RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
             AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

IN THE MATTER OF:      DOCKET NUMBER: BC-2006-03334
            INDEX CODE:  110.02
            COUNSEL:  NONE
            HEARING DESIRED:  NO

MANDATORY CASE COMPLETION DATE: Apr 30, 2008

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT:

Her narrative reason for separation of personality disorder  be  changed  to
convenience of the government or some neutral “phrase”.

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT:

She does not have a personality disorder.

Having something like that on her discharge could make  it  hard  to  obtain
employment.

Her discharge could cause problems with her current employer.

In support of her request, the applicant has provided a court order  showing
her name change, a letter from her doctor,  and  a  copy  of  DD  Form  214,
Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty.

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

_________________________________________________________________

STATEMENT OF FACTS:

The applicant entered the active duty Air Force on 8  Dec  94.   She  served
for a period of 4 years, 8 months, and 17 days.

On 23 Sep 98, the applicant received an Article  15  with  a  reprimand  for
making a false official statement and disorderly conduct.   She  received  a
suspended reduction in grade and pay, and seven days extra duty.

On 23 Sep 98, the applicant began mental health treatment.

On 1  Jun  99,  the  applicant  was  diagnosed  with  schizoid  or  avoidant
personality traits.

On 9 Jun 99, medical professionals concluded the applicant had an    Axis  I
diagnosis of Adjustment Disorder with Mixed Anxiety and Depressed Mood,  and
an Axis II diagnosis of Schizoid Personality  Disorder.   Additionally,  she
was  deemed  unsuitable  for  continued  military  service  based   on   the
Personality Disorder.

On 15 Jul 99, the applicant was notified of a referral enlisted  performance
report  (EPR).   Specifically,  her  EPR  had  markings  in   Section   III,
Evaluation and Performance, and comments in  Section  V,  Rater’s  Comments,
caused the report to be a referral report.   The  comments  included,  “does
not meet Air Force weight standard; exceeds maximum allowed weight and  body
fat; provided  unacceptable  customer  service  while  augmenting  the  base
telephone switchboard.”

On 6 Aug 99, the applicant was notified of pending discharge  actions.   She
consulted counsel and waived her right  to  submit  statements  in  her  own
behalf.

The applicant was discharged on 25 Aug 99 with an honorable  discharge  with
the narrative reason of Personality Disorder.

On 26 Jun 06, the Air Force Discharge Review Board  denied  the  applicant’s
request to change her authority and narrative reason for discharge.

_________________________________________________________________

AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

The BCMR Medical Consultant recommends denial of the applicant’s request.

Personality  Disorders  are  enduring  patterns   of   perception,   coping,
emotions,  and  behavior  that  deviate  from  the   expectations   of   the
individual’s culture (including occupational),  and  leads  to  distress  or
impairment.

Over  9  months  after  discharge,   on   15   Jun   02,   the   applicant’s
counselor/psychotherapist wrote that “she does not  meet  the  criteria  for
diagnosis  as   having   “Schizoid   Personality   Disorder,   Schizotypical
Personality Disorder or any other Personality Disorder diagnosis.”   He  did
not provide any formal diagnosis, but indicated that he had treated her  for
an Adjustment Disorder.

On 20 Sep 06, the applicant’s  counselor/psychotherapist  again  wrote  that
“she does not meet the criteria as having  Schizoid  Personality  Disorder.”
He did not provide any diagnosis.

Although the applicant’s civilian counselor feels that  the  applicant  does
not have a Personality Disorder, it would not be surprising that  she  might
appear normal when not exposed to the rigors of military service.  The  fact
that she may be functioning well at this time at  home  is  consistent  with
the diagnosis of Adjustment Disorder.  However, it  does  not  predict  that
she will respond well to the stresses of  military  operations,  deployment,
or combat when she is separated from her  familiar  surroundings  and  usual
support system of family and friends, or is  assigned  duties  that  do  not
suit her.  Her past experience manifested by  the  inability  to  cope  with
military  service  is  predictive  of  an  unacceptable  risk   history   of
Personality Disorder if re-exposed to the rigors of  military  training  and
service.

A history of Personality Disorder severe enough  to  warrant  administrative
discharge  is  disqualifying  for  reenlistment  into  the  military.    The
diagnosis of Schizoid Personality Disorder was  based  on  the  findings  of
psychometric testing, not merely based on subjective observations.

It appears that the applicant’s chain of command  correctly  recognized  her
psychological  problems  to  explain   her   behavioral   and   occupational
difficulties.  It is  conceivable  that  without  the  Personality  Disorder
diagnosis, a discharge for misconduct would have been considered.

The preponderance of evidence of  the  record  shows  that  the  applicant’s
administrative separation due  to  Personality  Disorder  was  appropriately
managed.  Action and disposition in  this  case  are  proper  and  equitable
reflecting compliance with Air Force directives that implement the law.

The BCMR Medical Consultant is of the opinion that no change in the  records
is warranted.

The BCMR Medical Consultant’s complete evaluation is at Exhibit C.

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

The applicant’s doctor provided an assessment of the applicant’s  condition.
 He stated she does not meet the  criteria  for  a  diagnosis  of  “Schizoid
Personality Disorder.”  She was treated for  mild  depression  with  anxiety
(DD NOS).  She also showed some symptoms of post traumatic  stress  disorder
(PTSD) which appear to be related  to  the  traumatic  experience  of  being
given an Article 15 for doing her job as she understood it should  be  done.
It is for this reason and not because she wants  to  reenlist  that  she  is
seeking a change to the diagnosis of Schizoid  Personality  Disorder  listed
on her discharge.  It would seem that changing this to “Adjustment  Disorder
with Mixed Anxiety and Depressed Mood” would meet her needs  and  adequately
reflect what was happening with her at the time.

He further stated he has observed her and made  assessments  over  a  5-year
period, starting  only  9  months  after  her  discharge  and  this  clearly
reflects more accuracy than  a  single  interview  with  psychometric  tests
could have shown prior to  her  discharge.     Some  persons  with  mild  to
moderate depression with anxiety can withdraw emotionally and evidence  some
of the symptoms of Schizoid personality disorder.  This may  have  been  the
case when the applicant was serving in the military.   Lastly,  he  strongly
recommends that the diagnosis on the applicant’s DD Form 214 be  changed  to
Adjustment Disorder with Mixed Anxiety and Depressed Mood which is what  she
was being treated for in 1998 and 1999.

The complete response is at Exhibit E.

_________________________________________________________________

ADDITIONAL AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

Based on comments made by the applicant’s doctor, an  additional  evaluation
was requested from the BCMR Medical Consultant (Exhibit F).

The BCMR Medical Consultant states that  at  the  time  of  the  applicant’s
separation from the Air Force, the only available options for the  narrative
reason for a separation were limited.  Personality Disorder was  essentially
the only  option  available  for  members  who  were  being  discharged  for
Adjustment Disorder.  The “Personality Disorder” reason for  separation  was
assigned based on her Axis 1 diagnosis of  Adjustment  Disorder  with  Mixed
Anxiety  and  Depressed  Mood.   The  discharge  authority  did  not  assign
Personality Disorder as the reason for the applicant’s discharge because  of
her Axis II diagnosis of  Schizoid  Personality  Disorder.   On  2  Feb  07,
Adjustment Disorder was approved as a  valid  separation  code.   While  the
option to use this code was not available at the  time  of  the  applicant’s
discharge, the need for a separate code for  Adjustment  Disorder  has  long
been recognized by medical authorities, to lessen the stigma  of  this  type
of discharge.

The preponderance of evidence of record shows that  the  applicant’s  reason
for separation  was  appropriately  assigned  at  the  time  of  separation,
although a member with the same condition nine years later, in  2007,  would
have been  assigned  a  reason  for  separation  of  “Adjustment  Disorder.”
Action and disposition in this case  are  proper  and  equitable  reflecting
compliance with Air Force directives that implement the law.

The BCMR Medical Consultant’s complete evaluation is at Exhibit G.

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT’S REVIEW OF ADDITIONAL AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

A copy of the Air Force evaluation was forwarded to the applicant on 11  Sep
07 for review and comment within 30 days (Exhibit  H).   As  of  this  date,
this office has not received a response.

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  error  or  injustice.   We  note  that  at  the  time  of  her
discharge, the narrative reason of Adjustment Disorder  was  not  available;
however, an individual separating today with the  same  condition  would  be
assigned  a  narrative  reason  of  Adjustment  Disorder.   Accordingly,  we
conclude it would be unfair and an injustice for her to continue  to  suffer
the adverse effects of the  characterization  of  Personality  Disorder  and
further  conclude  that,  in  the  interest  of  justice,  the   applicant’s
narrative  reason  should  be  changed  to  Secretarial  Authority  and  her
separation code should be changed to “JFF”.   Therefore,  we  recommend  her
records be corrected to the extent indicated below.

_________________________________________________________________

THE BOARD DETERMINES THAT:

The  pertinent  military  records  of  the  Department  of  the  Air   Force
pertaining to APPLICANT, be corrected to show that, on 25 August  1999,  she
was  separated  under  the  provisions  of  AFI   36-3208,   paragraph   1.2
(Secretarial Authority) with a Separation Program Designator code of  “JFF”.


_________________________________________________________________

The following members of the Board considered  Docket  Number  BC-2006-03334
in Executive Session on 24 October 2007, under the  provisions  of  AFI  36-
2603:

      Mr. Michael V. Barbino, Panel Chair
      Mr. James A. Wolffe, Member
      Ms. Lea Gallogly, Member

The following documentary evidence was  considered  Docket  Number  BC-2006-
03334:

    Exhibit A.  DD Form 149, w/atchs, dated 9 Oct 06.
    Exhibit B.  Applicant's Master Personnel Records.
    Exhibit C.  Memorandum, BCMR Medical Consultant,
                Dated 8 Aug 07.
    Exhibit D.  Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 10 Aug 07.
    Exhibit E.  Applicant’s Medical Rebuttal, dated 30 Aug 07.
    Exhibit F.  AFBCMR Letter, dated 10 Sep 07.
    Exhibit G.  Memorandum, BCMR Medical Consultant,
                Dated 10 Sep 07.
    Exhibit H.  Letter, AFBCMR, dated 11 Sep 07.




                                   MICHAEL V. BARBINO
                                   Panel Chair







      AFBCMR BC-2006-03334






      MEMORANDUM FOR THE CHIEF OF STAFF


            Having received and considered the recommendation of the Air
      Force Board for Correction of Military Records and under the authority
      of Section 1552, Title 10, United States Code (70A Stat 116), it is
      directed:


            The pertinent military records of  the  Department  of  the  Air
      Force relating to XXXXX, be corrected to show that on 25 August  1999,
      she was separated under the provisions of AFI 36-3208,  paragraph  1.2
      (Secretarial Authority) with a  Separation Program Designator code  of
      JFF.








                                                             JOE G.
      LINEBERGER
                                                             Director
                                                             Air Force
      Review Board Agency