RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS


IN THE MATTER OF:	DOCKET NUMBER:  BC-2012-05515

		COUNSEL:  NONE

		HEARING DESIRED:  NO


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APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT:

Her under other than honorable conditions (UOTHC) discharge be upgraded to honorable.

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APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT:

She received a UOTHC discharge on 8 Feb 62 solely due to her sexual orientation.  She served honorably before being removed from service.  The current DoD policy has opened the path for correction of this injustice from 50 years ago.  

The applicant’s complete submission, with attachments, is at Exhibit A.

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STATEMENT OF FACTS:

The applicant entered the Air Force on 17 Nov 59.

On 8 Feb 62, the applicant was furnished an UOTHC discharge, with a reason for separation of “257,” a Reentry (RE) Code of “2,” and was credited with 2 years, 2 months, and 22 days of active service.   

On 10 Sep 11, the Under Secretary of Defense issued guidance pertaining to correction of military records requests resulting from the repeal of Title 10, Section 654, commonly known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT).”  In a memorandum, dated 20 Sep 11, the Under Secretary of Defense published guidance that Service Discharge Review Boards should normally grant requests to change the narrative reason for discharge (the change should be to “Secretarial Authority”), requests to re-characterize the discharge to honorable, and/or request a change to the RE to an immediately-eligible-to-reenter category when both of the following conditions are met: (1) the original discharge was based solely on DADT or a similar policy in place prior to enactment of DADT and (2) there were no aggravating factors in the record, such as misconduct.  Although each request must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, the award of an honorable or general (under honorable conditions) discharge should normally be considered to indicate the absence of aggravating factors.

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THE BOARD CONCLUDES THAT:

1.  The applicant has exhausted all remedies provided by existing law or regulations.

2.  The application was not timely filed; however, it is in the interest of justice to excuse the failure to timely file. 

3.  Sufficient relevant evidence has been presented to demonstrate the existence of an error or injustice.  The applicant is requesting her UOTHC discharge be upgraded based on the repeal of DADT.  No evidence has been presented which would lead us to believe her discharge was improper or contrary to the directive under which it was affected at the time of her separation.  However, in light of the repeal of DADT, it would be appropriate to upgrade the applicant’s UOTHC discharge, change the narrative reason for separation to “Secretarial Authority,” and correct her separation program designator (SPD) and reentry (RE) codes accordingly.  In accordance with Under Secretary of Defense (Personnel and Readiness) guidance memorandum, Correction of Military Records Following Repeal of Section 654 of Title 10, United States Code, dated 20 September 2011, Service Discharge Review Boards should normally grant requests to change the narrative reason for a discharge (the change should be to “Secretarial Authority” and SPD code KFF)), requests to recharacterize the discharge to honorable, and/or requests to change the RE code to an immediately-eligible-to-reenter category (the new RE code should be RE code 1J) when both of the following conditions are met: (1) the original discharge was based solely on DADT or a similar policy in place prior to enactment of DADT and (2) there were no aggravating factors in the record, such as misconduct.  The award of an honorable or general discharge should normally be considered to indicate the absence of aggravating factors.  Based on our review of the evidence of record, the applicant’s discharge meets these requirements.  Therefore, we recommend the applicant’s record be corrected as indicated below.

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THE BOARD RECOMMENDS THAT:

The pertinent military records of the Department of the Air Force relating to the APPLICANT, be corrected to show that on 8 February 1962, she received an Honorable discharge with a reason for separation of “Secretarial Authority” rather than “AFR 39-17,” a separation program designator (SPD) code of “KFF” rather than “257,” and a reentry (RE) code of “1J” rather than “2.”

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The following members of the Board considered AFBCMR Docket Number BC-2012-05515 in Executive Session on 22 Oct 13, under the provisions of AFI 36-2603:

	Panel Chair
	Member
	Member

All members voted to correct the records as recommended.  The following documentary evidence was considered:

     Exhibit A.  DD Form 149, dated 24 Nov 12, w/atchs.
     Exhibit B.  Applicant's Master Personnel Records.




			
			Panel Chair