AIR FORCE DISCHARGE REVIEW BOARD DECISIONAL DOCUMENT  
	CASE NUMBER

 FD-2020-00428	
					
The applicant was discharged on 7 Mar 18 in accordance with AFI 36-3208 with a General discharge for Misconduct (Minor Infractions).  The applicant appealed for an upgrade of her discharge characterization to Honorable, a change to the discharge narrative reason, and a change to the reenlistment eligibility code.  The Board was conducted on 16 Sep 21.  

The applicant was offered a personal appearance before the Discharge Review Board (DRB), but declined and requested the board be completed based on a records only review.  

The applicant was not represented by counsel.    

Pursuant to 10 USC §1553, the board included a member who is a psychiatrist/ psychologist with training on mental health issues connected with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or traumatic brain injury (TBI), and training on mental health disorders.

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, to change the discharge narrative reason to Secretarial Authority, and to change the reenlistment eligibility code to 2C / 3K.

The DRB, under its responsibility to examine the propriety and equity of an applicant’s discharge, is authorized to change the characterization of service and the narrative reason for discharge if such changes are warranted.  If applicable, the board can also change the applicant’s reenlistment eligibility code.  In reviewing discharges, the board presumes regularity in the conduct of governmental affairs unless there is substantial credible evidence to rebut the presumption, to include evidence submitted by the applicant.  The Board completed a thorough review of the circumstances that led to the discharge and the discharge process to determine if the discharge met the pertinent standards of equity and propriety.  

The applicant’s record of service included an Article 15, a vacation of suspended nonjudicial punishment, and a Letter of Counseling.  His misconduct included: unlawfully struck another on the arm, chest and lower abdomen with his hand; disorderly conduct by communicating threats; failed to show to work on time on multiple occasions.   

Due to evidence of  mental health conditions found in the applicant’s medical record, the Board considered the case based on the liberal consideration standards required by guidance from the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness and/or 10 USC §1553.

The applicant feels that his time in the military is not accurately represented by the discharge. He states that when he arrived to base, there was no one who had ever worked on the F-35 and many of the things he did pioneered the way issues were addressed and resolved. He states that he feels the work he did was significant. The member continues to say that at one point, he had loaded more bombs on the aircraft than anyone else in the Air Force. He states that while the impact was small to the Air Force, it had a large impact on him. He explains that he was very young and understood very little. The member concludes by asking that the DRB take into consideration that he had no prior disciplinary actions and to judge him based on his merit rather than the unsubstantiated statements that were redacted by people he barely knew.
The DRB reviewed the applicant’s entire service record and found no evidence of impropriety or inequity to warrant an upgrade of the discharge. The Board concluded the negative aspects of the applicant’s service outweighed the positive contributions he made during his Air Force career. The characterization of the discharge received by the applicant was deemed to be appropriate.
 
After a thorough review of the service record and input from the Board’s psychiatrist/ psychologist, the DRB found that some aspects of the applicant’s mental health condition were mitigating factors to the applicant's misconduct.  However, the mental health condition could not completely explain or excuse the misconduct sufficiently to warrant upgrading the discharge. There is no evidence, the applicant’s most serious misconduct, identified in the Article 15, could be attributed to a mental health condition. The applicant and multiple mental health providers went to great lengths to demonstrate that he did not have a mental health condition that mitigated or caused the behavior that lead to the applicant’s misconduct in the Article 15.

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 16 Sep 21.  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  
Instructions on how to appeal an AFDRB decision can be found at 
https://afrbaportal.azurewebsites.us

Attachment:
Examiner's Brief (Applicant Only)