANYTHING that proves you were on the ground . I wonder if a photograph that has you standing near some identifiable landmark would count??

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  • 2 weeks later...

What got the VA to recognize my "boots on the ground" was the citation that accompanied my DFC -- it said something about "while on the ground at Khe Sanh, RVN ..." That did it for me.. So, Graywolf88 should check the citations with his medals; what he needs could be there...

Yeah, I got citations that state I was on the ground in several locations in-country. The VA won't accept any of it nor do they even want to see it. They say the only thing they will accept is a DD215 (Modified 214) which I am still waiting for. I think maybe some VA employees are making up their own requirements.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Little update - I received an envelope full of copies of a lot of my old papers from Louisville. There is 3 reporting periods of the the "Airman Performance Reports" included in the papers Louisville sent. These reports are signed by your Aircraft Commander and your Squadron Commander in the comments and endorsements page. it clearly states on one of the performance reports that I flew 117 combat missions with 702 combat sorties. A some time during that 702 combat sorties I am sure my boots hit the ground even allowing for speed offloads without putting the truck ramps on. I called the county veteran service officer who has been working on it and he said take it to the VA and show it to them. Guess what? The little bureaucrat that makes the determination refused to even look at the papers. He told me he didn't care if I had a CMOH and a picture of the president of the U.S.A. presenting it to me in front of the main gate at some base in Vietnam it wasn't any good unless I had certain things on my DD-214 or I got a DD-215 to amend the 214. The only things he would accept is if my amended DD-215 had a Vietnam Cross of Gallantry or a Vietnam Campaign Medal on it.

This is really ridiculous because you don't need boots on the ground to get the Vietnam Campaign Medal according to the requirements I found on it. The requirements I found say;

To be awarded the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal personnel must meet one of the following requirements:

Served in the Republic of Vietnam for six months during the period of 1 March 1961 and 28 March 1973.

Served outside the geographical limits of the Republic of Vietnam and gave direct support in battle to the Republic of Vietnam and Armed Forces for six months.

Such individuals must meet the criteria established for the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (for Vietnam) or the Vietnam Service Medal, to qualify for the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal.

Six months service is not required for those who were wounded by enemy forces; killed in action or otherwise in line of duty; or captured by enemy forces.

See---> http://usmilitary.about.com/od/armymedals/ss/rvcm_3.htm also http://usmilitary.about.com/library/milinfo/afmedals/blrovcm.htm

I did find the papers online and kinda confiscated a copy that authorize the 2 AP, 315TAW, and 483TAW the Vietnam Cross of Gallantry for service from 1 Oct,66 - 30 Oct,71. These papers state the medal is to be awarded to the 834th AD and it's subordinate units.

According to the papers I found and the requirements both medals should be on my DD-214. I seem to remember that when I was processing out they removed any medals issued by a foreign government from being on my DD-214 ...... memory could be wrong, landed on my head more than once since then and it was in medieval times.

I remained relatively calm today while meeting with those desk jockeys, but I did remember why I used to drink when I was on active duty. The veteran service officer has put in a formal request to have my DD-214 amended. I will wait some more for now, but I did inform both of the people I met with that I knew who my congressional representatives were and how to contact them. I will go along with the system for a while, but when it appears the wheels have stopped turning I will throw a monkey wrench in the works. Just my opinion, but I think some of the people at the VA who are supposed to make the judgements on "boots in the mud" are attempting to push that responsibility off on some other agency with silly requirements and a refusal to even review paperwork that clearly indicates many boot prints on short fields all over that friggin used to be country!

Ranting complete....... I feel better, but not much better.

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I'm about 30 days into an "up to 90" day wait for an answer from my DD149 request to amend my DD 214 to show boots on the ground. I got a formal letter stating my request had been received, assigned a tracking number and scanned into the "system". Its a waiting game now. I suspect you (Graywolf) have started down the same path. Good Luck

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Hey Greywolf...rant accepted!

I, of course, read this thread with interest. For some reason,I, as a young airman saved an awfull lot of the paperwork I generated while in the employ of the USAF. I don't know why I saved it all, because I have never been known to care much for paperwork (ask any one of my dispatchers!). When considering a comment or two on this thread I find it odd that most of the various TDY orders I have are in multiple copies, many, many multiples!! It makes no difference anyway. I also have several travel VOUCHERS, or the carbon copy, that show me in several locations throughout South Vietnam. I also have a "performance report" describing my work while in South Vietnam. I do not believe that when making my claim any of those documents carried any weight, however, it was those documents that generated the DD215 which states I served in the Republic of South Vietnam, on the Nha Trang Shuttle (that was the performance report). Doesn't make a whit of difference how many missions you were on, nor how long you were in country, nor how many S. Vietnam bases you were attached to (they are going to get that wrong anyway!!!). You HAVE TO have an actual paper document stating you served on the ground in South Vietnam. It didn't always have to be that way; there was a time when a photograph, a written testimonial, or the like was acceptable. No longer. So you guys that are still struggeling with this B.S. I humbly suggest you spend your energy and time in getting that one piece of paper that the idiot behind the desk at VA HAS to recognize!!!!!

Thanks for listening....tw (Chris)

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