IN THE CASE OF:  	

      BOARD DATE:  	17 April 2013

      CASE NUMBER:  	AR20120021570
___________________________________________________________________________

Board Determination and Directed Action

After carefully examining the applicant's record of service during the period of enlistment under review and considering the Discussion and Recommendation which follows, the Board determined the discharge was both proper and equitable and voted to deny relief.






      
      
      Presiding Officer
      
I certify that herein is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the Department of the Army Discharge Review Board in this case.

THE APPLICANT’S REQUEST AND STATEMENT:

1.  The applicant requests an upgrade of his discharge from under other than honorable conditions to general, under honorable conditions or honorable.  

2.  The applicant states, in effect, that he had to leave the base due to a death in the family.  He is permanently disabled and should be eligible for military benefits.  

DISCHARGE UNDER REVIEW INFORMATION:
														
a.  Application Receipt Date:		30 November 2012
b.  Discharge Received:			Under Other Than Honorable Conditions
c.  Date of Discharge:			28 March 1998						                    d.  Reason/Authority/SPD/RE Code:	NIF/135-178						
e.  Unit of assignment:			487th  Transportation Company, Oceanside, CA	 f.   Current Enlistment Date/Term:		16 April 1996, 6 years	
g.  Current Enlistment Service:		1 year, 11 months, 13 days	
h.  Total Service:				7 years, 9 months, 14 days     
i.   Time Lost:				NIF								 j.   Previous Discharges:                       	USAR enlistment date NIF
 						ADT-(830208-830527)/HD
                           				USAR-(830528-881208)/HD
k.  Highest Grade Achieved:		E-3
l.   Military Occupational Specialty:	NIF	
m. GT Score:                       		NIF	
n.  Education:                			HS Graduate	
o.  Overseas Service:   			NIF 	
p.  Combat Service:      			NIF 	
q.  Decorations/Awards:           		NIF
r.  Administrative Separation Board:  	NIF
s.  Performance Ratings:              		None	
t.  Counseling Statements:              	NIF
u.  Prior Board Review:			No

SUMMARY OF SERVICE:		
	
The applicant enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve on 16 April 1996 for 6 years. He was 32 years old and a high school graduate at the time.  He had a prior enlistment in the Reserves; however, this contract was not in his record of service and received an honorable discharge for this enlistment.  His service record does not reflect any personally earned awards or any combat duty.  He completed 7 years, 9 months, 14 days of service.  





SEPARATION FACTS AND CIRCUMSTANCES:

1.  The applicant’s service record is void of the specific facts and circumstances concerning the events which led to his discharge from the Army Reserve.  

2.  The available evidence in the record indicates that on 28 March 1998, DA, U.S. Army,    63rd Regional Support Command, Los Alamitos, CA, Orders number 087-31, discharged the applicant from the U.S Army Reserve, effective 28 March 1998, with an under other than honorable conditions discharge.  The applicant was to be reduced to the lowest enlisted rank. 

3.  The record contains a properly constituted order which indicates the applicant was discharged under the provisions of AR 135-178, with a characterization of service of under other than honorable conditions.   

4.  The applicant’s service record does not contain any evidence of unauthorized absences or time lost.  

EVIDENCE OBTAINED FROM THE APPLICANT'S RECORD:
 
1.  Discharge Orders 087-31, dated 28 March 1998.
 
2.  Enlistment/Reenlistment Document, dated 16 April 1998.

EVIDENCE SUBMITTED BY THE APPLICANT:

The applicant provided a DD Form 149, dated 5 August 2012; Discharge Orders 087-31, dated 28 March 1998; Discharge Orders D-12-093003, dated 7 December 1988; DD Form 214, dated 27 March 1983; Letter, Social Security Administration, two (2) pages, dated 14 May 2012; Inactive/Active Points for Retirement; Chronological Statement of Retirement Points, dated 25 March 1997; and a Death Certificate, dated 10 December 2007.  

POST-SERVICE ACTIVITY: 

The applicant did not provide any.  

REGULATORY AUTHORITY:

1.  Army Regulation 135-178, sets forth the policies, standards, and procedures to ensure the readiness and competency of the U.S. Army while providing for the orderly administrative separation of Army National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) enlisted Soldiers for a variety of reasons. The separation policies throughout the different Chapters in this regulation promote the readiness of the Army by providing an orderly means to judge the suitability of persons to serve on the basis of their conduct and their ability to meet required standards of duty performance and discipline.  Specific categories include minor disciplinary infractions, a pattern of misconduct, and commission of a serious offense, to include abuse of illegal drugs, and convictions by civil authorities.  
2.  The characterization is based upon the quality of the Soldier’s service, including the reason for separation and determined in accordance with standards of acceptable personal conduct and performance of duty as found in the UCMJ, Army Regulations, and the time-honored customs and traditions of the Army.  The reasons for separation, including the specific circumstances that form the basis for the discharge are considered on the issue of characterization. 

3.  Possible characterizations of service include an honorable, general, under honorable conditions, under other than honorable conditions, or uncharacterized if the Soldier is in entry-level status.  However, the permissible range of characterization varies based on the reason for separation.

DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATION:

1.  The applicant’s request for an upgrade of the characterization of his discharge was carefully considered.  However, after examining the applicant’s record of service, his available military records, the documents and the issues submitted with the application, there are insufficient mitigating factors to merit an upgrade of the applicant's discharge.  

2.  The applicant’s record is void of the specific facts and circumstances concerning the events which led to the former Soldier’s discharge from the U.S. Army Reserves.  However, the record shows that on 28 March 1998, DA, U.S. Army, 63rd Regional Support Command, Los Alamitos, CA, Orders number 087-31, discharged the applicant from the Army Reserve, effective 28 March 1998, with an under other than honorable conditions discharge.  

3.  Barring evidence to the contrary, the presumption of government regularity shall prevail, as it appears that all the requirements of law and regulation were met and the rights of the applicant were fully protected throughout the separation process.  

4.  The applicant did not properly annotate the enclosed application requesting a possible discharge upgrade.  However, the Army Discharge Review Board considered the applicant for a possible upgrade as instructed in pertinent part by Department of Defense Instruction 1332.28 which stipulates that a request for review from an applicant without an honorable discharge shall be treated as a request for a change to an honorable discharge unless the applicant requests a specific change to another character of discharge.

5.  The applicant contends he had to leave the base due to a death in the family.  This contention was carefully considered; however, because the facts and circumstances leading to the discharge are unknown, it could not be determine whether his contention has merit.  The burden of proof remains with the former Soldier to provide the appropriate documents or other evidence sufficient to explain the facts, circumstances, and reasons underlying the separation action, for the Board's consideration. 

6.  If the applicant desires a personal appearance hearing, it will be his responsibility to meet the burden of proof and provide the appropriate documents (i.e., the discharge packet) or other evidence sufficient to explain the facts, circumstances, and reasons underlying the separation action, for the Board’s consideration because they are not available in the official record.

7.  Therefore, based on the available evidence and the presumption of government regularity, it appears that based on the discharge order the characterization of service was both proper and equitable, thus recommend the Board deny relief. 

SUMMARY OF ARMY DISCHARGE REVIEW BOARD HEARING:

Type of Hearing: Records Review      Date:  17 April 2013       Location:  Washington, DC

Did the Applicant Testify?  NA 

Counsel: NA

Witnesses/Observers: NA 

Board Vote:
Character Change:  0	No Change:  5
Reason Change:	0	No Change:  5
(Board member names available upon request)

Board Action Directed:
Issue a new DD Form 214:	 No
Change Characterization to: No Change	
Change Reason to:	No Change
Change Authority for Separation: No Change
Change RE Code to: No Change	
Grade Restoration to: NA	
Other: NA











Legend:
AMHRR - Army Military Human Resource Record	FG - Field Grade	IADT – Initial Active Duty Training	 	RE - Reentry
AWOL - Absent Without Leave	GD - General Discharge	NA - Not applicable	SCM- Summary Court Martial
BCD - Bad Conduct Discharge	HS - High School	NIF - Not in File
	SPCM - Special Court Martial
CG - Company Grade Article 15	HD - Honorable Discharge	OAD - Ordered to Active Duty	UNC - Uncharacterized Discharge  
CID - Criminal investigation Department	MP – Military Police	OMPF - Official Military Personnel File	UOTHC - Under Other Than                           			               Honorable Conditions





ADRB Case Report and Directive (cont)		AR20120021570



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ARMY DISCHARGE REVIEW BOARD (ADRB)

CASE REPORT AND DIRECTIVE



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