MEMORANDUM OF CONSIDERATION

	IN THE CASE OF:   

	BOARD DATE:           15 August 2000                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000040831

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

	Mr. Carl W. S. Chun		Director	
	Mrs. Nancy Amos		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Thomas D. Howard, Jr.		Chairperson	
	Mr. Arthur A. Omartian		Member	
	Ms. Gail J. Wire		Member	

	The Board, established pursuant to authority contained in 10 U.S.C. 1552, convened at the call of the Chairperson on the above date.  In accordance with Army Regulation 15-185, the application and the available military records pertinent to the corrective action requested were reviewed to determine whether to authorize a formal hearing, recommend that the records be corrected without a formal hearing, or to deny the application without a formal hearing if it is determined that insufficient relevant evidence has been presented to demonstrate the existence of probable material error or injustice.

	The applicant requests correction of military records as stated in the application to the Board and as restated herein.

	The Board considered the following evidence:

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

APPLICANT REQUESTS:  That his discharge under conditions other than honorable be upgraded to honorable.

APPLICANT STATES:  That he was absent without leave (AWOL) for less than 50 days.  He was never provided with treatment for his drug problem or for his post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).  He was recently awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge and the Purple Heart by the Board.

EVIDENCE OF RECORD:  The applicant's military records show:

He enlisted in the Regular Army on 27 November 1967.  He completed basic combat training and advanced individual training and was awarded military occupational specialty 11B (Light Weapons Infantryman).

The applicant arrived in Vietnam in May 1968 and served there for 12 months.  He performed duties as a rifleman.  He was slightly wounded (fragmentation wounds in the chest and both legs) during a mortar attack on the base camp in August 1968.  He was hospitalized but was returned to duty.

Between October 1968 and March 1970, the applicant accepted non-judicial punishment under Article 15, Uniform Code of Military Justice on 13 occasions.  He received three Article 15s while in Vietnam for absenting himself from his appointed place of duty, failing to obey a lawful order to fill some sand bags, and possessing 29 marijuana cigarettes, respectively.

Between July 1969 and May 1970, the applicant was AWOL on seven occasions for short (5 days or less) periods of time.

On 20 May 1970, the applicant was convicted by a summary court-martial of being AWOL from 17 to on or about 19 May 1970.  He was sentenced to confinement at hard labor for 1 month, suspended. 

The applicant’s elimination packet is not available.

On 11 June 1970, the applicant was discharged, with a discharge under other than honorable conditions, in pay grade E-1, under the provisions of Army Regulation 635-212 for unfitness.  He had completed 2 years, 5 months and        26 days of creditable active service and had 20 days of lost time.

Army Regulation 635-212, in effect at the time, set forth the basic authority for the separation of enlisted personnel.  The regulation provided, in pertinent part, that members involved in frequent incidents of a discreditable nature with civil or military authorities, sexual perversion, drug addiction or the unauthorized use or possession of habit-forming drugs or marijuana, an established pattern for shirking, an established pattern showing dishonorable failure to pay just debts or failure to contribute adequate support to dependents, were subject to separation for unfitness.  Such action would be taken when it was clearly established that despite attempts to rehabilitate or develop him as a satisfactory soldier further effort was unlikely to succeed.

On 3 February 2000, the Board corrected the applicant’s records to show he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge and the Purple Heart.

DISCUSSION:  Considering all the evidence, allegations, and information presented by the applicant, together with the evidence of record, applicable law and regulations, it is concluded:

1.  In order to justify correction of a military record the applicant must show to the satisfaction of the Board, or it must otherwise satisfactorily appear, that the record is in error or unjust.  The applicant has failed to submit evidence that would satisfy this requirement and, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, it is presumed that the discharge proceedings were conducted in accordance with law and regulations applicable at the time.

2.  The Board notes the fact the applicant was AWOL for a total of only 20 days but also notes that he was AWOL on 7 occasions.  He had received nonjudicial punishment on 13 occasions.  There is no evidence of record to show that the applicant had a drug problem or suffered from PTSD while in the service or that either of these conditions caused his misconduct.  The Board notes that many other soldiers who went through the trauma of being wounded and then returned to duty successfully completed their enlistments.  The award of the Combat Infantryman Badge and the Purple Heart to the applicant is insufficiently mitigating to grant the relief requested.

3.  In view of the foregoing, there is no basis for granting the applicant's request.

DETERMINATION:  The applicant has failed to submit sufficient relevant evidence to demonstrate the existence of probable error or injustice.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

__tdh___  __aao___  __gjw___  DENY APPLICATION

		    Carl W. S. Chun
		    Director, Army Board for Correction
    of Military Records

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000040831	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20000815	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	UOTHC	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	19700611	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR 635-212 	
DISCHARGE REASON	A51.00	
BOARD DECISION	(DENY)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	110.00	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.