IN THE CASE OF:  	Mr. 

      BOARD DATE:  	22 January 2014

      CASE NUMBER:  	AR20130010467
___________________________________________________________________________

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 discharge from general under honorable conditions to honorable.

2.  The applicant states, in effect, that he believes he was chaptered from the US Army under false pretenses and the regulations and procedures were not followed.  It is his strong belief that CPT C was not fair and impartial in his decision to initiate a chapter against him as he primarily used all of the negative counseling’s from Iraq while under a different commander and from over a year before falling under his command.  He also believes he can support this with contradictory documentation that he lied on his memorandum of record-(MFR), so that he would have everything he needed to initiate the chapter.  As the regulation states, he was supposed to receive a rehabilitation transfer and counseling.  He never received either.  Due to the actions of CPT C, he was unable to seek mental aid for his growing anger management issues that developed while deployed in Iraq.  He attempted multiple times to go to see a counselor for his anger issues and was denied by his NCOs and chain of command for different reasons.  He would love to be able to continue to serve in the National Guard, hopefully go back to active duty, and continue his education using his GI bill.  Once he is completely out of the military, he wants to continue to serve his state and country as a Texas State Trooper or as a local officer. 

DISCHARGE UNDER REVIEW INFORMATION:

a. Application Receipt Date:		29 May 2013
b. Discharge received:			General, Under Honorable Conditions
c. Date of Discharge:			24 January 2013
d. Reason/Authority/SPD/RE:		Misconduct (Minor Infractions), AR 635-200, Chapter 						14-12a, JKN, RE-3
e. Unit of assignment:			Predator Company, 4th Squadron, 3d Cavalry 							Regiment, Fort Hood, TX
f. Current Enlistment Date/Term:	5 October 2009, 3 years, 20 weeks		
g. Current Enlistment Service:	3 years, 3 months, 20 days
h. Total Service:			3 years, 3 months, 20 days
i. Time Lost:				None
j. Previous Discharges:		None 
k. Highest Grade Achieved:		E-4
l.  Military Occupational Specialty:	92Y10, Unit Supply Specialist
m. GT Score:				109
n. Education:				HS Graduate
o. Overseas Service:			SWA
p. Combat Service:			Iraq (100824-110824)
q. Decorations/Awards:		ARCOM, AAM, NDSM, ICM-w/2CS, GWOTSM, 						OSR
r. Administrative Separation Board: 	No
s. Performance Ratings:		None
t. Counseling Statements:		None
u. Prior Board Review:			No

SUMMARY OF SERVICE:		
	
The applicant enlisted in the Regular Army on 5 October 2009, for a period of 3 years and 20 weeks.  He was 19 years old at the time of entry and was a high school graduate.  His record shows he was awarded an ARCOM and AAM.  He was stationed at Fort Hood, TX, when his discharge was initiated.  

SEPARATION FACTS AND CIRCUMSTANCES

1.  The applicant’s record is void of the complete facts and circumstances concerning the events which led to the discharge from the Army.  The record contains a properly constituted DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty), which was authenticated by the applicant’s signature.  The record also contains the separation authority’s decision document.  

2.  The DD Form 214 indicates the applicant was discharged under the provisions of Chapter 14, AR 635-200, paragraph 14-12a, for misconduct (minor infractions), with a characterization of service of general, under honorable conditions.  The DD Form 214 shows a Separation Program Designator (SPD) code of JKN and a reentry (RE) code of 3.  

3.  On 4 January 2013, the separation authority, waived further rehabilitation and directed the applicant’s discharge with a characterization of service of general, under honorable conditions.  

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

EVIDENCE OBTAINED FROM THE APPLICANT'S RECORD

There are no counseling statements or UCMJ actions in the record.

EVIDENCE SUBMITTED BY THE APPLICANT 

The applicant provided a DD Form 293, DD Form 214, a MFR with listed references, a self-authored statement, three MFRs from (CPT C, CPT D, AND CPT C), and an excerpt from 
AR 635-200, pages 99-103.

POST-SERVICE ACTIVITY: 

None were provided with the application.

REGULATORY AUTHORITY  

1.  Army Regulation 635-200 sets forth the basic authority for the separation of enlisted personnel.  Chapter 14 establishes policy and prescribes procedures for separating members for misconduct.  Specific categories include minor disciplinary infractions, a pattern of misconduct, and commission of a serious offense, to include abuse of illegal drugs, convictions by civil authorities and desertion or being absent without leave.  Action will be taken to separate a member for misconduct when it is clearly established that rehabilitation is impractical or unlikely to succeed.  Army policy states that an under other than honorable conditions discharge is normally considered appropriate; however, a general, under honorable conditions or an honorable discharge may be granted.   

2.  Army Regulation 635-200, paragraph 3-7a, provides that an honorable discharge is a separation with honor and entitles the recipient to benefits provided by law.  The honorable characterization is appropriate when the quality of the member’s service generally has met the standards of acceptable conduct and performance of duty for Army personnel, or is otherwise so meritorious that any other characterization would be clearly inappropriate.  Whenever there is doubt, it is to be resolved in favor of the individual.

3.  Army Regulation 635-200, paragraph 3-7b, provides that a general discharge is a separation from the Army under honorable conditions.  When authorized, it is issued to a Soldier whose military record is satisfactory but not sufficiently meritorious to warrant an honorable discharge.  A characterization of under honorable conditions may be issued only when the reason for the Soldier’s separation specifically allows such characterization.

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, his military records, the issues and documents submitted with the application, there are insufficient mitigating factors to merit an upgrade of the applicant's discharge.  

2.  The applicant’s record is void of the specific facts and circumstances concerning the events which led to his discharge from the Army.  However, the applicant’s record does contain a properly constituted DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty), which was authenticated by the applicant's signature.  This document identifies the reason and characterization of the discharge and the presumption of government regularity shall prevail in the discharge process.  

3.  The DD Form 214 indicates the applicant was discharged under the provisions of Chapter 14, AR 635-200, paragraph 14-12a by reason of misconduct (minor infractions), with a characterization of service of general, under honorable conditions.  Barring evidence to the contrary, it appears that all requirements of law and regulation were met and the rights of the applicant were fully protected throughout the separation process.  

4.  The applicant's contentions that he was unjustly discharged were carefully considered.  However, it is not possible to determine if these contentions have merit because the facts and circumstances leading to the discharge are unknown.  The burden of proof remains with the applicant to provide the appropriate documents or other evidence (i.e. discharge packet) 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 be his responsibility to meet this burden of proof since the evidence is not available in the official record.

5.  The applicant has expressed his desire to rejoin the service, to have better job opportunities and the benefits of the GI Bill.  However, the Board does not grant relief for the purpose of gaining employment or enhancing employment opportunities.  Furthermore, Soldiers being processed for separation are assigned reentry codes based on their service records or the reason for discharge.  Based on Army Regulation 635-5-1 and the SPD Code/RE Code Cross Reference Table the applicant was appropriately assigned an RE code of 3.  There is no basis upon which to grant a change to the reason or to the RE code.  An RE Code of 3 indicates the applicant requires a waiver prior to being allowed to reenlist.  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. 

6.  Further, 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.

7.  Therefore, based on the available evidence and the government presumption of regularity, 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:  22 January 2014     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)		AR20130010467



Page 2 of 6 pages


ARMY DISCHARGE REVIEW BOARD (ADRB)

CASE REPORT AND DIRECTIVE



1