RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS IN THE MATTER OF: DOCKET NUMBER: BC-2011-02873 COUNSEL: NONE HEARING DESIRED: NO _________________________________________________________________ APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT: His under other than honorable conditions (UOTHC) discharge be upgraded to general (under honorable conditions). _________________________________________________________________ APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT: He was told his discharge would be upgraded after six months. He would like to apply for health benefits. In support of his appeal, the applicant provides a copy of a DD Form 293, Application for the Review of Discharge from the Armed Forces of the United States. The applicant’s complete submission, with attachment, is at Exhibit A. _________________________________________________________________ STATEMENT OF FACTS: The applicant began his military service on 5 Aug 68. On 19 Oct 70, the applicant’s commander notified him that he had initiated administrative discharge action against him for Unsuitability in accordance with Air Force Manual (AFM) 39-12. His commander recommended he receive a general (under honorable conditions) discharge. The base commander and the discharge authority both provided endorsements to the administrative discharge recommendation where they concurred with the recommendation to discharge the applicant for unsuitability with a general (under honorable conditions) character of service. The reasons for the action were as follows: 1. On 16 Jul 70, his commander initiated an Office of Special Investigations (OSI) investigation as the applicant admitted he had engaged in homosexual relations. The OSI investigation was completed on 24 Sep 70 and resulted in findings the applicant had frequented homosexual bars and had engaged in numerous homosexual acts with other airmen and civilian males from Nov 69 until at least early Jul 70, when he admitted such behavior to his commander. On 6 Aug 70, the results of a psychiatric evaluation were that the applicant had a schizoid personality with homosexuality. 2. On 12 Aug 70, the applicant received an Article 15 for failure to repair, which included punishment consisting of a suspended reduction to the grade of airman first class (A1C/E-3), forfeiture of $50 per month for one month, and restriction to base for 30 days. 3. On 11 Sep 70, the applicant broke restriction leading his commander to vacate the aforementioned reduction in grade. On 19 Oct 70, he received an additional Article 15 for being Absent Without Leave (AWOL) from 10 to 22 Sep 70 and 23 Sep to 19 Oct 70. His punishment consisted of a reduction in grade to airman basic (AB/E-1), restriction to base for 60 days, and 45 days of extra duty. On 30 Oct 70, according to the applicant’s AF Form 100, Request and Authorization for Separation, the applicant was ordered to be furnished a general (under honorable conditions) discharge. However, according to the applicant’s DD Form 214, Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge, he was furnished an under other than honorable conditions (UOTHC) discharge and was credited with 2 years, 2 months, and 26 days of total active service. On 20 Sep 11, the Under Secretary of Defense issued guidance pertaining to correction of military records requests resulting from the repeal of Title 10, Section 654, commonly known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT). In a memorandum, dated 20 Sep 11, the Under Secretary of Defense published guidance that Service Discharge Review Boards should normally grant requests to change the narrative reason for discharge (the change should be to “Secretarial Authority”), requests to re-characterize the discharge to honorable, and/or request a change to the reentry code to an immediately-eligible-to-reenter category when both of the following conditions are met: (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. Although each request must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, the award of an honorable or general (under honorable conditions) discharge should normally be considered to indicate the absence of aggravating factors. Pursuant to the Board’s request, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), provided a copy of an Investigation Report, which is at Exhibit C. On 24 Feb 12, a copy of the FBI report and a request for post-service information was forwarded to the applicant for review and comment within 30 days (Exhibit D). As of this date, no response has been received by this office. _________________________________________________________________ THE BOARD CONCLUDES THAT: 1. The applicant has exhausted all remedies provided by existing law or regulations. 2. The application was not timely filed; however, it is in the interest of justice to excuse the failure to timely file. 3. Sufficient relevant evidence has been presented to demonstrate the existence of an error or injustice warranting corrective action. After a thorough review of the evidence of record and the applicant’s complete submission, we believe a preponderance of the evidence indicates the applicant’s service was erroneously characterized as under other than honorable conditions (UOTHC), instead of general (under honorable conditions). In this respect, we note the commander recommended the applicant be discharged with a general (under honorable conditions) character of service and the discharge authority concurred with his recommendation. In fact, the orders authorizing the applicant’s discharge, published the same day he was discharged, also indicate his service should have been so characterized. However, for whatever reason, his DD Form 214 indicates his service was characterized as UOTHC. Therefore, in view of this obvious error, we believe the applicant’s DD Form 214 should be corrected to reflect his service was characterized as general (under honorable conditions). While the repeal of the law known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) provides a basis for us to upgrade the discharge of a service member separated under its provisions to honorable, the applicant’s homosexual conduct was not the sole basis of his discharge. In this respect, we note the applicant’s other misconduct, failure to repair and two instances of being absent without leave, are aggravating factors and could have formed the basis of his general (under honorable conditions) discharge. Therefore, we are not inclined to recommend his discharge be upgraded to honorable on the basis of the repeal of DADT. Therefore, we recommend the applicant’s records be corrected to the extent indicated below. _________________________________________________________________ THE BOARD RECOMMENDS THAT: The pertinent military records of the Department of the Air Force relating to the APPLICANT be corrected to show that on 30 October 1970, he was discharged with service characterized as general (under honorable conditions) and issued a general discharge certificate. _________________________________________________________________ The following members of the Board considered AFBCMR Docket Number BC-2011-02873 in Executive Session on 3 Apr 12, under the provisions of AFI 36-2603: , Panel Chair , Member , Member All members voted to correct the record as recommended. The following documentary evidence was considered: Exhibit A. DD Form 149, dated 20 Jul 11, w/atchs. Exhibit B. Applicant's Master Military Personnel Records. Exhibit C. FBI Report. Exhibit D. Letter, AFBCMR, dated 24 Feb 12. Panel Chair