IN THE CASE OF:  	Mr. 

      BOARD DATE:  	17 July 2013

      CASE NUMBER:  	AR20130002662
___________________________________________________________________________

Board Determination and Directed Action

1.  After carefully examining the applicant’s record of service during the period of enlistment under review and notwithstanding the Discussion and Recommendation that follows, the Board determined that the applicant's length and quality of his service were not significantly meritorious to overcome the seriousness of the reason that caused his separation from the Army and as a result the discharge was found to be proper and equitable.  

2.  The Board voted to deny the relief requested because it found the nature of the applicant's 
Unsatisfactory performance to overcome his bar to reenlistment does not warrant the award of an honorable characterization of service.  The Board further determined the applicant’s record does not support a change to the narrative reason for separation.


      
      
      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 general, under honorable conditions to honorable and change to the narrative reason for discharge and the RE code.

2.  The applicant states, in effect, through counsel that his discharge is overly harsh and not enough merit was given to the overall quality of his service, length of service and his overseas service.  Additionally, he feels that not enough consideration was given to his potential for APFT rehabilitation and further useful military service.  He believes that his separation could have been suspended to enable him to satisfactorily continue to improve his run time and complete his remaining obligation of less than 9 months of a 6 year obligation.  He feels more consideration should have been given to the effect his discharge was going to have on his ability to use VA education benefits.  The applicant has no other disciplinary infractions.
 
DISCHARGE UNDER REVIEW INFORMATION:

a. Application Receipt Date:		8 February 2013			
b. Discharge Received:		General, Under Honorable Conditions
c. Date of Discharge:			3 October 2012	
d. Reason/Authority/SPD/RE Code:	Unsatisfactory Performance, AR 635-200        								Chapter 13,	JHJ, RE-3
e. Unit of assignment:			116th Military Police Company, 97th Military Police 						Battalion, United States Army Garrison, Fort Riley 						Kansas			
f. Current Enlistment Date/Term:	13 August 2007, 6 years
g. Current Enlistment Service:	5 years, 1 month, 21 days
h. Total Service:			5 years, 1 month, 21 days
i. Time Lost:				None
j. Previous Discharges:		None
k. Highest Grade Achieved:		E-3
l. Military Occupational Specialty:	31B10, Military Police
m. GT Score:				110
n. Education:				HS Graduate
o. Overseas Service:			NIF
p. Combat Service:			NIF
q. Decorations/Awards:		NDSM, GWOTSM, ASR, OSR
r. Administrative Separation Board: 	No
s. Performance Ratings:		None
t. Counseling Statements:		Yes
u. Prior Board Review:			No


SUMMARY OF SERVICE:		
	
The applicant enlisted in the Regular Army on 13 August 2007, for a period of 6 years.  He was 19 years old at the time of entry, a high school graduate, and completed 5 years, 1 month, and 21 days of active duty service.

SEPARATION FACTS AND CIRCUMSTANCES:

1.  The applicant’s service record shows that on 14 August 2012, the unit commander notified the applicant of initiation of separation action under the provisions of Chapter 13, AR 635-200, by reason of unsatisfactory performance specifically for; failing to overcome his Bar to Reenlistment.

2.  The unit commander recommended an honorable discharge and advised the applicant of his rights.  

3.  On 14 August 2012, the applicant consulted with legal counsel, was advised of the impact of the discharge action, and did not submit a statement on his behalf.  The unit commander subsequently recommended separation from the Army and waiver of further rehabilitative efforts.  The intermediate commander reviewed the proposed action and recommended approval with a general, under honorable conditions discharge.  

4.  The separation authority waived further rehabilitation and directed the applicant’s discharge with a characterization of service of general, under honorable conditions and transferred to the IRR, unless otherwise disqualified.  However, the applicant was not transferred to the IRR.

5.  The applicant was discharged from the Army on 3 October 2012, with a characterization of service of general, under honorable conditions.

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

EVIDENCE OBTAINED FROM THE APPLICANT'S RECORD:

Two counseling statements dated 6 December 2011 and 22 June 2012, for a recommendation for a bar to reenlist, and failing an APFT and failing to overcome a bar to reenlistment.
      
EVIDENCE SUBMITTED BY THE APPLICANT:

The applicant provided a DD Form 293 with a self authored statement, a statement from the American Legion, an email, four memoranda from the applicant’s discharge packet, two VA transmittal sheets, four VA Form 21-22’s, and a DD Form 214.

POST-SERVICE ACTIVITY: 

None were provided by the applicant.
REGULATORY AUTHORITY:

1.  Army Regulation 635-200 sets forth the basic authority for the separation of enlisted personnel.  Chapter 13 contains the policy and outlines the procedures for separating individuals for unsatisfactory performance, and provides, in pertinent part, that commanders will separate a member under this Chapter when, in the commander's judgment, the member will not develop sufficiently to participate satisfactorily in further training and/or become a satisfactory Soldier.  

2.  Army policy states that a general, under honorable conditions discharge is normally considered appropriate; however, an honorable discharge may be granted in meritorious cases.

DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATION:

1.  The applicant’s request for an upgrade of the characterization of his discharge was carefully considered.  

2.  After examining the applicant’s record of service, his military records, the documents and the issues submitted with the application, there are several mitigating factors to merit an upgrade of the applicant's discharge to honorable for the following reason.  The overall quality and length of the applicant’s service was honorable.  He served over five years of a six year enlistment. 

3.  The record confirms the applicant was discharged for the sole reason of failing to meet the minimum standards of the Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT).  The service record does not contain any other derogatory information.  

4.  The record shows the proper discharge and separation authority procedures were followed in this case.

5.  In view of the foregoing, it appears the characterization of the discharge is now inequitable and it is recommended the Board grant full relief in the form of an upgrade of the characterization of service to honorable.  Furthermore, regulations currently in effect list the reason for the applicant’s discharge as “Physical Standards.”  Accordingly, it is also recommended that the narrative reason for separation be changed to “Physical Standards,” on the basis of equity, with a corresponding separation code of JFT.  However, the RE code should remain a 3.   



SUMMARY OF ARMY DISCHARGE REVIEW BOARD HEARING:

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

Did the Applicant Testify?  No 

Counsel: Yes [ redacted ]

Witnesses/Observers: NA 

Board Vote:
Character Change:  2	No Change:  3
Reason Change:	2	No Change:  3
(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)		AR20130002662



Page 4 of 5 pages


ARMY DISCHARGE REVIEW BOARD (ADRB)

CASE REPORT AND DIRECTIVE



1