AIR FORCE DISCHARG E REVIEW BOARD HEARING RECORD

NAME OF SERVICE MEMBER (LAST, FIRST MIDDLE INITIAL)

GRADE	AFSN/SSAN

TYPE HON \

	·
x	T PERSONAL APPEARANCE	j	RECORD    REVIEW

YES	No
x

'	NAME OF COUNSEL  AND OR  ORGANIZATION	ADDRESS A ND OR ORGA NIZATION OF COUNSEL

MEMBER SITTING

HON	GEN

UOTHC	OTIJER	DENY

X+

X+

X+

.	x

X+
: ·----- ··----- ··----- ··----- ··

ISSUES	A94.06 A95.00

INDEX  NUMBER

A42.00

1	-·· =	1;111	!1 \
I	ORDER APPOINTING THE BOARD
2	APPLICATION FOR REVIEW OF DISCHARGE
3	LETTER OF NOTIFlCA TION
4	BRIEF OF PERSONNEL FILE COUNSEL'S RELEASE TO THE BOARD
ADDITIONAL EXHIBITS SUBMITTED AT TIME OF
PERSONAL  APPEARANCE
TAPE RECORDING OF PERSONAL APPERANCE

HEARING OATE	CASE NUMBER

29 Jan 2004	FD-2003-00439

Case heard at Washington, D.C.

Advise applicant of the decision of the Board, the right to a personal appearance with/without counsel, and the right to submit an application to the AFBCMR

--CHANG E _\EASON  AND A UTHORITY  TO SECRETARI AL	DPli..fi..J.........J............,

TO:

SAFIMRBR
550 C STREET WEST, SUITE 40
RANDOLPH AFB, TX 78150-4742

SECRETARY OF THE AIR FORCE PERSONNEL COUNCIL AIR FORCE DISCHARGE REVIEW BOARD
1535 COMMAND DR, F:E WING, JRD FLOOR
ANDREWS AFR, MD 20762-7002

AFHQ  FORM  0-2077, JAN  00	(EF-V2)	Previous edition will be used

AIR FORCE DISCHARGE  REVIEW BOARD DECISIONAL RATIONALE	CASE NUMBER

FD-2003-00439	

GENERAL:  The applicant appeals for a change of the reason for her discharge.

The applicant  appeared  before  the  Discharge  Review  Board  (DRB), without  counsel,  at  Andrews  AFB, Maryland on 29 January 2004.

The attached brief contains available pertinent data on the applicant and the factors leading to the discharge. The following additional exhibits were presented by the applicant:
Exhibit #6:  Additional Issue to the DRB.
Exhibit #7:  DD Form 215 with attached cover letter. Exhibit #8:  USA Today news article.
Exhibit #9:  Substance Abuse (ADAPT program) Evaluation.

FINDINGS:  Change of reason and authority for discharge are approved.

The Board finds that neither the evidence of record nor that provided by the applicant substantiates an impropriety that would justify a change of discharge. However, the Board considered the special precipitating family circumstances experienced by the applicant that resulted in her separation  (traumatic death of her spouse), the less than optimal care and compassion rendered by the institution during her initial notification and treatment procedures, and the expected lifelong negative impact of a misrepresentation  of her true medical diagnosis, an Adjustment Disorder, vice a Personality Disorder, as recorded on her DD 214, in deciding to grant the applicant relief.

ISSUE: The applicant was discharged with an Honorable discharge on 28 August 2002 under the provisions of Air Force Instruction 36-3207. The reason for discharge, as listed on the applicant's DD Form 214, is Personality Disorder. The applicant requests a change in reason for her discharge to miscellaneous or an alternate expression, as she feels that the terminology used (Personality Disorder) unfairly  stigmatizes her for life to any future employers and that she bears the burden of explaining, on a recurring basis, the details of her discharge and its precipitating event (death of her spouse). Further the applicant  cites that  the "discharge does not accurately reflect that the service-member, [and] not the commander, was the impetus behind the discharge", in effect penalizing her for self-identifying for separation. The record reflects that the applicant  had  previously  requested  and  was  denied  a hardship  separation,  as  she  experienced  difficulty	
coping with the death of her spouse. The applicant subsequently sought counseling from the base chaplain in an effort to help her through the bereavement process and its occupational impact. She ultimately self­ referred to the Life Skills Clinic, as she had experienced continued "feelings of depression, anxiety, low energy, apathy, and severely compromised concentration." Consequently, the applicant was  given  a diagnosis of Adjustment Disorder with mixed Anxiety and Depressed Mood, resulting in a recommendation to pursue an administrative discharge for a mental condition the precludes further military service. Although initially accepting the administrative discharge, the applicant withdrew her acceptance letter and replaced it with a letter of resignation, as advised by her legal counsel as the proper procedure.  The  applicant's resignation was approved by SAF/MRB on 12 August 2002. The applicant, a student attending an AFIT­ sponsored law school at the time of her husband's death, presented lengthy testimony regarding the negative experiences she encountered from the initial death notification, to her unexpected harsh emergency room treatment, and subsequent referral to attend a mandatory alcohol treatment program. The applicant contends that the aforementioned factors, along with her bereavement, contributed to her desire to separate  from military service.	

CONCLUSIONS: The Discharge Review Board concludes that the discharge was consistent with the procedural and substantive requirements of the discharge regulation and was within the discretion of the discharge authority and that the applicant was provided full administrative due process.

However, in view of the foregoing findings the Board concludes that there exists a significant inequity that forms a basis for changing the reason for the applicant's discharge to Secretarial Authority. The governing Department of Defense Instruction that was utilized in the applicant's case does not include a Separation Program Designator (SPD) Code for an Adjustment Disorder, the applicant's true diagnosis.  Hence the applicant was discharged with the available SPD Code corresponding to a Personality Disorder, a condition with a significantly different lifelong negative occupational and psychosocial impact, as the narrative reason for her discharge. Therefore, in the absence of a corresponding SPD Code to accurately  reflect  the applicant's Adjustment Disorder, the Board found that the applicant's reason for discharge  should  be changed to Secretarial Authority. Further, the Board found that recoupment is not appropriate in this case, since the member was involuntarily discharged for a medical condition that precluded  further  military service.

Attachment: Examiner's Brief