AIR FORCE DISCHARGE REVIEW BOARD HEARING RECORD

NAME OFSERVICE MEMBER (LAST, FIRST MIDDLE INITIAL)

GRADE

SRA

AFSN/SSAN

TYPE   UOTHC x	I	PERSONAL APPEARANCE
NAMEOF COUNSEL ANI> OR ORGANIZATION

I	.RECORD  REVIEW
ADDRESS AND OR ORGANl7.ATION Of COUNSEL

·

I x

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MEMBER  SITTING	HON	GEN	UOTHC	OTHER	DENY
x	+*
x	+*
x	+*
x	+*
x	+*

·ISSUES

AOl.00 A93.33 A94.05

INDEX NUMBER

A67.30 A67.90

ORDER APPOINTING THE BOARD
2 APPLICATION FOR REVIEW OF DISCHARGE
3	LETTER OF NOTlFICATION
4	BRIEF OF PERSONNEL FILE COUNSEL'S RELEASE TO THE BOARD
ADDITIONAL EXHIBITS SUBMITTED AT TIME OF PERSONAL APPEARAN CE
TAPE RECORDING OF PERSONAL APPEARANCE HEARING

HEARING DATE	CASE NUMB£R

16 May 2013	FD-2011-00563

Advise applicant of the decision of the Board and the right to submit an application to the AFBCMR Names and votes will be made available to the applicant at the applicant's request.
+Narrative Reason
*Reenlistment Code

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TO:

SAF/MRBR
550 C STREET WEST, SUITE 40 RANDOLPH AFB, TX 781504742

FROM,

SECRETARY OFTHE AIR FORCE PERSONNEL COUNOL AIR FORCE DISCHARGE REVIEW 8QARD
15JSCOMMAND DR,EE WING,JRD FLOOR ANDREWS AFB. MD 20762·7001

AFHQ FORM 0-2077, JAN 00	(EF-V2)	Previous

AIR FORCE DISCHARGE REVIEW BOARD DECISIONAL RATIONALE	CASE NUMBER

FD-2011-00563	

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.

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

The applicant appeared and testified before the Discharge Review Board DRB, without counsel, at Andrews AFB, MD, on 16 May 2013.

The following additional exhibits were submitted at the hearing: Exhibit #5: Photos and Videos

FINDING: Upgrade to discharge to Honorable is denied. However, the Board grants  an  upgrade  of discharge to General.

ISSUE: The applicant received a UOTHC for Misconduct: Commission of a Serious Offense and Conduct Prejudicial to Good and Discipline. The record indicates the applicant received two Letters of Reprimand. His misconduct included being disrespectful to a junior officer and a junior non-commissioned  officer, misuse of government phone and computer, and violation of Air Force standard of instruction by actively participating in a supremacist organization. The applicant contends his discharge was harsh and the allegations made against him were false and unfounded. He also states that he wants his discharge upgraded because he wants to rejoin the Air Force Reserves. The applicant was a primary officer for the National Independents Movement (NIM), loaded many of the web pages for the  NIM website on a government computer, and organized NIM activities  via the web pages on the government computer. The applicant testified that NIM was not a racist organization, and that anyone could comment on the site's message board. He also testified that he only looked at the NIM website during lunch breaks and non-duty hours. However, active membership in a supremacist organization is a violation of AFI 51-903. The applicant also testified that because he was older and had more experience in the military, he resented being talked down to by his supervisors. This led to some unprofessional exchanges with his supervisors and others in his chain of command. He also stated that there was no intent to be disrespectful to any officer or junior enlisted members. The applicant was entitled to present his case before an administrative discharge board, but submitted an unconditional waiver to waive his right to an administrative board. He also stated that military counsel was made available to him during the discharge process. The applicant testified that he didn't take the discharge seriously because he thought he could get a waiver later if he wanted to rejoin the Armed Forces.

IAW AFI 36-3209, para 3.24 UOTHC service characterizations for reserve personnel can only be approved by the Director SAF/MRB (delegated Secretarial authority). Thus, the case was required to go before the Personnel Council because Secretarial action was required before a UOTHC discharge could be approved. A thorough examination of the record reveals no evidence the case went before the Personnel Council to approve the UOTHC service characterization. The Staff Summary Sheet and AFRC/JAJ legal review both include recommendations that AFRC/CV accept the applicant's unconditional waiver and separate him with a UOTHC service characterization. There is no mention of a  requirement to forward the case to the Personnel Council for Secretarial action. After receiving these recommendations, AFRC/CV signed a memorandum directing the applicant be discharged with a UOTHC service characterization. No documents included in the case file include any reference the case was ever considered by the Personnel Council. Additionally, historical records of the Personnel Council were reviewed to determine if the Council had reviewed the case.  No records were found.  Based on the above, the DRB concludes the applicant's UOTHC	

service characterization was directed without proper authority, and thus, creates an impropriety. AFRC/CV could only have approved up to an Under Honorable Conditions (General) service characterization. Based on this impropriety, the applicant's service characterization is upgraded to Under Honorable Conditions (General).  However, change of reason and authority for discharge and reenlistment code are denied.

CONCLUSION: The Discharge Review Board concludes that the discharge was not consistent with the procedural and substantive requirements of the discharge regulation.

The applicant's characterization should be changed to General under the provisions of Title 10, USC 1553. The change of reason and authority for discharge and reenlistment code are denied.

Attachment: Examiner's Brief