RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS

IN THE MATTER OF:	DOCKET NUMBER: BC-2020-03475

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX	COUNSEL: XXXXXXXXXXXXX
	
	HEARING REQUESTED: NO

APPLICANT’S REQUEST

Change his Honorable discharge, Separation Code – HRB (Homosexual Conduct (Statement)), Reentry Code – 3C (1st term airman not yet considered under SRP), Narrative Reason for Separation – Homosexual Admission; to reflect: Honorable discharge, Separation Code – JFF (Secretarial Authority), Reentry Code – 1J (Eligible to Reenlist but elected to Separate), Narrative Reason for Separation – Secretarial Authority.  

APPLICANT’S CONTENTIONS

Pursuant to the memorandum, dated 20 Sep 11, issued by the former Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Clifford L. Stanley, regarding the correction of military records in the wake of DADT repeal, the Board should grant the requested relief.  The Department of Defense has instructed correction boards to normally grant requests to change military records where (1) the discharge was based on DADT or a similar policy and (2) there are no aggravating factors in the record, such as misconduct.  He was discharged under DADT without any aggravating factors.   

The applicant’s complete submission is at Exhibit A.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

The applicant is a former Air Force senior airman (E-4).  

On 3 Jun 02, the applicant’s commander recommended the applicant be discharged from the Air Force, under the provisions of AFI 36-3208, Administrative Separation of Airmen, paragraph 5.36.2.2.  The specific reason for the action was as follows: The applicant submitted a Self-Identification of Homosexuality Letter, admitting he was gay.  

On 11 Jun 02, the discharge action was found legally sufficient, and the discharge authority approved the recommendation on 11 Jun 02.

On 19 Jun 02, the applicant received an Honorable discharge. 

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

APPLICABLE AUTHORITY

On 20 Sep 11, with the repeal of the law commonly known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT), 10 U.S.C. § 654, the Department of Defense (DoD) issued supplemental policy guidance on correcting military records of former service members who had been discharged under that law or a precursor.  The guidance applied to the following types of requests:  changing the narrative reason for a discharge; re-characterizing service as honorable; changing a reentry code to one allowing immediate eligibility to reenter service.  The guidance directed that such requests should normally be granted when both of the following conditions are true:  (1) the original discharge was based solely on DADT or a similar policy in place prior to enactment of DADT; and (2) there were no aggravating factors in the record, such as misconduct.   For meritorious cases, the guidance further directed the use of “Secretarial Authority” as the new narrative reason for separation, with Separation Program Designator (SPD) code “JFF” and reentry code “1J.”  Finally, the guidance noted that while each request must be evaluated individually, an honorable or under honorable conditions (general) discharge should normally be considered to indicate the absence of aggravating factors.

The complete DoD policy is at Exhibit C.

APPLICANT’S REVIEW OF APPLICABLE AUTHORITY

The Board sent a copy of the DoD policy to the applicant on 19 Jan 21 for comment (Exhibit D), but has received no response.

FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION

1.  The application is not timely, but it is in the interest of justice to excuse the delay.

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, the Board recommends relief based on the repeal of 10 U.S.C. § 654.  The absence of aggravating factors in the applicant’s record meets the criteria of the DoD policy on records correction following the repeal of DADT.  Therefore, the Board recommends correcting the applicant’s record as indicated below.

RECOMMENDATION

The pertinent military records of the Department of the Air Force relating to the APPLICANT be corrected to show on 19 June 2002, he was honorably discharged with a Separation Code of “JFF,” Reentry Code of “1J,” and a Narrative Reason for Separation of “Secretarial Authority.”  

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-2020-03475 in Executive Session on 30 Nov 21:

, 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 7 Jul 20.
Exhibit B:	Documentary evidence, including relevant excerpts from official records.
Exhibit C:	DoD Policy on Correcting Military Records after Repeal of DADT, 20 Sep 11.
Exhibit D:	Notification of DoD Policy, SAF/MRBC to applicant, dated 19 Jan 21

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.