| Mr. Carl W. S. Chun | Director | |
| Ms. Lisa O. Guion | Analyst |
| Ms. Shirley L. Powell | Chairperson | |
| Mr. Stanley Kelley | Member | |
| Mr. Elzey J. Arledge, Jr. | Member |
APPLICANT REQUESTS: In effect, that his under other than honorable conditions (UOTHC) discharge be upgraded to a fully honorable discharge (HD).
APPLICANT STATES: In effect, that his discharge should be upgraded for the following reasons: under current standards he would not have received an UOTHC discharge; he had combat service; he was close to finishing his tour and it was unfair for him to receive a bad discharge; he had only a record of minor offenses; he tried to serve and wanted to, but just couldn’t or wasn’t able to; his command abused its authority when it decided to discharge him and decided to give him a bad discharge; and he has been a good citizen since his discharge. In addition, he claims that his low aptitude scores, level of education, and the fact he faced racial discrimination impaired his ability to serve.
COUNSEL CONTENDS: In effect, that the applicant submitted several statements attesting to his good citizenship and that he was a productive member of his community since his discharge. In addition, since he has suffered the affects of a less than honorable discharge for over 50 years, it would appear that any continued punishment would be excessive.
EVIDENCE OF RECORD: The applicant’s military records were not available to the Board for review. A fire destroyed approximately 18 million service members’ records at the National Personnel Records Center in 1973. It is believed that the applicant’s records were lost in that fire. The information herein was gleaned from a copy of a Certification of Military Service (NA Form 13038), dated 9 June 1999, published by the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC), National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).
A discharge packet, containing the specific facts and circumstances surrounding the applicant’s discharge from the Army, was not available to the Board for review.
The NA Form 13038 on file confirms that the applicant entered the Regular Army on 24 June 1941, and that he continuously served on active duty until 27 August 1944, at which time he was undesirably discharged, in the rank of private. This document does not provide the authority and reason for his discharge or any other information in regard to the facts and circumstances surrounding his discharge or separation processing.
Army Regulation 15-185, the regulation that governs the operation of the Board, sets forth the procedures for processing requests to correct military records. Paragraph 2-9 states, in pertinent part, that the Army Board for Correction of Military Records begins its consideration of each case with the presumption of administrative regularity and the burden of proving error or injustice by a preponderance of the evidence rests with the applicant.
DISCUSSION: Considering all the evidence, allegations, and information presented by the applicant, together with the evidence of record, applicable law and regulations, it is concluded:
1. The Board considered all the contentions of the applicant and his desire to have his UOTHC discharge upgraded based on the overall quality of his service, his combat service, and his post service conduct. However, it finds insufficient evidence to support his claims or to justify an upgrade of his discharge.
2. The Board took special note of the applicant’s claim that he faced racial discrimination, while it takes any such claim very seriously and would never let an action stand that was the result of racial bias, however, it finds no evidence to support this claim of racial discrimination in this case.
3. By regulation, the applicant must prove error or injustice by a preponderance of the evidence. Because his records were lost or destroyed in the fire at the NPRC, the applicant’s record is void of facts and circumstances concerning events that led to a discharge from the Army. Therefore, lacking independent evidence to the contrary, the Board is compelled to presume government regularity in the discharge process. Therefore, it finds there is insufficient evidence to support the requested relief in this case.
4. In order to justify correction of a military record the applicant must show to the satisfaction of the Board, or it must otherwise satisfactorily appear, that the record is in error or unjust. The applicant has failed to submit evidence that would satisfy this requirement.
5. In view of the foregoing, there is no basis for granting the applicant's request.
DETERMINATION: The applicant has failed to submit sufficient relevant evidence to demonstrate the existence of probable error or injustice.
BOARD VOTE:
________ ________ ________ GRANT
________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING
__SLP__ __SK __ __EJA___ DENY APPLICATION
| CASE ID | AR2001065655 |
| SUFFIX | |
| RECON | YYYYMMDD |
| DATE BOARDED | 2002/03/19 |
| TYPE OF DISCHARGE | UOTHC |
| DATE OF DISCHARGE | 1944/08/07 |
| DISCHARGE AUTHORITY | AR615-368 |
| DISCHARGE REASON | |
| BOARD DECISION | DENY |
| REVIEW AUTHORITY | |
| ISSUES 1. | 110.0000 |
| 2. | |
| 3. | |
| 4. | |
| 5. | |
| 6. |
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