RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS

IN THE MATTER OF:	DOCKET NUMBER:  BC-2019-00714

	COUNSEL:  NONE

	HEARING REQUESTED:  NO

APPLICANT’S REQUEST

His Under Honorable Conditions (General) discharge be upgraded to an Honorable discharge.

APPLICANT’S CONTENTIONS

He was young and made mistakes. He admitted to occasional use of marijuana.  He accepted his punishment.  He has been a productive citizen for more than 50 years and has not been arrested or in any trouble.  He would like to join the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW).

The applicant’s complete submission is at Exhibit A.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

The applicant is a former Air Force senior airman (E-2).  

On 29 Aug 66, the applicant enlisted in the Air Force.

On 27 Aug 69, the applicant’s commander recommended the applicant be discharged from the Air Force, under the provisions of AFM 39-12, Separation for Unsuitability, Misconduct, Personal Abuse of Drugs; Resignation or Request for Discharge for the Good of the Service; and Procedures for the Rehabilitation Program, Chapter 2, Section B, paragraph 2-15c, for unfitness. The specific reason for the action was the applicant’s use of narcotics (marijuana).  The supporting evidence follows:

	a.  On 4 Feb 69, the applicant received counselling for reporting late for duty.

	b.  On 31 Mar 69, the applicant received counselling for his personal appearance being below Air Force Standards.

	c.  On 1 Apr 69, the applicant received counselling for failure to go.

	d.  On 3 Apr 69, the applicant received a Letter of Reprimand (LOR) due to his bearing and behavior were below Air Force Standards.

	e.  On 15 May 69, the applicant received a letter indicating he had been removed from the Fiscal Year 70-A promotion cycle.

	f.  On 29 Jun 69, the applicant received a Letter of Counseling (LOC) for needing a haircut.

	g.  On 2 Jul 69, the applicant received an LOC for leaving his duty station without proper authority.

	h.  An extract from OSI Case Report #51D17-499, in which the applicant admitted to smoking marijuana and stated he would continue to smoke and would furnish marijuana to any individual that asked for it.

On 23 Sep 69 and 1 Oct 69, the discharge action was found legally sufficient.

On 24 Oct 69, the applicant received an Undesirable Discharge. 

On 7 May 72, the applicant appealed to the Air Force Discharge Review Board (AFDRB) for a discharge upgrade based on the Secretary of Defense, 13 Aug 71 guidance for Review of Discharges Under Other Than Honorable Conditions Issued to Drug Users.  On 14 Sep 72, the AFDRB notified the applicant the character of his discharge was being changed to General.  The applicant’s DD Form 214, reflects on 24 Oct 69, he was discharged with a general discharge and credited with 3 years, 1 month and 26 days of active service.

For more information, see the excerpt of the applicant’s record at Exhibit B.

POST-SERVICE INFORMATION

On 29 Apr 19, the Board sent the applicant a request for post-service information, including a standard criminal history report from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which the applicant provided on 28 May 19 (Exhibit E).  According to the report, the applicant has had no arrests since discharge.

APPLICABLE AUTHORITY

According to AFI 36-3208, Administrative Separation of Airmen, incorporating changes through 8 June 2017, paragraph 1.18, the types of service characterization are as follows: 

Honorable.  The quality of the airman’s service generally has met Air Force standards of acceptable conduct and performance of duty or when a member's service is otherwise so meritorious that any other characterization would be inappropriate. 

Under Honorable Conditions (General).  If an airman’s service has been honest and faithful, this characterization is warranted when significant negative aspects of the airman's conduct or performance of duty outweigh positive aspects of the airman's military record.

Under Other than Honorable Conditions.  When basing the reason for separation on a pattern of behavior or one or more acts or omissions that constitute a significant departure from the conduct expected of airmen.  The member must have an opportunity for a hearing by an administrative discharge board or request discharge in lieu of trail by court-martial.  Examples of such behavior, acts, or omissions include, but are not limited to:

•	The use of force or violence to produce serious bodily injury or death.

•	Abuse of a special position of trust.

•	Disregard by a superior of customary superior - subordinate relationships.

•	Acts or omissions that endanger the security of the United States. 

•	Acts or omissions that endanger the health and welfare of other members of the Air Force.

•	Deliberate acts or omissions that seriously endanger the health and safety of other persons.

•	Rape, sexual assault, aggravated sexual contact, abusive sexual contact, rape of a child, sexual assault of a child, sexual abuse of a child, forcible sodomy and attempts to commit these offenses.

FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION

1.  The application is timely.  Given the requirement for passage of time, all clemency requests are technically untimely.  However, it would be illogical to deny a clemency application as untimely, since the Board typically looks for over 15 years of good conduct post-service.  Therefore, the Board declines to assert the three-year limitations period established by 10 U.S.C. § 1552(b).

2.  The applicant exhausted all available non-judicial relief before applying to the Board.

3.  After reviewing all Exhibits, the Board concludes the applicant is the victim of an injustice.  While the Board finds no error in the original discharge process, however, the Board is persuaded that the applicant has developed into a productive member of society since leaving the service evident by the character reference letters and a clean FBI record.  Therefore, the Board recommends the applicant’s records be corrected as indicated below.

RECOMMENDATION

The pertinent military records of the Department of the Air Force relating to the APPLICANT be corrected to show on 24 August 1969, he was discharged with an “Honorable” Character of Service.

CERTIFICATION

The following quorum of the Board, as defined in Air Force Instruction (AFI) 36-2603, Air Force Board for Correction of Military Records (AFBCMR), paragraph 1.5, considered Docket Number BC-2019-00714 in Executive Session on 30 Jun 20:

, Panel Chair
, Panel Member
, Panel Member

All members voted to correct the record.  The panel considered the following:

Exhibit A:	Application, DD Form 149, w/atchs, dated 14 Jan 19.
Exhibit B:	Documentary evidence, including relevant excerpts from official records.
Exhibit C:	Clemency Information.
Exhibit D:	Letter, SAF/MRBC, dated 29 Apr 19.
Exhibit E:	Applicant’s response, w/atchs, dated 28 May 19.

Taken together with all Exhibits, this document constitutes the true and complete Record of Proceedings, as required by AFI 36-2603, paragraph 4.11.9.