AIR FORCE DISCHARGE REVIEW BOARD DECISIONAL DOCUMENT  
	CASE NUMBER

FD-2021-00205	
					
The applicant was discharged on 3 Dec 10 in accordance with AFI 36-3208 with a General discharge for Misconduct (Drug Abuse).  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 Board was conducted on 9 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.    

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, several Letters of Reprimand, and a Court-Martial.  His misconduct included: possession of Salvia/Spice; on divers occasions wrongfully used marijuana; late for duty; dorm inspection failure; willfully or through neglect, damage/destroy government property; consumed alcohol under the age of 21. 

The member states that he put service first his entire time in the Air Force and when he failed one urinalysis, he was given the entire book. He states that he knows that there's references of cases of minority airmen E-1 through E-4 with less than 4 years being punished at higher rates than anyone else. He explains that he had to go to jail, be restricted to base, serve extra duty, lose rank, and have a dirty stain on his record, "drug abuse" for failing a UA for marijuana that is legal or medicinal used almost all over the states. He concludes that he has been very limited as a veteran, and would like for that to be lifted as it's already hard enough as is.

After reviewing the service record, the DRB found no evidence to indicate the applicant was unaware of the Air Force policy of zero tolerance for illegal drug use.  The Board found the negative aspects of the applicant’s willful misconduct outweighed the positive aspects of his military service. The Board recognizes the culture of racism that he may have suffered from, however, the applicant did not provide sufficient evidence of what he personally experienced and did not meet the burden of proof required to grant an upgrade in order to ensure fundamental fairness. The characterization of the discharge received by the applicant was deemed to be appropriate.

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 xx Aug 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)