BOARD DATE:	  8 November 2012

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20120007411 


THE BOARD CONSIDERED THE FOLLOWING EVIDENCE:

1.  Application for correction of military records (with supporting documents provided, if any).

2.  Military Personnel Records and advisory opinions (if any).


THE APPLICANT'S REQUEST, STATEMENT, AND EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant requests an upgrade of her uncharacterized discharge to an honorable discharge. 

2.  The applicant states she received an Honorable Discharge Certificate in 2002. It was lost in their move to Indiana.  She completed basic combat training and advanced individual training.  She successfully completed training and graduated from the 91B (Medical Specialist) military occupational specialty.  She received a DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) but it has changed from honorable to uncharacterized.  She works for the U.S. Navy and she needs the veteran preference for her position.  

3.  The applicant provides her DD Forms 214.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  Title 10, U.S. Code, section 1552(b), provides that applications for correction of military records must be filed within 3 years after discovery of the alleged error or injustice.  This provision of law also allows the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) to excuse an applicant’s failure to timely file within the 3-year statute of limitations if the ABCMR determines it would be in the interest of justice to do so.  While it appears the applicant did not file within the time frame provided in the statute of limitations, the ABCMR has elected to conduct a substantive review of this case and, only to the extent relief, if any, is granted, has determined it is in the interest of justice to excuse the applicant’s failure to timely file.  In all other respects, there are insufficient bases to waive the statute of limitations for timely filing.

2.  The applicant's records are not available to the Board for review.  However, the applicant provided a sufficient document (DD Form 214) for the Board to conduct a fair and impartial review of this case.  

3.  The applicant's DD Form 214 shows she enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) for a period of 8 years on 27 January 1994.  

4.  She entered initial active duty for training (ADT) on 18 February 1994.  She completed basic combat and advanced individual training and at the completion of training she was awarded military occupational specialty 91B.

5.  She was released from ADT to the control of her USAR unit on 12 August 1994 by reason of completion of ADT.  Her DD Form 214 shows she completed 5 months and 25 days of active service.  Item 24 (Character of Service) of this form shows the entry "Uncharacterized."

6.  The complete details of her USAR service are not available for review with this case.  However, she appears to have been honorably discharged from the USAR on or around 26 January 2002, at the conclusion of her military service obligation. 

7.  Army Regulation 635-200 (Personnel Separations), in effect at the time, set forth the basic authority for the separation of enlisted personnel.  Chapter 3 of that regulation describes the different types of characterization of service.  It states in pertinent part that an uncharacterized separation is an entry-level separation.  A separation will be described as an entry-level separation if processing is initiated while a member is in entry-level status, except when characterization under other than honorable condition is authorized under the reason for separation and is warranted by the circumstances of the case or when the Secretary of the Army, on a case-by-case basis, determines that characterization of service as Honorable is clearly warranted by the presence of unusual circumstances involving personal conduct and performance of duty.  Entry level status begins on enlistment in the Army National Guard or the USAR and, for Soldiers ordered to initial ADT for one continuous period, ends 180 days after beginning training.  

8.  Army Regulation 635-200, paragraph 3-7a, provides that an honorable discharge is a separation with honor and entitles the recipient to benefits provided by law.  The honorable characterization is appropriate when the quality of the member’s service generally has met the standards of acceptable conduct and performance of duty for Army personnel, or is otherwise so meritorious that any other characterization would be clearly inappropriate.

9.  Army Regulation 635-5 (Separation Documents) establishes the standardized policy for preparing and distributing the DD Form 214.  The purpose of the separation document is to provide the individual with documentary evidence of his or her active military service.  The DD Form 214 is a summary of a Soldier's most recent period of continuous active duty.  It provides a brief, clear-cut record of active duty service at the time of release from active duty, retirement, or discharge, and is not intended to have any legal effect on termination of a Soldier's service.  A DD Form 214 will be prepared for each Soldier as indicated:

	a.  Active Army Soldiers on termination of active duty by reason of administrative separation (including separation by reason of retirement or expiration of term of service), physical disability separation, or punitive discharge under the Uniform Code of Military Justice;

	b.  Reserve Component (RC) Soldiers completing 90 days or more of continuous ADT, Full-Time National Guard Duty, active duty for special work, temporary tours of active duty, or Active Guard Reserve service.  Also, RC Soldiers separated for cause or physical disability regardless of the length of time served on active duty;

	c.  Army National Guard (ARNG) and USAR Soldiers mobilized under Title 10, U.S. Code, sections 12301(a), 12302, or 12304, and ARNG Soldiers called into Federal service under Title 10, U.S. Code, chapter 15 or section 12406, regardless of length of mobilization, when transitioned from active duty.  A Soldier who reports to a mobilization station and is found unqualified for active duty will be excluded from this provision.  He or she will only receive a DD Form 220 (Active Duty Report); and

	d.  RC Soldiers completing initial ADT that results in the award of an MOS even when the active duty period was less than 90 days.  This includes completion of advanced individual training under the ARNG of the United States Alternate Training Program or USAR Split Training Program

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant entered ADT on 18 February 1994 and she was released from ADT on 12 August 1994.  She completed 5 months and 25 days of active service and she received an uncharacterized discharge.  

2.  During the first 180 days of continuous active military service, a member's service is under review.  When separated within the first 180 days, service is usually not characterized unless the circumstances of the separation warrant an under other than honorable conditions discharge.  An honorable characterization may be given only if the service clearly warrants that characterization by unusual circumstances of personal conduct and performance of military duty and is approved by the Secretary of the Army.

3.  The entry-level separation, also known as uncharacterized, is given regardless of the reason for separation. This uncharacterized discharge is neither positive nor negative; it is not "derogatory."  It simply means the Soldier did not serve long enough to qualify for a specified characterization of service.

4.  The applicant received the appropriate character of service and he has provided no evidence to show it is in error or unjust.  Therefore, there is no basis for granting his requested relief.

5.  Aside from her active service from February to August 1994, there is no evidence she performed any other period of active duty of at least 90 consecutive days which would have qualified her for the issuance of a DD Form 214.  The DD Form 214 is a summary of a Soldier's most recent period of continuous active duty.  It provides a brief, clear-cut record of active duty service at the time of release from active duty, retirement, or discharge.  

6.  The ABCMR does not correct records solely for the purpose of establishing eligibility for other programs or benefits.  Since there is neither an error nor an injustice, there is insufficient evidence to grant her the requested relief.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

____x_  __x______  ___x_____  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.




      _______ _  x _______   ___
               CHAIRPERSON
      
I certify that herein is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in this case.

ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20120007411



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20120007411



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