RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:           13 JULY 2004
      DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2003099088


      I certify that hereinafter is recorded the true and complete record
of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in
the case of the above-named individual.

|     |Mr. Carl W. S. Chun               |     |Director             |
|     |Mr. Kenneth H. Aucock             |     |Analyst              |


      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Mr. Samuel Crumpler               |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Stanley Kelley                |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. Mark Manning                  |     |Member               |

      The applicant and counsel if any, did not appear before the Board.

      The Board considered the following evidence:

      Exhibit A - Application for correction of military records.

      Exhibit B - Military Personnel Records (including advisory opinion,
if any).

THE APPLICANT'S REQUEST, STATEMENT, AND EVIDENCE:

1.  In effect, the applicant requests physical disability retirement.

2.  The applicant states that he has suffered from posttraumatic stress
disorder (PTSD) since 1969.

3.  The applicant provides a copy of a 25 June 2003 letter from a
psychiatrist of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and a copy of a 15
March 1995 psychiatric evaluation report.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant enlisted in the Army for three years on 18 November 1968.
 In May 1969 he was assigned to Vietnam.  He was discharged on 20 November
1969 while in Vietnam for the purpose of immediate reenlistment.  His DD
Form 214 shows that he was an ammunition storage specialist in pay grade E-
3, and that he was assigned to the 611th Ordnance Company (Ammunition) in
Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam.  He reenlisted for three years on 21 November 1969.

2.  The applicant completed his tour of duty in Vietnam and returned to the
United States in May 1970.

3.  Beginning in August 1970 the applicant went AWOL on four different
occasions (80 days, 91 days, 72 days, and 61 days).  On 13 August 1971,
before a special court-martial which convened at Fort Knox, Kentucky, the
applicant was arraigned, tried, and found guilty of four counts of AWOL,
and sentenced to be confined at hard labor for four months.  On 24 August
1971 he was transferred to the Army correctional training facility at Fort
Riley, Kansas.

4.  The applicant was released from confinement and was assigned to Fort
Lee, Virginia with a reporting date of 1 November 1971.  On 22 November
1971 he went AWOL.  The applicant's DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification
Record) shows that he was returned to military control on 27 December 1971,
was in confinement for 7 days, and went AWOL again from 7 January 1972 to
           19 January 1972, and was again confined after his return from
AWOL.

5.  In February 1972 the applicant's commanding officer recommended that
the applicant be tried by a special court-martial, indicating in his
recommendation that the charge sheet (DD Form 458) was enclosed.  There is,
however, no evidence concerning the applicant's discharge proceedings.
There is a             14 February 1972 letter from the Commander of the
Armor Center and Fort Knox to the Commander, Army Personnel Control
Facility at Fort Knox, indicating that the recommendation for elimination
of the applicant under the provisions of Army Regulation 635-200 for the
good of the service was approved.

6.  The applicant was discharged for the good of the service under
conditions other than honorable on 22 February 1972.  On that same date he
signed a statement indicating that he had undergone a medical examination
at a medical treatment facility at Fort Knox, and that there had been no
change since then in his medical condition.

7.  A 15 March 1995 report of psychiatric evaluation shows that the
evaluating doctor diagnosed the applicant's condition as major depression,
recurrent, psychotic; PTSD, chronic; and lumbar radiculopathy.  He stated
that the applicant was totally and permanently disabled and unable to work.


8.  On 25 June 2003 a psychiatrist in Chillicothe, Ohio requested
assistance from the VA in providing to the applicant any benefits for which
he was eligible.

9.  Army Regulation 635-200 sets forth the basic authority for the
separation of enlisted personnel.  Chapter 10 of that regulation provides,
in pertinent part, that a member who has committed an offense or offenses
for which the authorized punishment includes a punitive discharge may at
any time after the charges have been preferred, submit a request for
discharge for the good of the service in lieu of trial by court-martial.  A
discharge under other than honorable conditions is normally considered
appropriate.

10.  Title 10, United States Code, chapter 61, provides disability
retirement or separation for a member who is physically unfit to perform
the duties of his office, rank, grade or rating because of disability
incurred while entitled to basic pay.

11.  Army Regulation 40-501 provides that for an individual to be found
unfit by reason of physical disability, he must be unable to perform the
duties of his office, grade, rank or rating.

12.  Army Regulation 635-40, then in effect, states in pertinent part that
disability compensation is not an entitlement acquired by reason of service-
incurred illness or injury; rather, it is provided to soldiers whose
service is interrupted and they can no longer continue to reasonably
perform because of a physical disability incurred or aggravated in service.


13.  When a member is being separated by reason other than physical
disability, his continued performance of duty creates a presumption of
fitness which can be overcome only by clear and convincing evidence that he
was unable to perform his duties or that acute grave illness or injury or
other deterioration of physical condition, occurring immediately prior to
or coincident with separation, rendered the member unfit.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Absent evidence to the contrary, regularity in the applicant's
discharge proceedings is presumed.  Thus, he voluntarily requested
discharge for the good of the service to avoid trial by court-martial, and
in so doing acknowledged that he was guilty of the offense for which
charged.  His discharge for the good of the service is appropriate as
evidenced by his own misconduct.

2.  There is no evidence and the applicant has not submitted any to show
that he was physically unfit at the time of his discharge.  He stated on
the date of his discharge that he had undergone a recent medical
examination and that his physical condition since then had not changed, an
indication that he was physically fit for discharge.

3.  The applicant had no unfitting medical condition at the time of his
discharge.  He is not entitled to physical disability retirement.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

__SC ___  ___SK __  ___MM__  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

The evidence presented does not demonstrate the existence of a probable
error or injustice.  Therefore, the Board determined that the overall
merits of this case are insufficient as a basis for correction of the
records of the individual concerned.





            ___ Samuel Crumpler_____
                    CHAIRPERSON




                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR2003099088                            |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20040713                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)    |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |AR . . . . .                            |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |DENY                                    |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |                                        |
|ISSUES         1.       |108.00                                  |
|2.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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