AIR FORCE DISCHARGE REVIEW BOARD DECISIONAL DOCUMENT  
	CASE NUMBER

FD-2020-00653	
					
The applicant was discharged on 26 Feb 2020 in accordance with AFI 36-3209 with a General discharge for Unacceptable Conduct.  The applicant appealed for an upgrade of his discharge characterization to Honorable, a change to the discharge narrative reason, and a change to the reenlistment eligibility code.  

The applicant was not represented by counsel.    

The applicant appeared and testified before the Discharge Review Board (DRB), without counsel, via video teleconference on 23 Feb 21. No witnesses were present to testify 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, 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.  His misconduct included: unlawfully choke taxi driver on the neck with hands; violated curfew order.

The applicant states that he was discharged due to curfew violation and physical assault on a taxi driver. He states that it was based on the pre-arrest report and he did not dispute the charges because he assumed OSI or Security Forces were going to do their own investigation as well as he wanted to take responsibility for his actions. The member states that the charges for physical assault were dropped after investigation and subpoena. He states he was subsequently given an Article 15 based on the pre-arrest report, not actual findings of the investigation. He continues to say that he accepted the article 15 because he wanted to move past the incident. He states he was put up for separation so he gathered the evidence to present to his Commander. He states that then the commander spoke with the SOFA rep and the member’s direct leadership and the Commander subsequently wrote an MFR on his behalf requesting his separation and article 15 be rescinded/rewritten but the Wing Commander declined. The member states that additionally, his Commander wrote a letter of support stating that she’d misinterpreted the events in question. The applicant requests upgrade of his discharge so that he could serve again if possible.

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 understood the applicant’s present service characterization renders him ineligible to reenlist.  However, this is not a matter of inequity or impropriety which would warrant an upgrade.  

If the applicant can provide additional information to substantiate his contentions, the board highly recommends he directly appeal the DRB’s decision to the Air Force Board for Correction of Military Records.

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 26 Feb 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  

Attachment:
Examiner's Brief (Applicant Only)