RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 

AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS 

 

 

IN THE MATTER OF: DOCKET NUMBER: BC-2012-02279 

 

 COUNSEL: 

 

 HEARING DESIRED: NO 

 

________________________________________________________________ 

 

APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT: 

 

Her General Discharge be upgraded to Honorable. 

 

________________________________________________________________ 

 

APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT: 

 

1. Through counsel, she argues that since Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell 
(DADT) has been repealed, her characterization of service should 
be changed to honorable. 

 

2. The discharge was inappropriate; there was no credible 
evidence to support the charge of homosexuality against her at 
the time of her separation. The decision for separation was 
based solely on the applicant’s association with “a loose ring 
of confirmed homosexuals”. 

 

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

 

_______________________________________________________________ 

 

STATEMENT OF FACTS: 

 

The applicant’s military personnel records indicate she enlisted 
in the Regular Air Force on 19 Jul 49 for a period of three 
years as a Private. 

 

On 24 Oct 50, the applicant’s commander requested that an 
ongoing investigation continue in an effort to further 
substantiate a case against the applicant and ensure her 
separation from the service. 

 

On 13 Nov 50, the applicant was furnished a General discharge 
for Unsuitability under the provisions of Air Force Regulation 
35-66, Discharge of Homosexuals, and was credited with 1 year, 3 
months, and 24 days of total active service. 

 

 


The remaining relevant facts pertaining to this application are 
contained in the letters prepared by the appropriate offices of 
the Air Force which are at Exhibits C and D. 

 

________________________________________________________________ 

 

AIR FORCE EVALUATION: 

 

AFPC/DPSOS recommends approval, indicating the applicant’s 
service characterization should be corrected to reflect 
“Honorable” and the narrative reason for separation be changed 
to “Secretarial Authority”. In addition, the SPD code should 
also be changed to “JFF”. On 20 Sep 11, the law commonly known 
as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” 10 U.S.C. § 654, was repealed. The 
Department of Defense subsequently issued guidance indicating 
that Service Discharge Review Boards (DRB) should normally grant 
requests to change the narrative reason for a discharge, 
requests to re-characterize the discharge to honorable, and/or 
requests to change the reentry code when both of the following 
conditions were 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 the discharge was 
processed according to the applicable regulation, the 
applicant’s record indicates the discharge was based solely on 
DADT or a similar policy and did not involve aggravating 
factors. Accordingly, the applicant’s narrative reason for 
separation should be changed to “Secretarial Authority,” and her 
SPD code should be changed to “JFF”. 

 

A complete copy of the AFPC/DPSOS evaluation is at Exhibit C. 

 

AFPC/JA recommends approval of applicant’s characterization of 
service being upgraded to Honorable because it was based solely 
on DADT, or a similar policy in place prior to enactment of 
DADT, and the records available for review do not indicate any 
aggravating factors. There was no evidence of any homosexual 
conduct, or any attempts, or proposals to engage in homosexual 
acts. 

 

A complete copy of the AFPC/JA evaluation is at Exhibit D. 

 

AFPC/DPSOA recommends the applicant’s RE code be listed as “1” 
if it is determined a RE code should have been listed in her 
records. There is no RE code found or no known knowledge that 
one should be found on the applicant’s DD Form 214, Report of 
Separation from the Armed Forces of The United States. 

 

A complete copy of the AFPC/DPSOA evaluation is at Exhibit E. 

 

________________________________________________________________ 

 

 

 


APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION: 

 

Copies of the Air Force evaluations were forwarded to the 
applicant on 30 Aug 12 for review and comment within 30 days. 
As of this date, no response has been received by this office 
(Exhibit F). 

 

________________________________________________________________ 

 

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 injustice. In light of the 
repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT), we believe it would be 
appropriate to change the applicant’s reason and authority for 
separation to “Secretarial Authority” and correct her character 
of separation to “Honorable”. 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, Discharge Review Boards should normally grant requests to 
change the narrative reason for a discharge (the change should 
be to “Secretarial Authority” (SPD code JFF)), re-characterize 
the discharge to honorable, and/or 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. We 
note that at the time of the applicant’s discharge, RE codes 
were not annotated on DD Forms 214. Therefore, we are not 
convinced that is necessary to correct the applicant’s record to 
reflect an immediately-eligible-to-reenter RE code in accordance 
with the guidance noted above. Therefore, in view of the above, 
we recommend the applicant’s 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 the APPLICANT be corrected to show that on 
13 Nov 50, she was honorably discharged with a narrative reason 
for separation of “Secretarial Authority,” And furnished an 
honorable discharge certificate. 

 

________________________________________________________________ 

 


The following members of the Board considered AFBCMR Docket 
Number BC-2012-02279 in Executive Session on 28 Feb 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 14 May 12, w/atchs. 

 Exhibit B. Applicant’s Master Personnel Records. 

 Exhibit C. Letter, AFPC/DPSOS, dated 10 Jul 12. 

 Exhibit D. Letter, AFPC/JA, dated 31 Jul 12. 

 Exhibit E. Letter, AFPC/DPSOA, dated 28 Aug 12. 

 Exhibit F. Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 30 Aug 12 

 

 

 

 

 

 Panel Chair