RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 

AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS 

 

IN THE MATTER OF: DOCKET NUMBER: BC-2011-01042 

 COUNSEL: NONE 

 HEARING DESIRED: NO 

 

_________________________________________________________________ 

 

APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT: 

 

His DD Form 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active 
Duty be corrected as follows: 

 

 1. Block 24 (Character of Service) which reflects 
“Uncharacterized” be changed to reflect “Honorable.” 

 

 2. Block 28 (Narrative Reason for Separation) which reflects 
“Entry Level Performance and Conduct” be changed to reflect 
“Failed National Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) Test.” 

 

 3. He receive a DD Form 214, with Block 21 “signed,” rather 
than the statement “Member not Available to Sign.” 

 

_________________________________________________________________ 

 

APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT: 

 

The statement on his DD Form 214 “Entry Level Performance and 
Conduct” is unfair as it implies that his performance as well as 
his conduct were questionable, and would lead one to believe 
negative performance and conduct was the reason for his 
discharge. 

 

He has been turned down for many jobs after being questioned 
about his Air Force service and showing his DD Form 214. 

 

He was told that he would receive an honorable discharge. He 
successfully completed Basic Military Training (BMT) and the 
basic course for entry into the Emergency Medical Technician 
(EMT) field. The requirement to continue in this career field 
required passing the National Registry Emergency Medical 
Technician test. 

 

He completed 6 months and 10 days of honorable military service 
and his conduct during BMT and medical school were never in 
question. 

 

The statement on his DD Form 214 “Member Not Available to Sign” 
is not a true statement. He was available to sign his DD Form 
214. 

 


In support of his request, the applicant provides a personal 
statement. 

 

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

 

_________________________________________________________________ 

 

STATEMENT OF FACTS: 

 

On 28 Dec 09, the applicant enlisted in the Regular Air Force for 
a period of six years, as an Aerospace Medical Service Helper. 

 

On 25 Jun 10, the applicant was notified by his squadron 
commander that he was recommending his discharge from the Air 
Force for entry level performance or conduct for failure to make 
satisfactory progress in a required training program. The reason 
for the proposed action was the applicant failed the National 
Registry Emergency Medical Technician Apprentice (Phase I) course 
and was disenrolled from the Aerospace Medical Services 
Apprentice course on 17 Jun 10. Prior to disenrollment he was 
washed back three times, received 30 hours of additional 
instruction and counseling, and attended classes at the Wing 
Learning and Development Center. 

 

On 21 Jun 10, the applicant acknowledged receipt of the 
notification of discharge and waived his right to consult legal 
counsel and submit statements in his own behalf. 

 

On 30 Jun 10, the base legal office found the case legally 
sufficient to support the separation, and on 6 Jul 10, the 
discharge authority directed an entry-level separation. 

 

On 7 Jul 10, the applicant was discharged by reason of entry 
level performance and conduct, and issued an RE code of 2C. He 
served on active duty for a period of 6 months and 10 days. 

 

_________________________________________________________________ 

 

AIR FORCE EVALUATION: 

 

AFPC/DPSOS recommends denial. DPSOS states based on 
documentation on file in the master personnel records, the 
discharge to include the service characterization was 
appropriately administered and within the discretion of the 
discharge authority. The applicant did not provide any evidence 
of an error or injustice that occurred in the processing of his 
discharge warranting a change to his character of service, 
separation code, or narrative reason for separation. 

 

Airmen are given entry-level separation/uncharacterized service 
characterization when separation is initiated in the first 


180 days of continuous active service. The Department of Defense 
(DoD) determined if a member served less than 180 days continuous 
active service, it would be unfair to the member and the service 
to characterize their limited service. Therefore, his 
uncharacterized service is correct and in accordance with DoD and 
Air Force instructions. 

 

IAW AFI 36-3208, Paragraph 1.19.1, airman are in entry level 
status during the first 180 days of continuous active military 
service or the first 180 days of continuous active military 
service after a break of more than 92 days of active service. 
Entry level separations are determined when the commander 
initiates the separation action. The applicant’s commander 
initiated separation action on 25 Jun 10, at that time he had 
served on active duty for 179 days. 

 

The complete DPSOS evaluation is at Exhibit C. 

 

AFPC/DPSOY recommends denial of the applicant’s request for a 
corrected DD Form 214. DPSOY states that due to the electronic 
format of the DD Form 214 Worksheet (WS), there is not an option 
to leave this area blank for a customer’s signature. The 
electronic format of the DD Form 214 is based on HQ AFPC 
assisting Active Duty retirees/separatees, to accomplish DD Form 
214’s for customers out in the field, rather than the local MPF. 
There are few exceptions that AFPC does not accomplish the form, 
Technical Schools is one of the few. The electronic format of 
the form is not tailored for the exceptions. 

 

The complete DPSOY evaluation is at Exhibit D. 

 

_________________________________________________________________ 

 

APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION: 

 

On 17 Jun 11, copies of the Air Force evaluation were forwarded 
to the applicant for review and comment within 30 days. To date, 
a response has not been received (Exhibit E). 

 

_________________________________________________________________ 

 

THE BOARD CONCLUDES THAT: 

 

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

 

2. The application was timely filed. 

 

3. Insufficient relevant evidence has been presented to 
demonstrate the existence of error or injustice. The applicant’s 
entry-level separation appears to be in compliance with the 
governing instruction and we find no evidence that his separation 


from the Air Force was inappropriate. Airmen are given an 
uncharacterized entry-level separation when separation is 
initiated in the first 180 days of continuous active service. 
The Department of Defense (DoD) determined if a member served 
less than 180 days of continuous active service, it would be 
unfair to the member and the service to characterize their 
limited service. An uncharacterized entry-level separation 
should not be viewed as negative and should not be confused with 
other types of separations. Therefore, we find no error or 
injustice regarding this matter and find the applicant’s 
uncharacterized entry-level separation is appropriate. 
Additionally, the applicant states that he was available to sign 
his DD Form 214. We note the electronic format of the DD Form 
214 is now being used, and is not tailored for exceptions. 
Accordingly, his requests for a change to his character of 
service and a DD Form 214 that includes his signature are not 
favorably considered. 

 

4. Notwithstanding the above, we do find that some relief is 
warranted in this case. We find the narrative reason for his 
entry-level separation; i.e., entry-level performance or conduct, 
to be overly harsh. In our deliberations of this case, it 
appeared to us that the word “conduct” could be misconstrued to 
infer that his entry level separation was also due to misconduct. 
While the applicant failed the National Registry Emergency 
Medical Technician exam four times and had problems progressing 
in the required technical training course, we have seen no 
evidence of misconduct. Therefore, in order to correct an 
injustice of improperly labeling the applicant, his narrative 
reason for separation should be corrected to accurately reflect 
the circumstances of his separation by deleting the words “and 
conduct” from his narrative reason for separation. In view of 
the foregoing, we recommend his records be corrected to the 
extent indicated below. 

 

_________________________________________________________________ 

 

THE BOARD RECOMMENDS THAT: 

 

The pertinent military records of the Department of the Air Force 
relating to APPLICANT, be corrected by deleting the words “and 
conduct” from Block 28 (Narrative Reason for Separation) on his 
DD Form 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active 
Duty, issued on 7 July 2010. 

 

_________________________________________________________________ 

 

The following members of the Board considered AFBCMR Docket Number 
BC-2011-01042 in Executive Session on 2 Aug 11, under the 
provisions of AFI 36-2603: 

 

 


 

, Panel Chair 

, Member 

, Member 

 

All members voted to correct the records, as recommended. The 
following documentary evidence pertaining to Docket Number 
BC-2011-01042 was considered: 

 

 Exhibit A. DD Form 149, dated 19 Feb 11, w/atchs. 

 Exhibit B. Applicant's Master Personnel Records. 

 Exhibit C. Letter, AFPC/DPSOS, dated 23 May 11. 

 Exhibit D. Letter, AFPC/DPSOY, dated 3 Jun 11. 

 Exhibit E. Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 17 Jun 11. 

 

 

 

 

 

 Panel Chair