RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:        26 September 2006
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20060002174


      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             |
|     |Mrs. Nancy L. Amos                |     |Analyst              |


      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Ms. Marla J. Troup                |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Chester A. Damian             |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. Edward E. Montgomery          |     |Member               |

      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.  The applicant requests reconsideration of his earlier request to change
his honorable discharge to a physical disability separation.

2.  The applicant states, in effect, that he is an in-patient in the mental
health section of the Alabama Department of Corrections.  With all the anti-
psychotic- medications he is taking, it takes numerous hours to present
this information; however, he was able to locate documents to show his
mental disease probably began when he was in the Army.

3.  The applicant provides an undated letter to the U. S. Army Reserve
Personnel Center (ARPERCEN); a fax cover sheet dated 4 March 1997; a [U. S.
Postal Service] Employee Profile dated 25 January 1989; a Notification of
Personnel Action dated 25 January 1989; a memorandum dated 2 February 1988;
a copy of an envelope date-stamped 6 February (1988 or 1989); an undated
letter to the   U. S. Postal Service, but faxed on 14 March 1997; a
HealthCare Unit Patient Information Slip dated 6 January 1992; a 5-page
handwritten chronology of events; and a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
letter dated 19 January 2005.

4.  The applicant also provides a Statement of Accredited Representative in
Appealed Case dated 9 February 2005; a 2-page information sheet on
schizophrenia; a hand-written letter to the applicant dated 2 June 1997;
reduction orders dated 20 September 1994; a hand-written letter from the
applicant dated 21 July 1995; a court order dated 10 April 1991; and a 25
April 1991 letter from the Calhoun-Cleburne Mental Health Board,
Incorporated with an attached Competency to Stand Trial Assessment
Instrument.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  Incorporated herein by reference are military records which were
summarized in the previous consideration of the applicant's case by the
Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) in Docket Number
AR20050004405 on 8 December 2005.

2.  The applicant enlisted in the Regular Army on 18 June 1980 and was
honorably discharged on 17 April 1986 in the rank of Sergeant, E-5.  He
enlisted in the U. S. Army Reserve on 13 January 1987 for 3 years.  He
reenlisted on    26 December 1989 for 6 years.

3.  A Retirement Points Summary shows the applicant earned only
       15 membership points from retirement year beginning 15 October 1990
   through retirement year ending 14 October 1995.

4.  ARPERCEN orders dated 20 September 1994 reduced the applicant to
Private, E-1 for an unknown reason.

5.  The applicant provided an undated letter to ARPERCEN (which refers to
orders dated September 1994) in which he stated that he had been suffering
from paranoid-schizophrenia since February 1988 and was incarcerated
[apparently in the Alabama penal system] from 26 June 1990 “up until now.”

6.  The applicant provided an undated letter (but faxed on 14 March 1997)
to   the U. S. Postal Service in which he noted that he had been
hospitalized on      30 January 1990, and tests diagnosed him with paranoid-
schizophrenia.  He also stated in this letter, “…but [I] was told by one of
the higher administration officials that due to the fact that I had usedd
(sic) a drug in my younger time of enlistment in which I was 17-years old
when I joined the U.S. Army and was stationed in Europed (sic) that he felt
drug’s (sic) was the cause for me suffering from paranoia-Schizo.  Let it
be known that if you look at the med. Record research you will notice that
I had a (sic) Uncle/Sister suffering from the form of Epilepsy/mental
disease.”

7.  The applicant was honorably discharged from the U. S. Army Reserve
effective 2 January 1996.  The ARPERCEN orders show (apparently
erroneously) his rank as Sergeant, E-5.

8.  Army Regulation 635-40 governs the evaluation of physical fitness of
Soldiers who may be unfit to perform their military duties because of
physical disability.  The unfitness is of such a degree that a Soldier is
unable to perform the duties of his office, grade, rank or rating in such a
way as to reasonably fulfill the purposes of his employment on active duty.
 In pertinent part, it states that the mere presence of an impairment does
not, of itself, justify a finding of unfitness because of physical
disability.  In each case, it is necessary to compare the nature and degree
of physical disability present with the requirements of the duties the
Soldier reasonably may be expected to perform because of his or her office,
grade, rank, or rating.

9.  Army Regulation 635-40 also states that, according to accepted medical
principles, certain abnormalities and residual conditions exist that, when
discovered, lead to the conclusion that they must have existed or have
started
before the individual entered the military service.  Examples are
hereditary
conditions or similar conditions in which medical authorities are in such
consistent and universal agreement as to their cause and time of origin
that no additional confirmation is needed to support the conclusion that
they existed prior to military service.

10.  Under the laws governing the Army Physical Disability Evaluation
system, Soldiers who sustain or aggravate physically unfitting disabilities
must meet several line of duty criteria to be eligible to receive
retirement and severance pay benefits.  The disability must have been
incurred or aggravated while the Soldier was entitled to basic pay or was
the proximate cause of performing active duty or inactive duty training.
The disability must not have resulted from the Soldier’s intentional
misconduct or willful neglect.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant enlisted in the Regular Army on 18 June 1980 and was
honorably discharged on 17 April 1986.  There is no evidence to show that
he was unable to satisfactorily perform his duties at the time of his
discharge.  As the applicant stated in his undated letter to ARPERCEN, he
was not suffering from paranoid-schizophrenia until February 1988;
therefore, there is insufficient evidence to show he met the eligibility
criteria for a physical disability separation at the time of his April 1986
discharge.

2.  The applicant enlisted in the U. S. Army Reserve on 13 January 1987.
He stated he began suffering from paranoid-schizophrenia in February 1988.
However, in his letter to the U. S. Postal Service, faxed on 14 March 1997,
he noted that he was told that his use of drugs during his prior service
may have been the cause of his paranoid-schizophrenia.  He also implied
that his mental disorder may have been hereditary.

3.  In either case, such circumstances would have made the applicant
ineligible for a physical disability separation from the U. S. Army
Reserve.  It appears his condition was not incurred or aggravated while he
was entitled to basic pay nor does it appear that his condition was the
proximate cause of performing active duty or inactive duty training.  In
addition, it appears that his condition may have resulted from his
intentional misconduct.

4.  Regrettably, there is insufficient evidence which would warrant
granting the relief requested.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

__mjt___  __cad___  __eem___  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 to amend the decision of
the ABCMR set forth in Docket Number AR20050004405 dated 8 December 2005.




                                  __Marla J. Troup______
                                            CHAIRPERSON



                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20060002174                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |                                        |
|DATE BOARDED            |20060926                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |                                        |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |DENY                                    |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |Mr. Chun                                |
|ISSUES         1.       |108.00                                  |
|2.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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