AIR FORCE DISCHARGE REVIEW BOARD DECISIONAL DOCUMENT CASE NUMBER FD-2020-00172 The applicant was discharged on 28 Jan 2005 in accordance with AFI 36-3208 with a General discharge for Misconduct. The applicant appealed for an upgrade of his discharge characterization to Honorable. The board was conducted on 25 Aug 2020. The applicant appeared and testified before the Discharge Review Board (DRB), with counsel, via video teleconference using VIDYO Cloud Connect between Joint Base Andrews, MD, and applicant's and counsel's location on 25 Aug 2020. No witnesses were present and testified on the applicant's behalf. The attached examiner's brief (provided to applicant only), extracted from available service records, contains pertinent data regarding the circumstances and character of the applicant's military service. FINDING: The DRB voted unanimously to deny the applicant's request to upgrade his discharge characterization to Honorable. The applicant's record of service included one Article 15 for falsifying an official document and making a false official statement. The applicant contended, through his counsel, that the discharge was inequitable and he is entitled to the requested relief because he accepted responsibility for his wrongdoing and received strong support for retention notwithstanding the misconduct. He further contends the evidence presented in response to his discharge action strongly mitigated his wrongdoing and he should have been retained. Furthermore, the applicant's overall service record and post-discharge conduct are deserving of an upgrade to an honorable service characterization. A review of the military record revealed the applicant failed out of initial technical training for the Air Battle Manager career field and was reclassified into the Security Forces career field. During his Security Forces technical training course he was caught cheating on a block test and then lied about the incident to his instructor. When the applicant was confronted by the instructor staff he admitted to changing the answer on the test after it had already been graded and telling his instructor that he had in fact gotten the answer correct and had passed the exam. For the misconduct he was punished under Article 15, UCMJ and administrative discharge action was initiated. The Board concluded the offenses committed by the member brought discredit to the Air Force and when weighed against the overall record of performance, warrant the characterization of discharge received. Misconduct of this serious nature constitutes a significant departure from the conduct expected of Airmen and outweighs his otherwise satisfactory service. CONCLUSION: The board found insufficient evidence of an inequity or impropriety that would warrant a change to the applicant's discharge. Therefore, the discharge received by the applicant was deemed to be appropriate and his request was not approved. The DRB results were approved by the board president on 8 Sep 2020. If desired, the applicant can request a list of the board members and their votes by writing to: Air Force Review Boards Agency Attn: Discharge Review Board 3351 Celmers Lane Joint Base Andrews, NAF Washington, MD 20762-6602 Attachment: Examiner's Brief (Applicant Only)