PART II - APPLICATION DATA

      (Note: Part I deleted under the Privacy Act on Reading Room copy)

1.  Character of Discharge:  Under Other Than Honorable Conditions

2.  Date of discharge (or REFRAD):  980625

3.  Authority for separation:

      a.  Regulation:  Chapter 14, AR 635-200

      b.  Reason:  Misconduct

4.  Prior review(s):  NONE



                         PART III - SERVICE HISTORY

                 SECTION A - Period of Service Under Review

1.    Service data:                              2.  Awards and
    decorations:
                                           GCMDL      NATO Medal
    a.  Period entered for:  4 Years               NDSM
    b.  Entry date:  970106                        AFSM
    c.  Age:  22 Years   DOB:  740512              ASR
    d.  Educational level:  HS Grad                OSR
    e.  Aptitude area score:
          GT:  97                                3.  Highest grade
achieved:
    f.  Length of Service:                         E4
          1 Year  5 Months  22 Days

                                               4.  Performance evaluations:

                                                   NONE

                         PART III - SERVICE HISTORY
           SECTION A - Period of Service Under Review - Continued

5.  Periods of unauthorized absence:  NONE

    Status       Inclusive dates
      AWOL

      Mil conf

      Civil conf

      Other


6.  Nonjudicial punishment:

      Date  Offense(s)
      980306     Wrongfully used marijuana (971210)(Field Grade)
      971211     Disrespectful in language toward a SSG (970926); Willfully
             disobeyed a lawful order from a SGT to not consume alcohol
             until after redeployment from Brightstar (970925); Assaulted a
             bus driver by pointing a loaded firearm at him
             (971116)(Company Grade)


7.  Court-Martial data:  NONE

      a.  SCM:
            Date   Offense(s)


      b.  SPCM:
            Date   Offense(s)


      c.  GCM:
            Date   Offense(s)


8.    Remarks:  NONE


                       SECTION B - Prior Service Data

Other discharge(s):

      Service    From  To    Type Discharge
      ARNGUS     920201      930606     NA
      ADT   930607     930827     Honorable
      ARNGUS     930828      941026     Honorable
      RA    941027     970105     Honorable




                         PART IV - PREHEARING REVIEW

                       SECTION A-ANALYST’S ASSESSMENT
l.  Facts and Circumstances:

      a.  Evidence of record shows that on 26 March 1998, the unit
commander notified the applicant of initiation of separation action under
the provisions of Chapter l4, AR 635-200, by reason of
misconduct—commission of a serious offense and pattern of misconduct, with
an under other than honorable conditions discharge.  The reasons for the
proposed action were:  He tested positive for marijuana on a unit
urinalysis, he was disrespectful to a noncommissioned officer, he failed to
obey a lawful order, and he committed an assault with a loaded firearm.  He
was advised of his rights.  On 27 March 1998, the applicant consulted with
legal counsel, was advised of the impact of the discharge action, and did
not submit a statement in his own behalf.  He also voluntarily waived
consideration of his case by an administrative separation board contingent
upon receiving a characterization of service no less favorable than
general, under honorable conditions.  On 30 March 1998, the unit commander
subsequently recommended waiver of further rehabilitative efforts and
separation from the service with a general, under honorable conditions
discharge.  The battalion commander reviewed the proposed discharge action
and recommended approval of the separation action with a general discharge.
 However, the garrison commander recommended disapproval of the applicant’s
request for conditional waiver and recommended approval of the separation
action with an under other than honorable conditions discharge.  On 16
April 1998, the separation authority disapproved the applicant’s request
for conditional waiver and approved his request for a personal appearance
before an administrative separation board.  On 16 April 1998, the applicant
acknowledged receipt of the notification to appear before an administrative
separation board.  On 22 May 1998, an administrative separation board
conducted the proceedings in the applicant’s case.  The applicant was
present with counsel.  Based on its findings, the Board recommended
separation with a characterization of service of under other than honorable
conditions.  On 11 June 1998, the proper legal authority reviewed the
administrative separation board proceedings and recommended approval with
no legal objections.  On 11 June 1998, the separation authority approved
the Board’s findings and recommendations.  The separation authority waived
further rehabilitative efforts, directed the discharge of the applicant
with a characterization of service of under other than honorable
conditions.

      b.  On 25 June 1998, the applicant was discharged.  At the time of
discharge, the applicant had completed 1 year, 5 months, and 22 days of
active military service in the period under review and had a total of 6
years, 4 months, and 26 days of total military service.

2.  Legal/Regulatory Basis for Separation Action:  Army Regulation 635-200
sets forth the basic authority for the separation of enlisted personnel.
Chapter l4 establishes policy and prescribes procedures for separating
members for misconduct.  Specific categories include minor disciplinary
infractions, a pattern of misconduct, commission of a serious offense, to
include abuse of illegal drugs, convictions by civil authorities and
desertion or absence without leave.  Action will be taken to separate a
member for misconduct when it is clearly established that rehabilitation is
impractical or unlikely to succeed.  Army policy states that an under other
than honorable conditions discharge is normally considered appropriate, but
a general discharge under honorable conditions or an honorable discharge
may be granted.
                      SECTION B-APPLICANT’S SUBMISSIONS


1.  Issue(s) of propriety and/or equity submitted by applicant or counsel.
    As stated on applicant’s DD Form 293.

2.  Exhibit(s) submitted:

      A-1:  DD Form 293, dated 040305, with three (3) enclosures.
      A-2:  Counsel Issues:  NONE
      B-l:  Other Documents: NONE


                   PART IV - PREHEARING REVIEW (CONTINUED)

              SECTION C - Medical and/or Legal Advisory Opinion


Referred to ( ) Medical Advisor      ( ) Legal Advisor



      a.  Medical prehearing comments (if applicable):


      b.  Legal prehearing comments (if applicable):



                         PART V - SUMMARY OF HEARING

                      SECTION A-Attendees and exhibits

1.  Review/hearing information:


      a. Type requested:
         ( X ) Records review             (   ) Hearing

      b. Type Held:
         ( X )Records review              (   ) Hearing
                                          (   ) Tender Offer

      c. Review/hearing location and date:  Washington, DC on 3 November
2004.

      d. Appearance by:
         Applicant                 (   ) Yes   ( X ) No
         Counsel                   (   ) Yes   ( X ) No

      e.  Applicant testified:     (   ) Yes   ( X ) No

      f.  Counsel presentation:    (   ) Yes   ( X ) No

      g.  Witness(es) testified:   (   ) Yes   ( X ) No

2.  Exhibit(s) submitted at hearing:
                        PART VI - ISSUES AND FINDINGS

1.  a.  Applicant's issue(s) of propriety and/or equity:

          ( X )  Same as those listed on DD Form 293 and Part IV, Section A
              of this case report and directive.
          (   )  Revised issue(s) furnished in writing by applicant as
              follows:
          ( X )  Additional issue(s) identified during review/hearing as
              follows:

        Board Issue:  (1)  The characterization of service is too harsh.

      b.  Request:  ( X ) Recharacterization     (   ) Change of Reason

2.  Finding(s), conclusion(s), and reason(s) for the Board's decision(s) on
issues of propriety and/or equity:

      a.  Propriety:   The applicant has not submitted an issue of
                   propriety and the ADRB has not otherwise relied upon an
                   issue of propriety to change the discharge.

      b.  Equity:      The parenthetical number(s) below correspond(s) to
                   the issue number(s) on the DD Form 293, or in Part VI,
                   Paragraph 1, above.

        (1)  The issue is accepted.  The Board carefully examined the
applicant’s record of service during the period of enlistment under review.
 There was a full consideration of all faithful and honorable service as
well as the infractions of discipline, the extent thereof, and the
seriousness of the offenses.  The Board does not condone the applicant’s
misconduct; however, it determined that the characterization of service is
too harsh.  The applicant's misconduct was mitigated by nature of the
offenses and service of sufficient merit to warrant an upgrade of the
discharge being reviewed.  However, the applicant, by his misconduct and
poor duty performance diminished the quality of his service below that
meriting a fully honorable discharge.  Accordingly, the Board voted to
grant partial relief in the form of an upgrade of characterization of
service to general, under honorable conditions.  The Board determined that
the reason for discharge was both proper and equitable and voted not to
change it.

3.  Response(s) to item(s) not addressed as decisional issue(s):  NONE

                           PART VII - BOARD ACTION
                   SECTION A - Conclusions/Decisions/Vote

1.    Board conclusion(s):

      The discharge was:

      ( X ) Proper.
      (   ) Improper as to characterization.  Change characterization to
                                               .
      (   ) Improper as to reason.  Change reason to
                                   under                      .

      (   ) Equitable.
      ( X ) Inequitable as to characterization.  Change characterization to
           General, Under Honorable Conditions.
      (   ) Inequitable as to reason.  Change reason to
                                 
            under                                 .
      (   ) Both proper and equitable, but characterization/reason for
           separation cited was an administrative/clerical error and should
           be changed to                      under
                                   .

2.  Voting record:      Change   No Change
                  Reason       0         5
    Characterization       5         0

        The names and votes of the members of the Board are recorded in
Part IX of this document and can be obtained by writing to the address
below.  The request must contain the CASE NO. located in the upper right
corner of this document.

                  Department of the Army Review Boards Agency
                  ATTN:  Promulgation Team
                  1901 South Bell Street, 2nd Floor
                  Arlington, VA  22202-4508



3.  Minority views:  NONE
                           PART VII - BOARD ACTION
                 SECTION B - Verification and Authentication

Case report reviewed and verified

                          
Ms. McKim-Spilker
Case Reviewing Official

                     PART VIII - DIRECTIVE/CERTIFICATION
                            SECTION A - DIRECTIVE

TO: ARBA Support Division-St Louis      Date:  5 November 2004

     The Army Discharge Review Board, established under the provisions of
Section 30, Public Law 346, 78th Congress, 22 June 1944 and codified as
Title 10, United States Code, Section 1553, in the case of the applicant
named in Part I directs that the ARBA Support Division-St Louis issue a new
DD Form 2l4 to the applicant which reflects the following directed
change(s):

           ( X ) Change characterization of discharge to General, Under
                 Honorable Conditions.
           ( X ) Other (see remarks below).

Remarks:  This action does not include a restoration of grade.

                          SECTION B - CERTIFICATION

Approval Authority:


ROBERT L. HOUSE
Colonel, U.S. Army
President, Army Discharge
   Review Board

Official:




MARY E. SHAW
Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army
Chief, Secretary Recorder

EXHIBITS:
A - Application for review of discharge                  C - Other
B - Material submitted by applicant

INDEX RECORD:

AR Number:  2004105207                    INDEX NUMBERS:  A9406
Date of Review:  041103                                   A9236
Character of Service:  UD                                 A0100
Date of Discharge:  980625
Authority:  AR 635-200 C14
Reason:  A6730
Results of Board Action/
Vote/Affirmation:  GD 5-0 A





                           PART IX - VOTING RECORD

    Name                                   Reason          Characterization
                                           CHANGE   NC     HON  UHC   NC
UNCHAR

    1.      Mbr          X            X            

    2.      Mbr          X            X            

    3.      Mbr          X            X            

    4.      Mbr          X            X            

    5.      PO           X            X