AIR FORCE DISCHARGE REVIEW BOARD HEARING RECORD

NAME OF SERVICE MEMBER (LAST, FIRST MIDDLE INITIAL)

GRADE	AFSN/SSAN

AMN

PERSONAL  APPEARANCE

x	RECORD REVIEW
ADDRESS AND OR ORGANIZATION OF COUNSEL

MEMBER SITTING

HON	GEN

UOTHC	OTHER	DENY

-- --- --- --- --- --- --·- ----m- ----------------1---- --+-- --+-- --+-- --+	I
x x x
x
.	x
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ISSUES

A93.23
A93.09

INDEX NUMBER

A67.00

1	ORDER APPOINTING THE BOARD
2	APPLICATION FOR REVIEW OF DISCHARGE
3	LETTER OF NOTIFICATION
4	BRJEF OF PERSONNEL FILE COUNSEL'S RELEASE TO THE BOARD
ADDITIONAL EXHIBITS SUBMITTED AT TIME OF
PERSONAL APPEARANCE
TAPE RECORDING OF PERSONAL APPEARANCE

HEARING DATE	CASE NUMBER

12 May 2004	FD-2004-00016

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.

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SAF/MRBR
550 C STREET WES	UITE 40
RANDOLPH AFB, TX 78150-4742

AFHQ FORM 0-2077, JAN 00

SECRETARY OF THE AIR FORCE PERSONNEL COUNCIL AIR FORCE DISCHARGE REVIEW BOARD
1535 COMMAND D:R, EE WING, 3RD FLOOR ANDREWS AFB, MD 20762-7002

(EF-V2)	Previous edition will be used

 	

AIR FORCE DISCHARGE REVIEW BOARD DECISIONAL RATIONALE	CASE NUMBER

FD-2004-00016	

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

The applicant was offered a personal appearance before the Discharge Review Board (DRB) but declined to exercise this right.

The attached brief contains available pertinent data on the applicant and the factors leading to the discharge.

FINDINGS: Upgrade of discharge is denied.

The Board finds that neither the evidence of record nor that provided by the applicant substantiates an inequity or impropriety that would justify a change of discharge.

Issue. Applicant was discharged for misconduct. The records indicate the applicant received an two Articles 15 and a vacation of suspended punishment. The offenses documented therein included treating his supervisor with contempt, disobeying a lawful order, dereliction of duty, and a 4-day absence from his unit without authority. Unfortunately, member's discharge processing files and medical records were unavailable to the Board for review due to being missing from the record. Because member's discharge file was unavailable to the Board for review, the Board was unable to conclusively ascertain if there was other misconduct on member's part that formed additional bases for the discharge. The Board also could not determine if member consulted counsel or submitted statements on his own behalf at the time of the discharge. When requested to provide any pertinent information he may have about the discharge file or his record of service, applicant failed to respond. According to applicant, it was during his assignment at
Moody AFB, GA, that he began to accept his homosexuality, which in tum caused him some depression because he felt he couldn't continue to function within the constraints of the military. Although by his own account, he received psychiatric care, he continued to suffer from depression and had more problems at work. Unfortunately, the Board is not able to substantiate these contentions, and lacking documented evidence from the applicant to the contrary, the Board relies on the presumption of regularity and finds the discharge proper and without basis for an upgrade. The Board concluded applicant's misconduct documented in the Articles 15 alone was a significant departure from conduct expected of all military members and the characterization of the discharge received by the applicant was appropriate on that basis. No inequity or impropriety could be found in this discharge in the course of the records review.

If he can provide additional documented information to substantiate an issue, the applicant should consider exercising his right to make a personal appearance before the Board. If he should choose to exercise this right to a personal appearance hearing, the applicant should be prepared to provide the DRB with factual evidence of the inequity and any exemplary post-service accomplishments as well as any contributions to the community.

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.

Inview of the foregoing findings the Board further concludes that there exists no legal or equitable basis for upgrade of discharge, thus the applicant's discharge should not be changed.

Attachment: Examiner's Brief	

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