IN THE CASE OF:	Mr.

      BOARD DATE:  	18 September 2013

      CASE NUMBER:  	AR20130005662
___________________________________________________________________________

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 his characterization of service from general, under honorable conditions to fully honorable. 

2.  The applicant states, in effect, he would like to reenlist.  He was in the Army Reserve when he was forced to move out of his house and had no place to go.  So, he went to “live in Indian” (sic), but he would like to return to the Army.
 
DISCHARGE UNDER REVIEW INFORMATION:

	a.	Application Receipt Date:	22 March 2013
	b.	Discharge Received:	General, Under Honorable Conditions
	c.	Date of Discharge:	17 November 2010
	d.	Reason/Authority/SPD/RE Code:	AR 135-178
	e.	Unit of assignment:	250 TC CO, MDM TRK CNTR, Elmonte, CA
	f.	Current Enlistment Date/Term:	9 November 2008 (USAR 8-year MSO)
	g.	Current Enlistment Service:	2 years, 0 months, 19 days
	h.	Total Service:	6 years, 7 months, 19 days
	i.	Time Lost:	NIF
	j.	Previous Discharges:	USAR (040402-040505) / NA
			RA (040506-081108) / HD – Concurrent Service
	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:	NIF
	q.	Decorations/Awards:	ARCOM; AGCM; NDSM; ICM-Arrowhead; 
			GWOTSM; ASR; OSR-2
	r.	Administrative Separation Board: 	No
	s.	Performance Ratings:	None
	t.	Counseling Statements:	NIF
	u.	Prior Board Review:	No

SUMMARY OF SERVICE:		

The applicant enlisted in the Army Reserves and entered the Regular Army on 6 May 2004, and was released upon completion of required active duty service on 8 November 2008.  The applicant then continued serving out the remainder of his 8-year military service obligation on 9 November 2004, with expiration of TPU service on 1 April 2012.  He was 20 years old at the time of his initial enlistment and a high school graduate.  His service in Southwest Asia is not documented.  He earned an ARCOM.  He completed a total of 6 years, 7 months, and 19 days of creditable federal service.


SEPARATION FACTS AND CIRCUMSTANCES:

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

2.  The record indicates that on 12 November 2010, DA, HQ, 63rd Regional Support Command, Moffett Field, CA, Orders 10-316-00017, discharged the applicant from the U.S. Army Reserve, effective 17 November 2010, with a general, under honorable conditions discharge.  

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

EVIDENCE OBTAINED FROM THE APPLICANT'S RECORD:

Discharge orders, dated 17 November 2010.

EVIDENCE SUBMITTED BY THE APPLICANT:

The applicant provided no further evidence.

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 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 service 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 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 forced out of his house and had no place to live, and would like to return to military service with the Army.  His contentions were carefully considered.  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.  Regarding the applicant contention that he was having issues with a place to live that may have ultimately led to his discharged, he had many legitimate avenues through which to obtain assistance or relief and there is no evidence in the record that he ever sought such assistance before committing the misconduct which may have led to the separation action under review.  

7.  The applicant expressed a desire to rejoin the Military Service.  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 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:  Records Review       Date:  18 September 2013     Location: Washington, DC

Did the Applicant Testify?  NA 

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 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)		AR20130005662



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ARMY DISCHARGE REVIEW BOARD (ADRB)

CASE REPORT AND DIRECTIVE



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