IN THE CASE OF:  	Mr. 

      BOARD DATE:  	9 September 2013

      CASE NUMBER:  	AR20130003965
___________________________________________________________________________

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 general, under honorable conditions discharge to honorable.

2.  The applicant states, in effect, that he is in the process of trying to reenlist and has also applied to several police departments.  Upon return from Iraq he had severe family and societal issues of reintegration.  He was only 17 years old when he joined the Army.  He had issues with his father and ended up moving out as a result of it.  He wants to return to the Service and believes his service while in the USAR was excellent.  He was a distinguished honor graduate, served in combat and gave 100 percent of himself to the Army.  He was born to be a Soldier.

DISCHARGE UNDER REVIEW INFORMATION:

a. Application Receipt Date:			25 February 2013
b. Discharge Received:			General, Under Honorable Conditions
c. Date of Discharge:				4 February 2009
d. Reason/Authority/SPD/RE Code:		AR 135-178, Chapter NIF
e. Unit of assignment:				220th Transportation Company, Keen, NH	
f. Current Enlistment Date/Term:		21 November 2003, 8 years
g. Current Enlistment Service:		5 years, 2 months, 13 days
h. Total Service:				5 years, 2 months, 13 days
i. Time Lost:					None
j. Previous Discharges:			IADT (040720-041110), HD										OAD (050823-060918), HD
k. Highest Grade Achieved:			E-4
l. Military Occupational Specialty:		88M10, Motor Transport Operator
m. GT Score:					NIF
n. Education:					HS Graduate
o. Overseas Service:				SWA
p. Combat Service:				Kuwait/Iraq (051112-060823)
q. Decorations/Awards:			ARCOM, AAM, AGCM, NDSM, ICM, 									GWOTSM, AFRM-M, ASR, OSR
r. Administrative Separation Board: 		NIF
s. Performance Ratings:			None
t. Counseling Statements:			No
u. Prior Board Review:				No
SUMMARY OF SERVICE:		
	
On 21 November 2003, the applicant joined the Army Reserve for a period of 8 years.  He was 17 years old at the time and was a high school graduate.  He served a total of 5 years, 2 months and 13 days in the US Army Reserve.  His record shows he served in Kuwait and Iraq between November 2005 and August 2006.  He earned several awards including an ARCOM, an AAM, and an AGCM.  

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 record indicates that on 28 January 2009, Department of the Army, Headquarters, USARC, Fort McPherson, GA, Orders 09-028-00023, discharged the applicant from the United States Army Reserve, effective 4 February 2009, with a general, under honorable conditions discharge.

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 Orders.

EVIDENCE SUBMITTED BY THE APPLICANT:

An AAM award certificate for being a distinguished military graduate.

POST-SERVICE ACTIVITY: 

None 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, the document, 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's contentions about his reintegration and family issues were carefully considered.  However, there is insufficient evidence available in the official record to make a determination upon the applicant's quality of service.  There is a presumption of regularity in the conduct of governmental affairs which is applied in all Army discharge reviews unless there is substantial credible evidence to rebut the presumption.  There is no evidence in the record, nor has the applicant produced any evidence, to support a change to the characterization of service granted.  The applicant’s statements alone do not overcome the presumption of government regularity.  It appears the applicant’s command considered his good service by separating him with a general, under honorable conditions discharge.  Moreover, the record shows the applicant met entrance qualification standards to include age.  There is no evidence to indicate the applicant was any less mature than other Soldiers of the same age who successfully completed military service.

6.  It is the applicant’s 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.  If the applicant desires to reenlist, he should contact a local recruiter to determine his eligibility to reenlist.  Recruiters can best advise a former service member as to the needs of the Army at the time, and are required to process waivers of reentry eligibility (RE) codes if appropriate. 

8.  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:  Record Review       Date:  9 September 2013       Location: Washington, DC

Did the Applicant Testify?   No

Counsel:  None

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 RE Code to:		NA
Grade Restoration to:		NA
Change Authority for Separation:	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)		AR20130003965

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ARMY DISCHARGE REVIEW BOARD (ADRB)

CASE REPORT AND DIRECTIVE



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