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AIR FORCE DISCHARGE REVIEW BOARD HEARING RECORD

NAME OF SERVICE MEMBER  (LAST, FIRST MIDDLE INITIAL)	GRADE	I AFSN/SS  ""
1111111••-·
TYPE	I x
PERSONAL  APPEARANCE	RECORD REVIEW
ADDRESS AND OR ORGANIZATION OF COUNSEL

COUNSEL
YES	NO
x

NAME OF COUNSEL AND OR ORGANIZATION

VOTE OF THE BOARD
MEMBERS  SITTING	HON	GEN	UOTBC	OTHER	DENY
''	X*
''
''	X*
'''	X*
'
''	X*
''
''	X*
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ISSUES	INDEX NUMBER	EXHIBITS SUBMITTED TO THE BOARD
AOl.56	A94.06	A67.10	l ORDER APPOINTING THE BOARD
2	APPLICATION FOR REVIEW OF DISCHARGE
3	LETTER OF NOTIFICATION
HEARING DATE	CASE NUMBER	4	BRIEF OF PERSONNEL  FILE
20 NOV 03	FD2003-00177	COUNSEL'S  RELEASE  TO THE  BOARD
ADDITIONAL EXHIBITS SUBMITTED AT TIME OF PERSONAL APPEARANCE

TAPE RECORDING OF PERSONAL APPERANCE HEARING
APPLICANTS ISSUE AND TIIE BOARD'S DECISIONAL RATIONAL ARE DISCUSSED ON IBE AITACHED AIR FORCE DISCHARGE REVIEW BOARD DECISIONAL RATIONALE.

REMARKS
Case heard at Andrews AFB, Maryland.

* Change Reason to Secretarial Authority Advise applicant of the decision of the Board.

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INJ)ORSEMENT	DATE: 20 NOV 2003
TO:	FROM:
SAF/MIBR	SECRETARY OF THE AIR FORCE PERSONNEL COUNCIL
550 C STREET WEST, SUITE 40	AIR FORCE DISCHARGE REVIEW BOARD
RANDOLPH AFB, TX 78150-4742		1535 COMMAND DR, EE WING, 3RD FLOOR ANDREWS AFB, MD 20762-7002
. .
AFHQ FORM 0-2077, JAN 00	(EF-V2)	PreVIous edition wtll be used.

AIR FORCE DISCHARGE  REVIEW BOARD DECISIONAL  RATIONALE	CASE NUMBER

FD2003-00177	

GENERAL: The applicant appeals for upgrade of discharge to Honorable.

The applicant appeared and testified before the Discharge Review Board (ORB), without counsel, at Andrews AFB, Maryland.
The attached brief contains available pertinent data on the applicant and the factors leading to the discharge.

FINDINGS: The discharge is upgraded to Honorable and the reason for discharge is changed to Secretarial Authority.

The Board finds evidence of record and that provided by the applicant, which substantiates both an inequity and impropriety that justifies an upgrade of the discharge and a change in the reason for discharge.

ISSUES: The applicant was discharged with a General Discharge for Misconduct Minor Disciplinary Infractions. The applicant received nine Records of Individual Counseling and two Letters of Reprimand for a broad range of minor disciplinary infractions. The applicant's central issue is that he feels he should have, instead, received an Honorable Discharge, an intent expressed to the member by his commander and documented in the commander's notification letter to the member and in the commander's recommendation to the discharge authority. However, in the legal review conducted by the staff judge advocate, the recommendation of the commander was, instead, said to administratively separate the applicant with a General, under Honorable conditions, discharge. This alteration in the recommended characterization of the applicant's military service was made without a written explanation of the reason for overruling the recommendation of the applicant's commander, thereby depriving the discharge authority of evidence with which to make a fully informed decision and depriving the applicant of the opportunity to provide an appropriate response to his commander. Additionally, following a review and analysis of each of the disciplinary actions, the Board noted the vast majority of these were issued by the same individual, the applicant's immediate enlisted supervisor, without timely involvement of either the applicant's first sergeant or his commander in the discharge process. The Board also found reason to believe some of the infractions committed by the applicant were inappropriately provoked by the applicant's supervisor, such as secretly creating a safety hazard, not as part of a scheduled training exercise, then penalizing the applicant for not taking notice.

CONCLUSIONS: The Discharge Review Board concludes that the discharge was inconsistent with the procedural requirements of the discharge regulation and resulted in an inequity and an impropriety in the processing of the applicant's discharge. The characterization of the applicant's discharge should be changed to Honorable under the provisions of Title 10, USC 1553, and the reason for separation changed to Secretarial Authority. The applicant's existing RE code remains unchanged.

Attachment: Examiner's Brief