ADDENDUM TO RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS

IN THE MATTER OF:	DOCKET NUMBER: BC-2009-04268-2

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX	COUNSEL: NONE

	HEARING REQUESTED: YES

APPLICANT’S REQUEST

The Board reconsider his request to change his general (under honorable conditions) discharge to honorable and change his narrative reason for separation.

RESUME OF THE CASE

The applicant is a former Air Force airman first class.  He was separated from the Air Force on 14 Jul 83 under the provisions of AFR 39-10, Administrative Separation of Airmen, for homosexuality.  He received a general (under honorable conditions) discharge with a narrative reason for separation of Homosexuality Acts and corresponding separation code of HRA.  The applicant’s reenlistment (RE) code is 2B which denotes “Separated with a general or under-other-than-honorable-conditions discharge.”

On 24 Aug 10, the Board considered and denied his request to upgrade his discharge and change his narrative reason for separation, finding that the applicant had provided insufficient evidence of an error or injustice to justify relief.  The Board also considered upgrading the applicant’s discharge on the basis of clemency; however, because of the lack of documentation concerning his activities since leaving the service, they were not inclined to recommend upgrading his discharge based on clemency at the time.

For an accounting of the applicant’s original request and the rationale of the earlier decision, see the AFBCMR Letter and Record of Proceedings at Exhibit D.

On 8 Aug 19, the applicant requested reconsideration of his request.  He again contends that his discharge was an injustice.  The statement of homosexual acts was added to his narrative reason for separation.  There was no evidence that he was gay.  He was never convicted, charged, or court-martialed for anything.  His wife became very angry when he asked her for a divorce and she turned him in to the Office of Special Investigations (OSI) claiming that he was gay in order to have him kicked out of the military.  His attorney and the OSI agreed that he should be honorably discharged with no narrative reason for homosexuality.  With the general discharge, he is ineligible for certain benefits and unable to use services such as the United Services Automobile Association.  His discharge should be changed to honorable and his narrative reason should be removed due to the policy change in the Air Force regarding gender orientation and sexual orientation.

The applicant’s complete submission, with attachment, is at Exhibit E.

 

APPLICABLE AUTHORITY

On 20 Sep 11, with the repeal of the law commonly known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT), 10 U.S.C. § 654, the Department of Defense (DoD) issued supplemental policy guidance on correcting military records of former service members who had been discharged under that law or a precursor.  The guidance applied to the following types of requests:  changing the narrative reason for a discharge; re-characterizing service as honorable; changing a reentry code to one allowing immediate eligibility to reenter service.  The guidance directed that such requests should normally be granted when both of the following conditions are true:  (1) the original discharge was based solely on DADT or a similar policy in place prior to enactment of DADT; and (2) there were no aggravating factors in the record, such as misconduct.  For meritorious cases, the guidance further directed the use of “Secretarial Authority” as the new narrative reason for separation, with Separation Program Designator (SPD) code “JFF” and reentry code “1J.”  Finally, the guidance noted that while each request must be evaluated individually, an honorable or under honorable conditions (general) discharge should normally be considered to indicate the absence of aggravating factors.

The complete DoD policy is at Exhibit G.

APPLICANT’S REVIEW OF APPLICABLE AUTHORITY

The Board sent a copy of the DoD policy to the applicant on 26 Aug 19 for comment (Exhibit H), but has received no response.

FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION

1.  After reviewing all Exhibits, the Board concludes the applicant is the victim of an injustice.  While the Board finds no error in the original discharge process, the Board recommends relief based on the repeal of 10 U.S.C. § 654.  The absence of aggravating factors in the applicant’s record meets the criteria of the DoD policy on records correction following the repeal of DADT.  Therefore, the Board recommends correcting the applicant’s record as indicated below.

2.  The applicant has not shown a personal appearance, with or without counsel, would materially add to the Board’s understanding of the issues involved.

RECOMMENDATION

The pertinent military records of the Department of the Air Force relating to APPLICANT be corrected to show on 14 Jul 83, he was honorably discharged with a narrative reason for separation of “Secretarial Authority,” a separation code of “JFF” and a Reentry (RE) code of “1J” and was furnished an Honorable Discharge certificate.

CERTIFICATION

The following quorum of the Board, as defined in Air Force Instruction (AFI) 36-2603, Air Force Board for Correction of Military Records (AFBCMR), paragraph 1.5, considered Docket Number BC-2009-04268-2 in Executive Session on 20 Aug 20:

, Panel Chair
, Panel Member
, Panel Member

All members voted to correct the record.  The panel considered the following:

Exhibit D:	Record of Proceedings, w/ Exhibits A-C, dated 22 Sep 10.
Exhibit E:	Application, DD Form 149, w/atch, dated 8 Aug 19.
Exhibit F:	Documentary evidence, including relevant excerpts from official records.
Exhibit G:	DoD Policy on Correcting Military Records after Repeal of DADT, 20 Sep 11.
Exhibit H:	Notification of DoD Policy to applicant, SAF/MRBC, dated 26 Aug 19.

Taken together with all Exhibits, this document constitutes the true and complete Record of Proceedings, as required by AFI 36-2603, paragraph 4.11.9.