How do you interpret negative ASR points on honorable discharge papers from 1945?

Melissa Smith — Mon, 17 Jul 2023 07:26:53 -0400

My grandfathers honorable discharge papers from 1945 state ASR SCORE -25. I looked up the scoring system and he should have had more than 25 and I'm confused about the dash. Is it just a dash or is it possible to have negative ASR points?

Response by COL Randall C. made Jul 17 at 2023 7:58 AM

COL Randall C. — Mon, 17 Jul 2023 07:58:01 -0400

You are correct, there were no negative ASR points. According to the National WWII Museum*, Adjusted Service Rating (ASR) points started from zero and were only added to, so there wouldn't have been any subtractions let alone enough that would give a -25 score.

Most likely it was just a badly positioned dash. What is odd though is that it didn't have the date of the calculation next to the ASR score. Almost every WWII discharge paper (for the Army) I've seen had the dates include (i.e., ASR SCORE (2 SEP 45) - 61)
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* https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/points-system-us-armys-demobilization

The Points Were All That Mattered: The US Army’s Demobilization After World War II | The National...

When World War II ended in Europe, American soldiers feverishly began calculating how soon they might go home based on a newly instituted point system.