MEMORANDUM OF CONSIDERATION

	IN THE CASE OF:       

	BOARD DATE:            30 January 2001
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000049609

	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	
	Mr. Jessie B. Strickland		Analyst	

The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Arthur A. Omartian		Chairperson	
	Ms. Brenda F. Hirschi		Member	
	Ms. Thomas E. O’Shaughnessy, Jr.		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 general discharge be upgraded to honorable.

APPLICANT STATES:  In effect, that he was young and immature at the time he enlisted and that as a child was not afforded the proper decision making development that most children receive.  He goes on to state that his parents did their best under the circumstances and that he accepts the responsibility for the mistakes he made during the ignorance of his youth.  He also states that he is sorry for his misconduct and asserts that he has learned from those mistakes.  He further states that he has become a productive citizen and would like to now correct the mistakes of his youth.  In support of his application he submits an untranslated police report from the Puerto Rico Police Department which indicates, when translated, that he has no penal record.  He also submits a letter from the Puerto Rico Telephone Company, which attests, when translated, that the applicant is a responsible and trustworthy employee who has worked there for 16 years. 

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

The applicant enlisted in San Juan, Puerto Rico with parental consent on 29 September 1970 for a period of 3 years.  He completed his basic and advanced individual training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina and basic airborne training at Fort Benning, Georgia.  Upon completion of his airborne training he was transferred to Fort Bragg, North Carolina on 16 April 1971 for duty as a clerk typist.

On 17 September 1971, he was convicted by a special court-martial of failure to go to his place of duty (manifest call) and of disobeying a lawful order from a commissioned officer.  He was sentenced to confinement at hard labor for 3 months and a reduction to the pay grade of E-1.

On 5 July 1972 nonjudicial punishment was imposed against him for being absent without leave (AWOL) from 3 July to 5 July 1972.  His punishment consisted of a forfeiture of pay and extra duty.

Nonjudicial punishment was again imposed against him on 14 August 1972 for disobeying a lawful order from a superior noncommissioned officer (NCO).  His punishment consisted of a forfeiture of pay and correctional custody for 7 days (suspended for 30 days).

He was convicted by a special court-martial on 4 December 1972 of wrongful possession of 9.7 ounces, more or less of marijuana.  He was sentenced to confinement at hard labor for 6 months, reduction to the pay grade of E-1 and a forfeiture of pay.  He was sent to the Army Retraining Brigade at Fort Riley, Kansas to serve his confinement.  In February 1973 the unexecuted portions of his sentence involving confinement at forfeitures of pay were suspended until 3 June 1973, unless sooner vacated.  He was released from Fort Riley and was transferred to Fort Dix, New Jersey.

On 22 January 1974 nonjudicial punishment was imposed against him at Fort Dix for being AWOL from 3 January to 7 January 1974 and for failure to go to his place of duty on 14 January 1974.  His punishment consisted of a reduction to the pay grade of E-2.

The applicant’s expiration of term of service (ETS) was adjusted to 12 March 1974 to coincide for his lost time and he was released from active duty under honorable conditions on his adjusted ETS of 12 March 1974.  He had served 2 years, 11 months and 24 days of total active service and had 170 days of lost time due to AWOL and confinement.  He was transferred to the United States Army Reserve (USAR) Control Group (Reinforcement) and was subsequently discharged under honorable conditions from the USAR on 28 September 1976.

Army Regulation 635-200 prescribes the policies and procedures for the separation of enlisted personnel.  It states, in pertinent part, that a general discharge is a separation from the Army under honorable conditions of an individual whose military record is not sufficiently meritorious to warrant an honorable discharge.  A general discharge may be issued if an individual has been convicted of an offense by a general court-martial or has been convicted by more than one special court-martial in the current enlistment period or obligated service or any extension thereof.  The decision is discretionary; if there is evidence that the individual’s military behavior has been proper over a reasonable period of time subsequent to the convictions, he may be considered for an honorable discharge.

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.

2.  The applicant’s undistinguished record of service which consisted of two special court-martial convictions and at least three records of nonjudicial punishment clearly do not warrant or constitute fully honorable service and sufficiently supports the action by the commander at the time to discharge him under honorable conditions. 

3.  The applicant’s contentions have been noted by the Board; however, they are not sufficiently mitigating to warrant an upgrade of his discharge to fully honorable when compared to his undistinguished record of service.

4.  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

___ao___  ___bft___  __teo ___  DENY APPLICATION

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

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000049609	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	2001/01/30	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	GD	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	1974/03/12	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR 635-200/CH5	
DISCHARGE REASON	ETS	
BOARD DECISION	DENY	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.  456	144.0301/ETS/GD	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.