IN THE CASE OF:  	

      BOARD DATE:  	12 July 2013

      CASE NUMBER:  	AR20130002447
___________________________________________________________________________

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 to upgrade her characterization of service from under other than honorable to general, under honorable conditions.

2.  The applicant states, in effect, that she would like an upgrade to support better employment, and if possible, to join the Coast Guard.
 
DISCHARGE UNDER REVIEW INFORMATION:

	a.	Application Receipt Date:	1 February 2013
	b.	Discharge Received:	Under Other Than Honorable Conditions
	c.	Date of Discharge:	12 February 2005
	d.	Reason/Authority/SPD/RE Code:	AR 135-178, Chapter NIF
	e.	Unit of assignment:	377th TC CMD, New Orleans, LA
	f.	Current Enlistment Date/Term:	22 May 2001, 8 years
	g.	Current Enlistment Service:	3 years, 8 months, 21 days
	h.	Total Service:	3 years, 8 months, 21 days
	i.	Time Lost:	NIF
	j.	Previous Discharges:	USAR (010522-010731) / NA
			ADT    (010801-011117) / UNC
	k.	Highest Grade Achieved:	E-3
	l.	Military Occupational Specialty:	71L10, Administrative Specialist
	m.	GT Score:	96
	n.	Education:	GED
	o.	Overseas Service:	NIF
	p.	Combat Service:	NIF
	q.	Decorations/Awards:	ASR
	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 22 May 2001, for a period of 8 years.  She was 19 years old at the time of entry had a high school equivalency (GED).  She served a little more than 3 years of an 8-year enlistment and her record documents no acts of valor or significant achievement.  

SEPARATION FACTS AND CIRCUMSTANCES:

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

2.  The record indicates that on 17 October 2006, Department of the Army, Headquarters, 377th Theater Support Command, New Orleans, LA, Orders 05-046-00001, discharged the applicant from the United States Army Reserve, effective 12 February 2005 (VOCG), with an under other than honorable conditions discharge.  

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

EVIDENCE OBTAINED FROM THE APPLICANT'S RECORD:

NIF

EVIDENCE SUBMITTED BY THE APPLICANT:

The applicant provided discharge orders, dated 15 February 2005, for service under current review.

POST-SERVICE ACTIVITY: 

The applicant provided none.  

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 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 her discharge was carefully considered.  However, after examining the applicant’s record of service, the documents and the issues submitted with the application, there are insufficient mitigating factors to merit an upgrade of the applicant's discharge.  The service record is void of the specific facts and circumstances concerning the events which led to her discharge from the Army Reserve.  

2.  The applicant’s 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 her service mitigated the type of discharges he received from the U.S. Army Reserve.   

5.  The applicant contends that an upgrade of her discharge would allow educational benefits through the use of the GI Bill and possibly, join the Coast Guard.  However, eligibility for veteran's benefits to include educational benefits under the Post-9/11 or Montgomery GI Bill does not fall within the purview of the Army Discharge Review Board.  Accordingly, the applicant should contact a local office of the Department of Veterans Affairs for further assistance.  Furthermore, the applicant desires to rejoin the Military Service.  However, if reenlistment is desired, the applicant should contact a local recruiter to determine eligibility to reenlist.  Recruiters can best advise a former service member as to the needs of the Coast Guard at the time.

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:   12 July 2013         Location: Washington, DC

Did the Applicant Testify?  No

Counsel:  None




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)		AR20130002447



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ARMY DISCHARGE REVIEW BOARD (ADRB)

CASE REPORT AND DIRECTIVE



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