IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 24 November 2014 CASE NUMBER: AR20140000073 ___________________________________________________________________________ Board Determination and Directed Action After carefully examining the applicant's record of service during the period of enlistment under review, and considering the Discussion and Recommendation which follows, the Board determined the discharge was both proper and equitable and voted to deny relief. Presiding Officer I certify that herein is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the Department of the Army Discharge Review Board in this case. THE APPLICANT’S REQUEST AND STATEMENT: 1. The applicant requests an upgrade of her under other than honorable conditions discharge to general, under honorable conditions. 2. The applicant states, in effect, that her discharge is improper because her command failed to follow the guidelines set forth by the Army Regulations. No one from her battalion made any attempt to encourage her to begin training with the unit including phone calls or a certified letter as are outlined in AR-13-1. The command was also negligent in performing their duties, orientation, counseling, NCO support channel, well-being goals, and post deployment health reassessment. The discharge was completely arbitrary as evidenced by the fact the command awarded the ARCAM after the effective date of her discharge. Also the discharge is inequitable because it does not accurately reflect the nature of her service and is not supported by any adverse action or misconduct. She received no negative counseling statements, evaluation, or reprimand prior to her discharge. DISCHARGE UNDER REVIEW INFORMATION: a. Application Receipt Date: 18 December 2013 b. Discharge Received: Under Other Than Honorable Conditions c. Date of Discharge: 8 June 2010 d. Reason/Authority/SPD/RE Code: AR 135-178, Chapter NIF e. Unit of assignment: B Company, 301st Military Battalion, Honolulu, HI f. Current Enlistment Date/Term: 17 October 2008, NIF g. Current Enlistment Service: 1 year, 7 months, 23 days h. Total Service: 4 years, 10 months, 14 days i. Time Lost: None j. Previous Discharges: USAR (050726-050828), NA OIADT (050829-070913), HD USAR (070914-071014), NA OAD (071015-081016), HD k. Highest Grade Achieved: E-5 l. Military Occupational Specialty: 97E20, HUMINT Collector m. GT Score: 134 n. Education: College Graduate o. Overseas Service: SWA p. Combat Service: Kuwait/Iraq (071219-081021) q. Decorations/Awards: MSM, AGCM, NDSM, ICM-w/CS, GWOTSM, AFRM-w/M-DEV, ASR, OSR r. Administrative Separation Board: No s. Performance Ratings: Yes t. Counseling Statements: No u. Prior Board Review: No SUMMARY OF SERVICE: On 26 July 2005, the applicant joined the Army Reserve for a period of 8 years. She was 25 years old at the time and a college graduate. She served a total of 4 years, 10 months and 14 days in the US Army Reserve. Her record shows she was awarded a MSM and served a combat tour in Iraq. SEPARATION FACTS AND CIRCUMSTANCES: 1. The available evidence shows the applicant’s record is void of the specific facts and circumstances concerning the events which led to her discharge from the United States Army Reserve. 2. The record indicates that on 20 October 2010, Department of the Army, Headquarters, 9th Mission Support Command, Honolulu, HI, Orders 10-293-00006, discharged the applicant from the United States Army Reserve, effective 8 June 2010, with an under other than honorable conditions discharge. 3. The applicant’s available record does not contain any evidence of unauthorized absences or time lost. EVIDENCE OBTAINED FROM THE APPLICANT'S RECORD: 1. A successful NCOER covering the period 1 June 2008 through 15 September 2008. 2. Discharge order. EVIDENCE SUBMITTED BY THE APPLICANT: The applicant provided a DD Form 293, discharge order, recommendation for award of MSM, letter of recommendation for promotion, certificate for STRAC Bronze Total Soldier, and a Certificate of Achievement. POST-SERVICE ACTIVITY: None were provided with the application. REGULATORY AUTHORITY: 1. Army Regulation 135-178 sets forth the policies, standards, and procedures to ensure the readiness and competency of the US Army while providing for the orderly administrative separation of Army National Guard and US Army Reserve (USAR) enlisted Soldiers for a variety of reasons. The separation policies throughout the different Chapters in this regulation promote the readiness of the Army by providing an orderly means to judge the suitability of persons to serve on the basis of their conduct and their ability to meet required standards of duty performance and discipline. Specific categories include minor disciplinary infractions, a pattern of misconduct, and commission of a serious offense, to include abuse of illegal drugs, and convictions by civil authorities. 2. The characterization is based upon the quality of the Soldier’s service, including the reason for separation and determined in accordance with standards of acceptable personal conduct and performance of duty as found in the UCMJ, Army Regulations, and the time-honored customs and traditions of the Army. The reasons for separation, including the specific circumstances that form the basis for the discharge are considered on the issue of characterization. 3. Possible characterizations of service include an honorable, general, under honorable conditions, under other than honorable conditions, or uncharacterized if the Soldier is in entry-level status. However, the permissible range of characterization varies based on the reason for separation. DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATION: 1. The applicant’s request for an upgrade of the characterization of her discharge was carefully considered. However, after examining the applicant’s record of service and the issues submitted with the application, there are insufficient mitigating factors to merit an upgrade of the applicant's discharge. The available record is void of the specific facts and circumstances concerning the events which led to her discharge from the Army Reserve. 2. The applicant’s available record contains a properly constituted Order which was authenticated by the appropriate military authority. This document identifies the characterization of the discharge and the presumption of government regularity prevails in the discharge process. 3. Barring evidence to the contrary, it appears all requirements of law and regulation were met and the rights of the applicant were fully protected throughout the separation process. 4. The applicant provided no independent corroborating evidence demonstrating that either the command's action was erroneous or that her service mitigated the type of discharge she received from the US Army Reserve. 5. The applicant contends her discharge is improper because her command failed to follow the guidelines set forth by the Army Regulations. No one from her unit made any attempt to encourage her to begin training with the unit including phone calls or a certified letter. The command also failed to provide counseling, NCO support channel, well being goals, and the recommended post deployment health reassessment. The applicant’s contentions are noted; however, it is not possible to determine if these contentions have merit because the facts and circumstances leading to the discharge are unknown. The burden of proof remains with the applicant to provide the appropriate documents or other evidence (i.e. discharge packet) sufficient to explain the facts, circumstances, and reasons underlying the separation action, for the Board's consideration. If the applicant desires a personal appearance hearing, it will be her responsibility to meet this burden of proof since the evidence is not available in the official record. 6. Therefore, based on the available evidence and the government presumption of regularity, it appears the reason for discharge and the characterization of service were both proper and equitable, thus recommend the Board deny relief. SUMMARY OF ARMY DISCHARGE REVIEW BOARD HEARING: Type of Hearing: Records Review Date: 24 November 2014 Location: Washington, DC Did the Applicant Testify? NA Counsel: None Witnesses/Observers: NA Board Vote: Character Change: 2 No Change: 3 Reason Change: 0 No Change: 5 (Board member names available upon request) Board Action Directed: Issue a new Discharge Order: No Change Characterization to: No Change Change Reason to: No Change Change Authority for Separation: NA Change RE Code to: NA Grade Restoration to: NA Other: NA Legend: AMHRR - Army Military Human Resource Record FG - Field Grade IADT – Initial Active Duty Training RE - Reentry AWOL - Absent Without Leave GD - General Discharge NA - Not applicable SCM- Summary Court Martial BCD - Bad Conduct Discharge HS - High School NIF - Not in File SPCM - Special Court Martial CG - Company Grade Article 15 HD - Honorable Discharge OAD - Ordered to Active Duty UNC - Uncharacterized Discharge CID - Criminal investigation Department MP – Military Police OMPF - Official Military Personnel File UOTHC - Under Other Than Honorable Conditions ADRB Case Report and Directive (cont) AR20140000073 Page 5 of 5 pages ARMY DISCHARGE REVIEW BOARD (ADRB) CASE REPORT AND DIRECTIVE 1