IN THE CASE OF:  	Mr. 

      BOARD DATE:  	5 June 2013

      CASE NUMBER:  	AR20120022579
___________________________________________________________________________

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 under other than honorable conditions discharge to honorable.

2.  The applicant states, in effect, he was granted a conditional release and was told by the unit NCOIC that he was out of the unit and free from drills during his 6- month release time. He just needed to inform the unit of where he re-entered the military and that was it. However, he was discharged for unsatisfactory performance for not going to drills.  The people he was told to contact in regards to his discharge said they were working on his discharge.  He continued to call and after about 10 months he was discharged for unsatisfactory performance even though he had been told he was released from the unit drills.
 
DISCHARGE UNDER REVIEW INFORMATION:

a. Application Receipt Date:			10 December 2012
b. Discharge Received:			Under Other Than Honorable Conditions
c. Date of Discharge:				2 August 2010
d. Reason/Authority/SPD/RE Code:		AR 135-178, Chapter NIF
e. Unit of assignment:				B Co, 405th CA Bn, Pleasant Grove, UT	
f. Current Enlistment Date/Term:		29 March 2009, 6 years
g. Current Enlistment Service:		1 year, 4 months, 13 days
h. Total Service:				10 years, 10 months, 3 days
i. Time Lost:					None
j. Previous Discharges:			ARNG (959331-010426), HD										IADT (950926-9690422), HD										ARNG (010429-011215), HD										USAR (011215-050401), HD
k. Highest Grade Achieved:			O-1
l. Military Occupational Specialty:		38B10, Civil Affairs Specialist
m. GT Score:					122
n. Education:					College Degree
o. Overseas Service:				None
p. Combat Service:				None
q. Decorations/Awards:			NDSM, ARCAM, NPDR, ASR
r. Administrative Separation Board: 		No
s. Performance Ratings:			None
t. Counseling Statements:			No
u. Prior Board Review:				No



SUMMARY OF SERVICE:		
	
The applicant served in the Army National Guard (ARNG) from 1995 until his honorable discharge in 2003 and achieved the rank of 2LT.  He was transferred to the US Army Reserve Control Group and remained there until 1 April 2005.  On 20 March 2009, the applicant reenlisted in the Army Reserve for a period of 6 years.  He was 35 years old at the time and was a college graduate.  He served a total of 10 years, 10 months and 3 days in the ARNG and USAR which included a brief period in active duty for initial active duty training.  His record does not contain any significant awards or acts of valor.

SEPARATION FACTS AND CIRCUMSTANCES:

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

2.  The available record indicates that on 2 August 2010, Department of the Army, Headquarters, 88th Regional Support Command, Fort McCoy, WI, Orders 10-214-00022, discharged the applicant from the United States Army Reserve, effective 2 August 2010, with an under other than honorable conditions discharge and reduced him to the lowest enlisted grade.

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

EVIDENCE OBTAINED FROM THE APPLICANT'S RECORD:

Discharge and reduction in grade order.

EVIDENCE SUBMITTED BY THE APPLICANT:

The applicant provided an online application with his account of the events that led to his discharge from the USAR.

POST-SERVICE ACTIVITY: 

None were provided with the application.

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 and the issues submitted with the application, there are insufficient mitigating factors to merit an upgrade of the applicant's discharge.  The available record is void of the specific facts and circumstances concerning the events which led to his discharge from the Army Reserve.  

2.  The applicant’s available record contains a properly constituted Order which was authenticated by the appropriate military authority.  This document identifies the characterization of the discharge and the presumption of government regularity prevails in the discharge process.  

3.  Barring evidence to the contrary, it appears all requirements of law and regulation were met and the rights of the applicant were fully protected throughout the separation process.  

4.  The applicant provided no independent corroborating evidence demonstrating that either the command's action was erroneous or that his service mitigated the type of discharge he received from the U.S. Army Reserve.   

5.  The applicant contends he was told that he did not have to attend drills anymore and thought he had been properly released from his unit until he received his discharge orders for unsatisfactory performance.  However, the facts and circumstances leading to the discharge are unknown.  The burden of proof remains with the applicant to provide the appropriate documents such as the discharge packet or other evidence sufficient to explain the facts, circumstances, and reasons underlying the separation action, for the Board's consideration.  If the applicant desires a personal appearance hearing, it will still be his responsibility to meet the burden of proof since the discharge packet is not available in the official record. 

6.  Therefore, based on the available evidence, it appears the reason for discharge and the characterization of service were both proper and equitable, thus recommend the Board deny relief.

SUMMARY OF ARMY DISCHARGE REVIEW BOARD HEARING:

Type of Hearing:  Records Review	Date:  5 June 2013		Location: Washington, DC

Did the Applicant Testify?  No

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:	NA
Change RE Code to:		NA
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)		AR20120022579

Page 5 of 5 pages


ARMY DISCHARGE REVIEW BOARD (ADRB)

CASE REPORT AND DIRECTIVE



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