RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS

         AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS


IN THE MATTER OF:      DOCKET NUMBER:  02-03667

            COUNSEL:  NONE

            HEARING DESIRED:  NO

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT:

Her general (under honorable  conditions)  discharge  be  upgraded  to
honorable.
_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT:

She enlisted in the Air Force in May of 1985 and left in October 1987.
 During her time in the Air Force, she took her duties  seriously  and
endeavored to excel.

She left the Air Force because she was charged with driving under  the
influence in Colorado Springs.  Although her superiors  urged  her  to
fight the violation, she chose  instead  to  just  separate  from  the
service and take the general discharge.  She has regretted her actions
and that decision ever since.  She ask the Board to take her exemplary
service record into account and to also consider  the  fact  that  the
reason for her separation was not service related, but due rather,  to
some very poor decisions in her off duty time.

She realized her off duty conduct was a poor  reflection  on  herself,
the unit, and the United States Air Force.  As she previously  stated,
she regretted her actions and behavior ever since.  Please  know  that
she has not repeated this behavior since 1987.

In support of her  application,  she  submits  a  personal  statement,
letters  of  support  from  her  employment  agency,  DD   Form   293,
Application for the Review of Discharge or Dismissal  from  the  Armed
Forces of the United States, and part of an Airman Performance Report.

Applicant's complete submission, with attachments, is at Exhibit A.

_________________________________________________________________

STATEMENT OF FACTS:

The applicant enlisted in the Regular Air Force as an airman basic  on
14 May 1985.  She was discharged under the provisions  of  AFR  39-10,
(Alcohol Abuse Rehabilitation Failure) from the Air Force on 30 Oct 87
with a general (under honorable conditions) discharge.  She  served  2
year, 5 months and 17 days of total active duty service.

On 23 Sep 87, the applicant’s  commander  notified  her  that  he  was
recommending  a  discharge  for   failure   in   the   alcohol   abuse
rehabilitation.  He recommended an honorable discharge.  The basis for
the action was between 28 Nov 86 and 26  Aug  87,  the  applicant  had
several alcohol related incidents.  On 28 Nov 86, she had an  argument
with her boyfriend and broke several  windows  in  his  barracks,  for
which she was given a Letter of  Counseling  and  agreed  to  pay  for
damage to government property.  On        10-11  Feb  87,  she  had  a
drunken argument with her boyfriend that resulted in an  investigation
by Security Police.  In Feb 87, her supervisor  wrote  an  evaluation,
stating she was moody, had problems with alcohol and counseled her for
late club bills.  She voluntarily entered alcohol rehabilitation on 12
Feb 87.  On    26 Aug 87, she was arrested by  civil  authorities  for
being involved in a car accident in which her alcohol level was  above
the limit (.169).  On 21 Nov 87, Alcohol Rehabilitation Program  staff
determined she failed to successfully complete the program.  Applicant
consulted with counsel and waived her right to submit statements.  The
commander and JA recommended an honorable discharge without  probation
and rehabilitation.  The Discharge Authority reviewed  the  separation
package and stated a general discharge was warranted  because  of  her
numerous counseling  and  her  civil  arrest.   For  this  reason,  he
determined a general discharge without  probation  rehabilitation  was
more appropriate.

_________________________________________________________________

AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

AFPC/DPPRS recommended denial and states based upon the  documentation
in the file the discharge  was  consistent  with  the  procedural  and
substantive requirements of the discharge  regulation.   Additionally,
the discharge was within the discretion of  the  discharge  authority.
The applicant did not submit any new evidence or identify  any  errors
or injustices that occurred in the discharge processing.  She provided
no other facts warranting an upgrade of the  discharge.   Accordingly,
they recommend her records remain the same and her request be  denied.


AFPC/DPPRS complete evaluation is at Exhibit C.

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

The applicant  reviewed  the  evaluation  and  stated  that  both  her
commander and the judge advocate recommended  an  honorable  discharge
without probation and rehabilitation.  They did this because they knew
that her behavior was  attributed  solely  to  her  relationship  with
Airman Whitaker.  They also  knew  that  aside  from  this  nine-month
period of time she was an excellent  troop  where  she  received  high
marks on her evaluations.   She  graduated  Air  Base  Ground  Defense
School, she was also  one  of  the  few  females  to  be  successfully
stationed at NORAD during the mid 80’s where she was  given  extremely
sensitive assignments to include the position of “Protocol.”  She  was
very proud of that fact  and  of  her  other  accomplishments  in  the
military.

She truly hopes that the Board takes not only the  facts  as  she  has
given them to the Board, but that the Board incorporates her  military
record when considering  her  request.   The  reasons  listed  in  the
advisory opinion are somewhat exaggerated  in  that  several  alcohol-
related incidents was in fact only  two.   The  investigation  by  the
Security Police was in Airman  Whitaker’s  assault  on  her,  not  her
behavior.  The failure in alcohol rehabilitation stems from her  being
charged  with  driving  under  the  influence  and  she   takes   full
responsibility for that as with everything else.  There were no  other
derogatory remarks on her evaluations and the  advisory  opinion  does
not reflect the entire story.  She did not go into such detail on  her
original request, as she was not aware that it was appropriate  to  do
so nor did she know what the advisory opinion would contain.

It is at this point in closing that she wants to thank the  Board  for
their attention to this matter.  That period was a difficult  time  in
her life.  She was young and obviously lacked maturity in dealing with
that entire situation.  However, she do not want her indiscretions  in
dealing with that to overshadow all of her military service  in  which
she is very proud of.  Therefore, she respectfully  request  that  the
advisory opinion be reversed and that the Board grant her  request  to
upgrade her discharge from general to honorable.

Applicant’s complete submission is at Exhibit E.

_________________________________________________________________

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  probable  error  or  injustice.   After  reviewing  the
discharge action taken against the applicant,  we  find  no  error  or
injustice occurred.  However, based on the applicant’s overall  record
and noting that the commander and staff judge advocate recommended she
received an honorable, we believe the type of discharge  received  was
harsh.  In view of the above findings, we recommend her  discharge  be
upgraded to honorable.

_________________________________________________________________
THE BOARD RECOMMENDS THAT:

The pertinent military records of the  Department  of  the  Air  Force
relating to APPLICANT, be corrected to show that on 30  October  1987,
she was honorably discharged  and  furnished  an  Honorable  Discharge
Certificate.

_________________________________________________________________

The following members of the Board considered Docket  Number  02-03786
in Executive Session on 12 February 2003, under the provisions of  AFI
36-2603:


            Mr. Albert F. Lowas, Jr., Panel Chair
            Mr. William H. Anderson, Member
            Mr. James W. Russell III, Member

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

      Exhibit A. DD Form 149, dated 30 Nov 02, w/atchs.
      Exhibit B. Applicant's Master Personnel Records.
      Exhibit C. Letter, AFPC/DPPRS, dated 9 Feb 01.
      Exhibit D. Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 2 Mar 01.
      Exhibit E. Applicant Response, dated 31 Dec 02.





                                   ALBERT F. LOWAS, JR.
                                   Panel Chair