BOARD DATE:	  27 February 2014

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20130011625 


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 recharacterization of her initial active duty for training (IADT) from uncharacterized to honorable.

2.  The applicant states she completed basic and advanced individual training and went on to perform her required monthly and annual training.  Because of the uncharacterized designation on her DD Form 214 she is unable to apply for a vendor's license to start her business.

3.  The applicant provides a copy of her DD Form 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 enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) on 4 September 1992 for a period of 8 years.  

3.  She was ordered to IADT on 7 July 1993, completed training, and was awarded military occupational specialty 71L (Administrative Specialist).

4.  On 23 October 1993, she was released from active duty and assigned to the 331st General Hospital (a USAR unit) in Utica, NY.  She had 3 months and 17 days of active duty. 

5.  Her DD Form 214 shows her:

* type for separation - release from active duty training
* characterization of service - uncharacterized
* narrative reason for separation - completion of required active service.

6.  The applicant was transferred to the 695th Maintenance Battalion in Flushing, NY, in May 1994 and advanced to specialist on 1 August 1994.

7.  Headquarters, 77th Regional Support Command, Orders 09-3 AFRC-CNY-PR-R, dated 9 January 1997, transferred the applicant, as an unsatisfactory participant, to the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) with assignment to the USAR Personnel Center, St. Louis, MO.

8.  The applicant's integrated Personnel Electronic Record Management System (iPERMS) record contains no additional documentation following the applicant's transfer to the IRR.  Most notable is the absence is any indication the applicant was discharged upon completion of her period of obligated service on 3 September 2000.

9.  The term "separation" is defined in military regulations as an all-inclusive term applied to personnel actions resulting from release from active duty (emphasis added), discharge, retirement, being dropped from the rolls, release from military control of personnel without a military status, or death.

10.  Army Regulation 140-10 (Assignments, Attachments, Details, and Transfers) provides the following:

   a.  The character of service for administrative separations is a determination reflecting a Soldier's military behavior and performance of duty during a specific period of service.  There are three characterizations:  Honorable; General (Under Honorable Conditions); and under Other Than Honorable Conditions.  A Soldier's service in an entry-level status is normally described as uncharacterized. 
   b.  For USAR Soldiers, entry-level status begins when they are ordered to IADT for one continuous period.  It terminates 180 days after beginning training or if the Soldier is ordered to IADT under the split or alternate training option, it terminates 90 days after the beginning of their Phase II training.  

10.  Army Regulation 635-200 (Active Duty Enlisted Administrative Separations) sets forth policies, standards, and procedures to ensure the readiness and competency of the force while providing for the orderly administrative separation of Soldiers for a variety of reasons:

   a.  The regulation in effect both currently and at the time of the applicant's IADT states that USAR Soldiers’ service would be uncharacterized unless they served in excess of 180 days or under the split training option after 90 days from the beginning of their Phase II training.  
   
   b.  The current regulation, at paragraph 3-4, provides that entry-level status service will be uncharacterized, and so indicated in block 24 of DD Form 214, except as provided in paragraph 3–9.
   
   c.  Paragraph 3–9 (Uncharacterized Separations) states a separation will be described as entry-level with service uncharacterized if separation processing is initiated while a Soldier is in entry-level status, except when:
   
		(1)  characterization under other than honorable conditions is authorized under the reason for separation and is warranted by the circumstances of the case;

		(2)  it is determined that characterization of service as honorable is clearly warranted by the presence of unusual circumstances involving personal conduct and performance of duty; and/or 

		(3)  the Soldier being separated has less than 181 days of continuous active military service, has completed IADT, has been awarded an MOS, and has reported for duty at a follow-on (active duty) unit.

11.  Army Regulation 635-5 (Separation Documents) prescribes the separation documents that must be prepared for Soldiers on retirement, discharge, release from active duty service, or control of the Active Army.  It establishes standardized policy for preparing and distributing the DD Form 214 and states 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.  The DD Form 214 is not intended to have any legal effect on termination of a Soldier's service.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The term separation includes USAR Soldiers released from active duty following completion of their IADT.  If that period of service is for less than 180 days, characterization of their service falls under the provisions for entry-level separations, i.e., it is uncharacterized.  

2.  The characterization exception for having less than 181 days of active duty, with award of an MOS, and having reported to a follow-on assignment does not apply to USAR Soldiers as the follow-on service would have to be active duty service and be included in the period covered by the DD Form 214.

3.  The record does not contain any evidence that her IADT reflects a presence of unusual circumstances involving personal conduct and performance of duty warranting an honorable characterization of service.

4.  An uncharacterized discharge is not meant to be a negative reflection of a Soldier’s military service.  It merely means the Soldier has not been in the Army long enough for his or her character of service to be rated as honorable or otherwise.  

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 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)                                         AR20130011625



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20130011625



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