IN THE CASE OF: Mr. BOARD DATE: 25 February 2015 CASE NUMBER: AR20140003350 ___________________________________________________________________________ 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 his under other than honorable conditions discharge to honorable. 2. The applicant states, in effect, he checked into his unit and was never given any uniforms or a date scheduling him to attend his MOS training. He visited his family on the east coast and his child in Japan. He fell out with his family, which left him homeless for four weeks. Although, he was in the US Army Reserves for 3-4 months, he was having hard times and unable to attend drills in California. He asked his unit, 211th Transportation Company, if he could get out of the Army Reserves so, he can get his life back on track. He told the person at the unit, his plans were to attend school and later reenlist back into the Army Reserves. Three months afterwards, he tried to go to his reserve unit and found out that the unit was no longer in the same place or shut down; and, he never received a DD Form 214. DISCHARGE UNDER REVIEW INFORMATION: a. Application Receipt Date: 18 February 2014 b. Discharge Received: Under Other Than Honorable Conditions c. Date of Discharge: 21 February 2012 d. Reason/Authority/SPD/RE Code: AR 135-178, Chapter NIF e. Unit of assignment: 211th Transportation Company, Garden Grove, CA f. Current Enlistment Date/Term: 5 November 2010, 6 years g. Current Enlistment Service: 1 year, 3 months, 17 days h. Total Service: 1 year, 3 months, 17 days i. Time Lost: None j. Previous Discharges: None k. Highest Grade Achieved: E-2 l. Military Occupational Specialty: None m. GT Score: NIF n. Education: HS Graduate o. Overseas Service: None p. Combat Service: None q. Decorations/Awards: None r. Administrative Separation Board: No s. Performance Ratings: None t. Counseling Statements: None u. Prior Board Review: No SUMMARY OF SERVICE: On 5 November 2010, the applicant joined the Army Reserve for a period of 6 years. He was 23 years old at the time and a high school graduate. He served a total of 1 year, 3 months and 17 days in the Army Reserve. His record does not contain any significant awards or acts of valor. 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 his discharge from the Army Reserve. 2. The record indicates on 14 February 2012, Department of the Army, Headquarters, 63rd Regional Support Command, Mountain View, CA, Orders 12-045-00049, discharged the applicant from the Army Reserve, effective 21 February 2012, 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: Separation order 12-045-00049 dated 14 February 2012. EVIDENCE SUBMITTED BY THE APPLICANT: The applicant provided an online application, dated 7 February 2014 and a copy of his separation Orders 12-045-00049. POST-SERVICE ACTIVITY: The applicant did not provide any 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 U.S. Army while providing for the orderly administrative separation of Army National Guard and U.S. 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 his 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 his discharge from the Army Reserve. 2. The applicant’s 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 his service mitigated the type of discharge he received from the Army Reserve. 5. The applicant contends when he visited his family on the east coast, they had a falling out and it left him homeless for four weeks. He informed his unit and told them that he was having a hard time with money and could not attend drills in California. He asked was it possible to get out of the Army Reserves to get his life together by going to school and later rejoin the Army Reserves. The applicant's contentions were carefully considered. However, there is insufficient evidence available in the official record to make a determination upon the applicant's quality of service. Moreover, there is a presumption of regularity in the conduct of governmental affairs which is applied in all Army discharge reviews unless there is substantial credible evidence to rebut the presumption. There is no evidence in the record, nor has the applicant produced any evidence, to support a change to the characterization of service granted. The applicant’s statements alone do not overcome the presumption of government regularity and the application contains no documentation or further evidence in support of this request for an upgrade of the discharge. 6. Further, at the time of discharge, the applicant received an under other than honorable conditions characterization of service. Army Regulation 601-280 stipulates that an under other than honorable conditions discharge constitutes a non-waivable disqualification, thus the applicant is no longer eligible for reenlistment. 7. If the applicant desires a personal appearance hearing, it will be his responsibility to meet the burden of proof and provide the appropriate documents (i.e., the discharge packet) or other evidence sufficient to explain the facts, circumstances, and reasons underlying the separation action, for the Board’s consideration because they are not available in the official record. 8. Therefore, based on the available evidence, 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: 25 February 2015 Location: Washington, DC Did the Applicant Testify? NA Counsel: None Witnesses/Observers: NA Board Vote: Character Change: 0 No Change: 5 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) AR20140003350 Page 5 of 5 pages ARMY DISCHARGE REVIEW BOARD (ADRB) CASE REPORT AND DIRECTIVE 1