AIR FORCE DISCHARGE REVIEW BOARD HEARING RECORD	
		GRADE
	AFSNfSSAN		
		X	RECORD REVIEW		
		ADDRESS AHi> OR ORGANIZATION OF COUNSEL	

ISSUES

A93.01

INDEX NUMBER

A67.10

HON	GEN	UOTHC	OTHER

DENY

x x x x
x

A93.07

A66.00	1  ORDER APPOINTING THE BOARD
2 APPLICATION FOR REVIEW OF DISCHARGE
3	LEITER OF NOTIFICATION
4	BRIEF OF PERSONNEL FILE COUNSEL'S RELEASE TO THE BOARD
ADDmONAL EXHIBITS SUBMilTED AT TIME OF PERSONAL APPEARANCE
TAPE RECORDING OF PERSONAL APPEARANCE HEARING

llt:ARJNG   DATE	CASE NUMBER

OS Sep 2013	FD-2013-00478

Case heard in Washington, D.C.

Advise applicant of the decision of the Board,the right to a personal appearance with/without counsel, and the right to submit an application to the AFBCMR.

Names and votes will be made available to the applicant at the applicant's request.

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SAF/MRBR
550 C STREET WEST, SUITE 40
RANDOLPH AFB,TX 78150-4742

.  SICRETARV or11IE AIR roRCE PERSONNEL COUNOL
AIR FORCE DISCHARGE REVIEW BOARD 15:15 COMMAND DR,EE WING,3RD PLOOR AHDREWS   AfB,MD 29162-7t01

AFHQ  FORM  0-2077,JAN  00	. (EF-V2)	Previous

AIR FORCE DISCHARGE REVIEW BOARD DECISIONAL RATIONALE	CASE NUMBER

FD-2013-00478	

GENERAL: The applicant appeals for upgrade of discharge to honorable.

The applicant was offered a personal appearance before the Discharge Review Board (DRB) but declined and requests that the review be completed based on the available service record.

The attached brief contains available pertinent data on the applicant and the factors leading to the discharge. FINDING: The Board denies the upgrade of the discharge.
The Board finds that neither the evidence of record nor that provided by the applicant substantiates an inequity or impropriety that would justify a change of discharge.

ISSUE: The record indicates that the applicant was discharged for Misconduct-Drug Abuse and minor disciplinary infractions, with Drug Abuse as the primary basis of misconduct. Applicant contends he was under a tremendous amount of stress due to marriage problems. The record indicates the applicant received a Vacation action for wrongfully using marijuana between on or about 4 December 2012 and on or about 4 January 2013. According to AFI 36-3208, paragraph 5.54, Misconduct: Drug Abuse, drug use is incompatible with military service and Airman who abuse drugs one or more times are subject to discharge. Drug abuse for the purpose of this regulation is the illegal, wrongful, or improper use, possession, sale, transfer, or introduction onto a military installation of any drug. This includes improper use of prescription medication. The term drug includes any controlled substance in schedules I, II, III, IV, and V of Title 21 U.S.C., Section 812. After review of the record, the Board found no evidence to indicate that the applicant did not know right from wrong or that in his four years and four months of service was unaware of the Air Force policy of zero tolerance to drug use. The Board found the negative aspects of the willful misconduct outweighed the positive aspects of the applicant's performance and concluded that the discharge was appropriate.

In addition to the non-judicial punishment for Drug Abuse, the applicant received two Article 15s and two Letters of Reprimand. His misconduct included failure to refrain from smoking in the dorm, failure to report another airman for smoking in the dorm, lied indicating he had an appointment that never existed resulting in failure to go to duty on time, lied indicating he reported for a scheduled appointment but was turned away when in fact the applicant cancelled the appointment and rescheduled to later date, failure to go to duty on time, and slept on post. The Board opined that through these administrative actions, the applicant had ample opportunities to change his behavior. They found the seriousness of the willful misconduct offset any positive aspects of the applicant's duty performance. The Board reviewed the entire record and found no evidence of impropriety or inequity to warrant an upgrade of the discharge.

Although not specifically stated, applicant contends that he should not be penalized indefinitely for mistakes he made when he was young. The DRB recognized the applicant was 22 years of age when the discharge took place. However, there is no evidence he was immature or did not know right from wrong. The Board opined the applicant was older than the vast majority of first-term members who properly adhere to the Air Force's standards of conduct. The DRB concluded that the characterization of the applicant's discharge was appropriate due to the misconduct.

The applicant cited his desire to receive the G.I. Bill benefits as justification for upgrade. The DRB noted that when the applicant applied for these benefits, he signed a statement (DD Form 2366, on December 8, 2008) that he understood he must receive an Honorable discharge to receive future educational entitlements.	

The Board was sympathetic to the impact the loss of these benefits was having on the applicant, but this is not a matter of inequity or impropriety which would warrant an upgrade.

CONCLUSION: The Discharge Review  Board concludes that the discharge was consistent with the procedural and substantive requirements of the discharge regulation and was within the discretion of the discharge authority and the applicant was provided full administrative due process.

In view of the foregoing findings, the Board further concludes that there exists no legal or equitable basis for upgrade of discharge and determines the discharge should remain unchanged.

Attachment: Examiner's Brief