DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
                         Army Discharge Review Board
                           1901 South Bell Street
                          Arlington, VA  22202-4508
                               28 October 2005


Office of the President




      The Army Discharge Review Board reviewed your case and determined
that relief is warranted.  The Board has directed the ARBA Support
Division, St. Louis, MO, to take action as indicated on the enclosed OSA
Form 172, Case Report and Directive.  This document reflects the findings,
conclusions, and reasons for the Board's decision.  The official
notification of any change to your official military personnel record,
including the appropriate documentation, will be mailed to you by the ARBA
Support Division.

      If you believe that the decision in your case is unclear, not
responsive to the issues raised, or does not otherwise agree with the
decisional document requirements of DoD Directive 1332.28, you may submit a
complaint in accordance with Enclosure 5 of that directive.  You should
read Enclosure 5 of that directive before submitting a complaint.  The
complaint procedure does not permit you to challenge the merits of the
decision, but is designed solely to ensure that the decisional document
meets applicable requirements for clarity and responsiveness.  You may
obtain a copy of DoD Directive 1332.28 by writing to:  DA Review Boards
Agency, Attention:  (Reading Room), The Pentagon, Washington, DC 20310-
1809.

      Should you have any questions relating to the documentation
implementing the Board's decision, you should contact:  ARBA Support
Division, ATTN:  SFMR-RBL-SL, 9700 Page Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri, 63132-
5200.

                                  Sincerely,




                                  Robert L. House
                                  Colonel, U.S. Army
                                  President


Enclosure

                           MILITARY REVIEW BOARDS

                           Case Report & Directive


                        PART I - IDENTIFICATION DATA

NAME:

COUNSEL:    ADDRESS:

      PHONE:




ALTERNATE PERSON(S) TO BE NOTIFIED:     ADDRESS:

RELATIONSHIP:                     PHONE:



TYPE REPORT:

   ( X ) Original
   (   ) Addendum




                                   REMARKS
                            Case Management Data

(   )  Response to other correspondence required upon completion of case.

(   )  DD Form 149 in file.  Send case to ABCMR.


















OSA FORM 172 (REVISED) 22 May 98     Cover Sheet
                         PART II - APPLICATION DATA

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

1.  Character of Discharge:  General, Under Honorable Conditions

2.  Date of discharge (or REFRAD):  971017

3.  Authority for separation:

      a.  Regulation:  Chapter 14, Paragraph 14-12b, 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:
                                           ASR
    a.  Period entered for:  6 Years
    b.  Entry date:  970107
    c.  Age:  34 Years   DOB:  620108


    d.  Educational level:  Coll Grad


    e.  Aptitude area score:
          GT:  107                               3.  Highest grade
achieved:
    f.  Length of Service:                         E4
          0 Year(s)  9 Month(s)  9 Day(s)

                                               4.  Performance evaluations:

                                                   NONE

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

5.  Periods of unauthorized absence:

    Status       Inclusive dates
      AWOL         970713-970714

      Mil conf

      Civil conf

      Other


6.  Nonjudicial punishment:

      Date  Offense(s)
      970818     Wrongfully possess drug paraphernalia; wrongfully use
                 Cocaine (970712); AWOL (970713-970715) (Field 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
                                    NONE

Other discharge(s):

      Service    From  To    Type Discharge





                         PART IV - PREHEARING REVIEW

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

      a.  Evidence of record shows that on 30 September 1997, the unit
commander notified the applicant of initiation of separation action under
the provisions of Chapter l4, AR 635-200, by reason of misconduct—patterns
of misconduct, with a general, under honorable conditions discharge.  The
unit commander indicated that he was initiating separation proceedings
based on the applicant’s wrongful use of cocaine and 3-day period of AWOL.
He was advised of his rights.  The applicant consulted with legal counsel,
was advised of the impact of the discharge action, and submitted a
statement in his own behalf.  The unit commander subsequently recommended
separation from the service and waiver of further rehabilitative efforts.
The intermediate commander reviewed the proposed discharge action and
recommended approval of the separation action with a general, under
honorable conditions discharge.  On 10 October 1997, the separation
authority waived further rehabilitative efforts and directed that the
applicant be discharged with a characterization of service of general,
under honorable conditions.

      b.  On 17 October 1997, the applicant was discharged.  At the time of
discharge, the applicant had completed 9 months and 9 days of active
military service and accrued 3 days of lost time due to AWOL in the period
under review. .

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 050225.
      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, D.C. on 26 October
2005.

      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 improper.

      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 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 noted that the government
introduced into the discharge process the results of a biochemical test
which was command directed to determine the applicant’s fitness for duty.
This type of test is limited use information as defined in Chapter 6, AR
600-85.  Use of this information mandates award of a fully honorable
discharge.  Accordingly, the Board voted to change the characterization of
service to fully honorable.
However, the Board found that the reason for discharge was both proper and
equitable, and voted not to change it.

      b.  Equity:      The applicant has not submitted an issue of equity
                   and the ADRB has not otherwise relied upon an issue of
                   equity to change the discharge.  The major factors upon
                   which the discharge was based are set forth in Parts III
                   and IV of this decisional document.

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:

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

      ( X ) Equitable.
      (   ) Inequitable as to characterization.  Change characterization to
                                         .
      (   ) 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       4         1

        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:  28 October 2005

     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 Honorable.


                          SECTION B - CERTIFICATION

Approval Authority:


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

Official:




ESMERALDA G. PROCTOR
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:  20050004309                   INDEX NUMBERS:  A0130
Date of Review:  051026                                   A0154
Character of Service:  GD                                 A9500
Date of Discharge:  971017
Authority:  AR 635-200 C14
Reason:  A6730
Results of Board Action/
Vote/Affirmation:  HD 4-1 A








                           PART IX - VOTING RECORD

    Name                                   Reason          Characterization
                                           CHANGE   NC     HON  UHC   NC
UNCHAR

    1.      Mbr          X       X                 

    2. COL SILVER, EARL M.   Mbr          X       X                 

    3.      Mbr          X       X                 

    4.      Mbr          X                 X       

    5.      PO           X       X