AIR FORCE DISCHARGE REVIEW BOARD DECISIONAL RATIONALE 

I CASENUMBER 
FD-0 1 -000 17 

GENERAL:  The applicant appealed for upgrade of his discharge frombailreofiduct to h6-k 
applicant appeared and testified before the Discharge Review Board (DRB), without counsel, at Andrews 
AFB, MD, on April 5,2001. 

The 

The attached brief contains the available pertinent data on the applicant and the factors leading to the 
discharge. 

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FINDINGS: Upgrade of the discharge to honorable was not approved. 

The Board found the record did not substantiate a reason to grant clemency. 

The applicant's original issues were: (1) His discharge was inequitable because it was based on one isolated 
incident; (2) When he was tried, the Base Commander was more likely to approve a bad-conduct discharge 
than lesser punishment.  Thus his discharge was inequitable; (3) Out of eight individuals involved in the 
thefts, only one other member was punished more harshly; (4) The applicant's  lawyer told him his 
commander would recommend a general discharge.  However, his commander later preferred charges 
against him; and (5) He and only one other individual were court-martialed.  Thus, his discharge was 
inequitable. 
The applicant was briefed that the DRB could only consider clemency, as it could not use inequity or 
impropriety as a basis for relief.  The applicant admitted he discussed stealing with a SrA who worked at a 
department store downtown.  She also told the applicant she could "hook him up" with items if he stole for 
her.  The applicant admitted he did steal from the store on multiple occasions by taking items to the cash 
register and his accomplice would only charge for lower priced items.  Later, the applicant worked there 
and stole several pieces of merchandise by moving them to a pickup point where others would take the 
items without paying for them.  The applicant discussed his thefts in front of other members of his squadron 
and solicited two others to obtain stolen merchandise.  Later, the applicant and the SrA who worked at the 
stereo conspired to steal several items from the McGuire AFB BX.  The applicant would return 
merchandise and received cash as well as replacement merchandise.  The applicant explained that he was  . 
young and impressionable at the time.  He saw an opportunity to get items at little or no cost and took 
advantage of it.  He said he was not the prime actor in the scheme, but admitted he was heavily involved. 
He admitted the items he stole were valued at several hundred dollars and he stole from the department 
store on 4-5 occasions and BX on 2-3 occasions.  He said he was punished at the court-martial, but that the 
bad-conduct discharge was too harsh.  He said it would follow him for the rest of his life.  Since his 
discharge, he has worked at a variety of jobs.  He is currently employed at a hospital in North Carolina as a 
supply manager. 
CONCLUSIONS: The Discharge Review Board concluded that the applicant presented no evidence to 
justify clemency.  The Board noted that the member pled guilty to several serious crimes, any of which 
could justify a punitive discharge.  In addition, he conspired to further these thefts and brought third parties 
into the crimes. 

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In view of the foregoing findings the Board further concluded there existed no basis for clemency and the 
applicant's discharge was not upgraded. 

Attachment: 
Examiner's Brief 

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DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FOR~E' - 
AIR FORCE DISCHARGE REVIEW BOARD 

ANDREWS A m ,  MD 

ED-01-00017 

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1  *.w"sv-w. 

(Former AB) 

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1.  MATTER UNDER REVIEW:  Appl rec'd  a BCD Disch fr USAF 99/10/12 UP  AFI 36-3208 
(Court Martial).  Appeals for Honorable Disch. 

2.  BACKGROUND: 

a. DOB: 75/02/11.  Enlmt Age: 18 5/12.  Disch Age: 24 8/12. Educ:HS DIPL. 

AFQT: N/A.  A-68,  E-50,  G-41,  M-26. PAFSC: 3A051 -  Information Management. 
DAS: 94/03/09. 

b.  Prior Sv: AFRes 93/07/15 -  93/12/07 (4 months 23 days)(Inactive). 

3.  SERVICE UNDER REVIEW: 

a.  Enld as AB 93/12/08 for 4 yrs.  Svd: 5 Yrs 10 Mo 5 Das, all AMs. 

b.  Grade Status:  AB -  99/02/03 (SPCMO No.4, 99/03/10) 

SRA  -  97/01/08 
A1C -  95/04/08 
AMN  -  94/06/08 

c.  Time Lost:  none. 

d.  Art 15's:  none. 

e.  Additional: none. 

f.  CM:  Special Court Martial No.4 -  99 March 10. 

CHARGE I:  Article 81. 
Specification 1:  Did, at or near Wrightstown, New Jersey, on 
divers occasions between o/a 1 Nov 97 and o/a 31 Dec 97, conspire 
with SRA  ------- to commit an offense under the UCMJ, to wit: 
, and in order to 
larceny of cash and property of the ---------- 
effect the object of the conspiracy,did, bring old compact disks 
to the Customer Service Desk to exchange for cash.  Plea:  Guilty. 
Finding:  Guilty. 

Specification 2:  Did, at or near Wrightstown, New Jersey, on 
divers occasions between o/a 1 Jan 97, and o/a 31 Jan 98, conspire 
with SRA  -------  to commit an offense under the UCMJ, to wit: 
larceny of merchandise, of a value of over $100.00, the property 
of ------------- , and in order to effect the conspiracy, did place 
the merchandise at locations to be removed from the store without 
rendering payment.  Plea:  Guilty.  Finding:  Guilty. 

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Specification 3:  Did, at or near WrigkCskown, New~YR?T~ey,-on 
divers occasions between o/a 1 Jan 97  and o/a 31  Jan 9 8 ,   conspire 
with SRA  -------  and -------  to commit an offense under the UCMJ, 
to wit: larceny of merchandise, of a value of over $100.00, the 
, and in order to effect the-oh&ect  of the 
property of __-__------- 
conspiracy, did, take items through the checkout without .-  rendering 
payment.  Plea:  Guilty.  Finding:  Guilty. 

CHARGE 11:  Article 1 2 1 .  

Specification 1:  Did, at or near McGuire AFB, New Jersey, on 
divers occasions between o/a 1 Nov 97  and 31  Dec 97,  steal cash of 
a value of over $100.00 and five compact disks, of some value, the 
property of ---------- .  Plea:  Guilty.  Finding:  Guilty. 
Specification 2:  Did, at or near Wrightstown, New Jersey, on 
divers occasions between o/a 1 Jan 97  and 31  Jan 98,  steal 
merchandise of a value of over $100.00, the property of -------. 
Plea:  Guilty.  Finding:  Guilty.  Sentence adjudged on 3  Feb 99: 
Rdn to E-1, hard labor without confinement for 3  mon 
Bad Conduct Discharge. 

hs, and a 

9.  Record of SV: 9 3 / 1 2 / 0 8  
9 5 / 0 8 / 0 8  
9 6 / 0 3 / 1 1  
9 7 / 0 3 / 1 1  

(Discharged from McGuire AFB) 

9 5 / 0 8 / 0 7   McGuire AFB  5  (Initia 
) 
9 6 / 0 3 / 1 0   McGuire AFB  4 
9 7 / 0 3 / 1 0   McGuire AFB  5  (Annual 
(Annual 
9 8 / 0 3 / 1 0   McGuire AFB  4 

(CRO) 

h.  Awards &  Decs:  JSAM, AFAM, AFLSAR, AFTR, AFSM, HSM, NCOPMER, AFOUA W/2 

DEV, JMUA W/1 DEV, AFGCM. 

i.  Stmt of Sv:  TMS:  ( 6 )   Yrs  (2) Mos  ( 2 8 )   Das 
TAMS:  ( 5 )  Yrs  ( 1 0 )   Mos  ( 5 )   Das 

4 .   EASIS ADVANCED FOR  REVIEW:  Appln  (DD Fm 2 9 3 )   dtd 6 0 / 1 2 / 0 1 .  

(Change Discharge to Honorable) 

Issue 1:  My discharge was inequitable because it was based one  (sic) 

isolated incident in 5  years of service with no other adverse action. 

Issue 2 :   At the time of my court martial, the Base Commander was more 

likely to approve a "bad conduct" discharge or worse then receive approve lesser 
punishment.  Thus, my discharge is inequitable. 

Issue 3:  Out of the eight Air Force individuals involved in the -----  and - 
investigation.  Only Amn ------  and myself was court martial.  The other 

_--- 
individuals received Article 15's or lesser punishments.  Thus, my discharge is 
inequitable. 

Issue 4:  At the time of the investigation, my lawyer had informed me Chat 
my commander was go.i.n$-t-~..-give  me a general discharge.  We later found out that 
the ----- Commander pushed for a special court martial, to make an example out 

of me to other members of the --------.  Making my d-ischarge improper. 

I 

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EDO1-00017 

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01/01/12/ia 

Issue 5:  Only myself and one other individual was court martial out of the 

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13 charged by OSI.  Thus, making my discharge inequitable. 
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ATCH 
1. Applicant Letter. 
2. Request for Clemency. 
3. Statement to the Court. 
4. Performance Award. 
5. Certificate of Appreciation. 
6. Four Performance Awards. 
7. Two Nominations for Award. 
8. Air Force Achievement Medal. 
9. Four Letters of Appreciation. 
10. Four Character References. 

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December 1,2000 

SAFMIBR 
550-C Street West;  Suite 40 
Randolph AFB, TX 78150-4742 

Ladies and Gentlemen: 

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First I would like to begin by apologizing once again to the United States Air Force.  I’m truly sorry and 
ashamed of what I did.  To these day there is no excuse for my actions or my conduct. 
I made a terrible decision in  1997 and early  1998.  Since my court martial and discharge from the United 
States Air Force, I have asked God for forgiveness.  I have repeatedly said I’m sorry to my family, friends 
and former squadron members for letting them down. 

To begin, on May 20,  1998,OSI called me in to question me about the suspected thefts at the BX.  The OS1 
agents read me my rights.  I waived my right to remain silent 
OS1 about my involvement with the 
partment store.  Despite, this, I told 
thefts from the BX.  OS1 did not ask 
OS1 about  my  involvement with th 
they  could search my  dorm room. 
They told me that I did not have to 
earch my room. However, I gave them permission to search 
my room so that they could obtain the stolen merchandise.  OS1 asked me if I would help them with their 
investigation of someone else involved with thefts from the BX.  I agreed to help them and I went out and 
obtained additional information about other individuals involved in the thefts. 

While many other individuals were implicated in the OS1 investigation, most of them received Article  15s 
or other forms of punishment less sever than a court-martial. For a long time I could never understand why 
I was being punished so much more severely than others were.  After my court-martial, I found out later 
from the Prosecuting Attorney and my Defense Attorney that most of people involved in the investigation 
had  lied  about  their involvement. Also  that  the  62lSt Air Mobility  Operations  Group Commander, was 
pushing for a court-martial.  The Group Commander wanted to make an example out of me for the rest of 
Group.  He felt I did not belong in His Group or His Air Force.  Even though my commander had informed 
my defense attorney that he wanted me to be general discharged from the military. 

After reading through the Investigation Report.  I fou 
All confessed to some or no involvement to 
Force personnel,  including myself.  Three 
individuals court-martial charges were only 
other two  individuals in my  squadron only 
knowing and taken merchandise from the BX 

a total of  13 individuals were called in by OSI. 
ividual were Air 
.  Out  of  all  the 
nd myself.  The 
h  the  confessed to 

As I continue to look through the Investigation Report, I found that another Air Force personnel confessed 
to taken over $1,000 worth of merchandise from the BX, along with his wife.  That individual punishment 
was  an  Article  15, and  lost  a  strip.  I confessed to  taking  5 compact diskette  and  a pocket book.  My 
punishment was a bad conduct discharge, reduction to E-1 and 90 days hard labor without confinement.  I 
could go  on and on comparing the punishments with the confessed charges, but  nothing would  change. 
Like I stated, I did wrong, I made a bad decision, yes I am very sorry for these.  The fact remands that I was 
punished  a  lot more severe1 
her  Air  Force personnel, even  when  I  voluntarily confessed to  my 
involvement.  Only Airma 
eived a punishment more  sever, while  the other individuals were 
able to continue their Air Force career. 

,> 

. 

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My misconduct ended in January 1998.  Before that time and since then my conduct has been exemplary.  I 
have never been arrested, had a driving ticket of any sort, or convicted any other crime for that matter. I 
plead guilty at my  trail  and accepted responsibility for my  actions from day  one.  If you  look  over my 
military career and records you will see that I was an exemplary airman. I had an outstanding-duty-acgEd 
and notable accomplishments in a short career.  Even while the investigation was on-going my dorm room 
was chosen by  the 305’  Air Mobility Wing Chief Master Sergeant to be shown to the new Air Mobility 
Command  Commander  and  his  wife,  to  the  new  incoming  305’  Air  Mobility  Wing  Commander  and 
Commanders Wives club. I received an AMC Commanders coin and letter of appreciation.  I was also to 
receive a letter of appreciation from the 305*  Transportation Commander for helping her unit when the 
base Top Wheels for the Quarter.  At the time I was serving my hard labor there, I never received the letter; 
my commander didn’t feel I needed it.  He felt I was there for punishment not awards. 

‘M-irr 

I know that what happened in the last two years,  is God’s way of putting me back on the correct path of 
life.  The Bad Conduct Discharge is the only blemish in my  25 years of life on earth.  I request that you 
exercise your authority to upgrade my  discharge from the United  States Air  Force  from a Bad  Conduct 
Discharge to an Honorable Discharge. 

Again, I apologize for what I have done. I hope that the Air Force can forgive me, because I know God has. 

DEPARTMENT OF TEE AIR FORCE 

HEADQUARTERS 3OSm  AIR MOBILITY WING (AMC) 
MCGUIRE AIR FORCE BASE, NEW JERSEY 08641-5002 

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Court;Martial  Order 
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