'
AIR FORCE DISCHARGE REVIEW BOARD HEARI NG RECORD	
NAME OF SERVICE MEMBER (LAST, FIRST MIDDLE INITIAL)

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• 1•1m• 1	
TYPE UOTH	x	I	PERSONAL    APPEARANCE	I	RECORD    REVIEW	
CO"(JNSEL' '	NAME OF COUNSEL AND OR ORGANIZATION	ADDRESS AND OR ORGANIZATION  OF COUNSEL	
YES	No			
	x			

MEMBER SITTING	,'	/ •     VOTE OF T11EBlft: > \	·,.,· :	
	HON	GEN	UOTHC	OTHER	DENY	
			x				
		X+*					
						x	
		X+*					
		X+*					
ISSUES          A94.06 A93.02 A92.00	INDEX NUMBER	A67.70	EXHIQl"J' •'$UBM('tf,l!)DT0THE J!Q	.	
		I	ORDER APPOINTING THE BOARD	
		2	APPLICATION  FOR REVIEW  OF DISCHARGE	
		3	LETTER OF NOTIFICATION	
		4	BRIEF OF PERSONNEL  FILE	
			COUNSEL'S RELEASE TO THE BOARD	
			ADDITIONAL EXHIBITS SUBMITTED AT TIME OF
PERSONAL  APPEARANCE	
			TAPE RECORDING OF PERSONAL APPEARANCE	
HEARING DATE

27 Oct 2005	CASE NUMBER

FD-2005-00078			
APPLICANT'S IS$1,.$\.l>ID THE BOARD'S DECISIONAL RATIONAL ARE DISCUSSED ON THE ATTACHED AIR FORCE DlSCHARGEREVIEW BOARD DECISIONAL RATlONALE
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Case heard at Washington, D.C.

Advise appl icant of the decision of the Board.

Names and votes will be made avai l able to the appl icant at the appl icant's req uest.

* = Secretarial Authority
+ = RE Code Upgrade

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SAF/MRBR
550 C STREET WEST, SUITE 40
RANDOLPH AFB, TX 781 50-4742	FROM•
SECRETARY  OF THE AIR  FORCE  rERSONNEL  COUNCIL AIR FORCE DISCHARGE REVIEW BOARD
1535 COMMAND DR, EE WING, JRD FLOOR ANDREWS AFB, MD 20762-7002	
AFHQ  FORM  0-2077, JAN  00	(EF-V2)	Previous edition will be used

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AIR FORCE DISCHARGE REVIEW BOARD DECISIONAL  RATIONALE	CASE NUMBER

FD-2005-00078	

GENERAL: The applicant appeals for upgrade of discharge to honorable, to change the reason and authority  for the discharge, and to change the reenlistment code.

2005.ILThe following witnesses also testified on the applicant's behalf: Mr. . . 1 1   •the applicant's father, and Ms.·•Hl f I The applicant appeared and testified before the Discharge Review Board (DRB), without counsel, at Andrews AFB on 27  Oct

the applicant's mother.
1

The following additional exhibits were submitted at the hearing:

Exhibit #7: Character reference email from Captain 1••'-Chaplain, USAFR Exhibit #6: Statement by applicant's mother

Exhibit #8: Summary of DRB cases and actions taken
Exhibit #9: Secretary of the Navy Scholastic Achievement Award Exhibit # I 0: 2 Award Certificates
Exhibit # 1 1: 2 Letters of appreciation, Department of the Navy Exhibit # 12: Psychiatric evaluation, Yale University
Exhibit #13: 2 Character reference letters, high school English teacher and cross-country coach Exhibit #14: Letter from nursing school instructor

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

FINDINGS:  Upgrade of discharge, change of reason and authority for discharge, and change of reenlistment code are approved.

The Board finds no evidence ofrecord which substantiates an inequity or impropriety occurred in the processing of the applicant's discharge that would justify a change of discharge. However, based collectively upon the record, the evidence and testimony provided by applicant, and the testimony provided by the applicant's parents, by a split vote the majority of Board members determined that the service characterization, reason for discharge, and RE Code warrant a change.

ISSUES: The record reflects that the applicant  accepted an Under Other Than Honorable discharge in lieu of a trial by Court Martial for wrongful use of drugs, namely amphetamines. The applicant was randomly selected for a urine drug screen, the results which were positive for amphetamines at 1669 ng/ml (DoD cutoff level for amphetamines is 500 ng/m l). The applicant admitted consuming a pill offered to her by an enlisted individual senior to her in rank and that she did not know the substance to be illegal at the time, but, instead believed that it was a "training enhancer" for boosting her energy  for participation  in  an  upcoming exercise. The applicant's mother contends that the applicant's discharge was inequitable because it was too harsh, referring to the record of a series of discharges for drug abuse obtained from the "DoD reading room," that resulted in less severe discharges, i.e. general under Honorable conditions. However,  the Board noted that the aforementioned discharge  actions were largely due to marijuana usage, a drug considered Jess serious in nature than the one consumed by the applicant. The applicant and her father contend that she should not be penalized  "for the rest of her life" for a mistake she made when young by entrusting the judgment of a noncommissioned officer who offered the applicant what was believed by the applicant to be a legal, over-the-counter pharmaceutical. The Board collectively considered the applicant's age at the time of her offense, her assertion that she did not knowingly consume an illegal drug, the likelihood of the "blind" trust she had in a noncommissioned  officer not to jeopardize either her health or Air Force career, and her demonstrated moral and ethical character both prior to entering military service and since her discharge, as corroborated through the testimony of the applicant's parents and numerous character letters, in deciding to	

I

offer her relief.

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 majority of Board members concluded that the overall quality of applicant's service, with consideration of the unique set of circumstances surrounding her consumption of an unknown medication, is more accurately reflected by an Honorable discharge. Additionally, the applicant's RE code should be changed and the reason for discharge should be changed to Secretarial Authority under the provisions of Title I0, USC 1553.

Attachment: Examiner's Brief