MEMORANDUM OF CONSIDERATION

	IN THE CASE OF: 

	BOARD DATE:            5 October 2000    
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000042810

	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	
	Ms. Deborah L. Brantley		Senior Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Shirley Powell		Chairperson	
	Elzey J. Arledge		Member	
	Jaime Perez		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 the application was filed within the time established by statute, and if not, whether it would be in the interest of justice to waive the failure to timely file.

	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:  In effect, that his bad conduct discharge be upgraded to an honorable discharge.  He states, in effect, that while he takes full responsibility for his actions he believes the bad conduct discharge (which he refers to as an undesirable discharge) was "inequitable" because it was based on "one isolated incident in 6 years of service with no other adverse action."  He notes that he was young and immature at the time.  He submits his self-authored statement in support of his request.  A DD Form 293 (Application for the Review of Discharge or Dismissal from the Armed Forces of the United States) was accepted in lieu of a DD Form 149 (Application for Correction of Military Record Under the Provisions of Title 10, U.S. Code, Section 1552).

PURPOSE:  To determine whether the application was submitted within the time limit established by law, and if not, whether it is in the interest of justice to excuse the failure to timely file.

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

He entered active duty on 22 July 1980, three months shy of his 18th birthday.  He successfully completed basic and advanced individual training and was initially assigned to Fort Knox, Kentucky prior to being reassigned to Germany in January 1983.

In August 1984, while serving in pay grade E-4, the applicant was convicted by a general court-martial of possession, use, and distribution of marijuana.  His punishment included confinement for 2 years, reduction to pay grade E-1, forfeiture and a bad conduct discharge.  The court-martial was adjudged on 
19 September 1984 and approved on 15 January 1985.

On 1 April 1986 the bad conduct discharge was executed.  At the time of his discharge the applicant had completed only 4 years and 24 days of active Federal service.  His remaining service, which was served in confinement, was not creditable service.

Army Regulation 635-200 also states that an honorable discharge is a separation with honor.  The honorable characterization is appropriate when the quality of the soldier’s service generally has met the standards of acceptable conduct and performance of duty for Army personnel, or is otherwise so meritorious that any other characterization would be clearly inappropriate.

Title 10, U.S. Code, section 1552(b), provides that applications for correction of military records must be filed within 3 years after discovery of the alleged error or injustice.  Failure to file within 3 years may be excused by a correction board if it finds it would be in the interest of justice to do so.
DISCUSSION:  The alleged error or injustice was, or with reasonable diligence should have been discovered on 1 April 1986, the date the applicant was discharged.  The time for the applicant to file a request for correction of any error or injustice expired on 1 April 1989.

The application is dated 28 April 2000 and the applicant has not explained or otherwise satisfactorily demonstrated by competent evidence that it would be in the interest of justice to excuse the failure to apply within the time allotted.

DETERMINATION:  The subject application was not submitted within the time required.  The applicant has not presented and the records do not contain sufficient justification to conclude that it would be in the interest of justice to grant the relief requested or to excuse the failure to file within the time prescribed by law.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  EXCUSE FAILURE TO TIMELY FILE

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

___eja__  ___jp___  ___sp___  CONCUR WITH DETERMINATION

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

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000042810	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20001005	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	YYYYMMDD	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR . . . . .  	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	Deny	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	142.00	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.