APPLICANT REQUESTS:  In effect, that his general discharge be upgraded to honorable.  He states that his discharge was the result of family hardship caused by his being stationed in Germany.  His commander told him that the only way out of this hardship situation was to accept a general discharge.

PURPOSE:  To determine whether the application was submitted within the time limit established by law, and if not, whether it is in the interest of justice to excuse the failure to timely file.

EVIDENCE OF RECORD:  The applicant's military records show:

He entered active duty on 29 June 1976 and after completion of basic and advanced training was assigned to Germany.  The applicant was counseled on five occasions and received three Article 15’s.  Two of the Article 15’s were for failure to go to appointed place of duty and the third for AWOL from 
30 April to 26 May 1978.

On 12 June 1978 he voluntarily accepted his commander’s recommendation for discharge under the Expeditious Discharge Program (EDP) for failure to maintain acceptable standards for retention.  He was provided the opportunity to consult with counsel, advised of the adverse affects this discharge may have in civilian life, and did elect to submit a statement on his behalf.  On 28 June 1978 he was given a general discharge and he had 2 years active duty service and 28 days lost time.

There is no evidence that the applicant applied to the Army Discharge Review Board for upgrade of his discharge within its 15-year statute of limitations.

In l974, the Department of the Army authorized the Commander in Chief, United States Army Europe to test a new discharge program, entitled the Expeditious Discharge Program (EDP).  This program provided that an individual who had completed at least 6 months, but less than 36 months of active duty and who demonstrated (by poor attitude, lack of motivation, lack of self-discipline, inability to adapt socially or emotionally or failure to demonstrate promotion potential) that they could not or would not meet acceptable standards could be separated under the EDP.  

Title 10, U.S. Code, section 1552(b), provides that applications for correction of military records must be filed within 3 years after discovery of the alleged error or injustice.  Failure to file within 3 years may be excused by a correction board if it finds it would be in the interest of justice to do so.

DISCUSSION:  The alleged error or injustice was, or with reasonable diligence should have been discovered on,        28 June 1978 the date of discharge.  The time for the applicant to file a request for correction of any error or injustice expired on 28 June 1981.

The application is dated 12 February 1996 and the applicant has not explained or otherwise satisfactorily demonstrated by competent evidence that it would be in the interest of justice to excuse the failure to apply within the time allotted.

DETERMINATION:  The subject application was not submitted within the time required.  The applicant has not presented and the records do not contain sufficient justification to conclude that it would be in the interest of justice to grant the relief requested or to excuse the failure to file within the time prescribed by law.

BOARD VOTE:

                      EXCUSE FAILURE TO TIMELY FILE

                      GRANT FORMAL HEARING

                      CONCUR WITH DETERMINATION




		Karl F. Schneider
		Acting Director