PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF: 

	BOARD DATE:            7 December 2000                  
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000040048

	I certify that hereinafter is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in the case of the above-named individual.  

	Mr. Carl W. S. Chun		Director	
	Ms. Deborah L. Brantley		Senior Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Raymond V. O’Connor		Chairperson	
	Mr. Ernest W. Lutz		Member	
	Mr. John P. Infante		Member	

	The applicant and counsel if any, did not appear before the Board.

	The Board considered the following evidence:

	Exhibit A - Application for correction of military 
                records
	Exhibit B - Military Personnel Records (including
	            advisory opinion, if any)

FINDINGS:

1.  The applicant has exhausted or the Board has waived the requirement for exhaustion of all administrative remedies afforded by existing law or regulations.

2.  The applicant requests that her 1985 DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) be corrected to add the word “hardship” or “dependency.”  She states, in effect, that she received a “hardship discharge” under the provisions of Army Regulation 635-200, paragraph 6-3b in 1985.  She notes, however, that her separation report does not contain the word “hardship.”  She states that in order for her to obtain a VA home loan the VA states that her DD Form 214 must reflect either “hardship” or “dependency.”

3.  Information available to the Board indicates that the applicant enlisted in the Regular Army on 1 September 1983 for a period of four years.  At the time of her initial enlistment her records did not indicate that she was married or had any dependent children.

4.  Although information associated with the applicant’s administrative separation from active duty were not available to the Board her DD Form 214 indicates that she was honorably discharged on 1 March 1985 under the provisions of Army Regulation 635-200, paragraph 6-3b.  However, item 28 “narrative reason for separation” reflects “parenthood of married service woman or sole parent” and her SPD (separation program designator) code was recorded as MDG.  At the time of her 1985 discharge her last name was different from what it was at the time of her enlistment.

5.  Army Regulation 635-200 provides for the separation of enlisted soldiers.  Paragraph 6-3b specifically provides for the voluntary separation of soldiers “when in circumstances not involving death or disability of a member of the soldier’s immediate family, separation from the Service will materially affect the care or support of the family by alleviating undue and genuine hardship.”  Subparagraphs 1 and 2 of that paragraph cite specific circumstance regarding the separation of married service women who become parents by birth, adoption or marriage and the separation of soldiers who are sole parents, and whose children under 18 years of age reside within the household.

6.  Army Regulation 635-5-1, which prescribed the specific authorities, the reasons for separation, and the separation program designators to be used on the DD Form 214 notes that when the regulatory basis for separation is paragraph 6-3b, Army Regulation 635-200 item 28 (narrative reason for separation) should reflect “hardship” and item 26 (separation code) should reflect MDB.  The narrative reason “parenthood of married service woman or sole parent” and SPD Code MDG were associated with separation under the provisions of Army Regulation 635-200, paragraph 6-3b(1) or (2).

7.  The VA guarantees loans made to eligible servicemembers, veterans, and unremarried surviving spouses for the purchase or refinancing of homes, condominiums and manufactured homes.  For veterans separated from enlisted service between 8 September 1980 and 1 August 1990 completion of at least 181 days of active duty with a hardship discharge or discharge for the convenience of the government, reduction in force or certain medical conditions is required.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Records available to the Board do not specify under which provision of Army Regulation 635-200 the applicant was separated.  The issue is further confused by the fact that her narrative reason for separation and SPD code on her DD Form 214 are not consistent with the recorded regulatory cite.

2.  While Army Regulation 635-5-1 provides for different narrative reasons and SPD Codes for individuals separated under the provisions of paragraph 6-3b, Army Regulation 635-200 and paragraph 6-3b(1) and (2) of that same regulation it is clear that both such separations fall under the generalized heading of “hardship.”  In all likelihood the applicant was separated under one of the subparagraphs as reflected by the narrative reason for separation and SPD Code on her DD Form 214.

3.  While the Board could correct either the separation authority or the narrative reason for separation on the applicant’s DD Form 214 in this particular case the applicant is merely requesting that the word “hardship” or “dependency” be added to her separation document.  If the Board were to correct the regulatory authority for separation (from paragraph 6-3b to paragraph 6-3b(1) or (2)) the applicant’s situation with the VA would not be resolved.  If the Board were to change the narrative reason and by default then change the SPD code it may solve the applicant’s problem with the VA but distort the real reason for her separation.  As such the Board concludes that in this particular case it would be appropriate, and in the interest of justice only to add the word “hardship” to the narrative reason for separation reflected in item 28 of her DD Form 214.

4.  In view of the foregoing, the applicant’s records should be corrected as recommended below.

RECOMMENDATION:

That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected 

by adding the word “hardship” to item 28 (narrative reason for separation) of the applicant’s 1985 DD Form 214.

BOARD VOTE:  

__rvo___  __ewl___  ___jpi__  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000040048	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20001207	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	YYYYMMDD	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR . . . . .  	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	Grant	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	110.00	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.