AIR FORCE DISCHARGE REVIEW BOARD DECISIONAL DOCUMENT  
	CASE NUMBER

 FD-2021-00263	
					
The applicant was discharged on 7 Apr 14 in accordance with AFI 36-3208 with a General discharge for Misconduct (Other).  The applicant appealed for an upgrade of her discharge characterization to Honorable.  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 her 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 Letters of Reprimand, Letters of Counseling, a Letter of Admonishment, and a Record of Individual Counselling.  Her misconduct included: failed to conduct aircrew alert; failed to show to work on time; failed to go to a mandatory appointment; failed to report for WAPS testing; failed to check emails; failed to arrive on time for monthly training scenario; involved in a domestic disturbance, received not contact order; living with individual who appeared to be married. 

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 states that she is requesting a change to Honorable, SPD, and Narrative Reason. She states that she requested to be discharged after constant physical and sexual abuse by a fellow military member. She explains that this member was eventually discharged for those reasons but even after his discharge, the harassment escalated and so she requested a base transfer. She states that this was not approved and thus, asked to be discharged. She claims that the First Sergeant told her he would need to use the information from the Letters of Reprimands in her PIF to justify the discharge. The member concludes that she is about to complete med school and enter residency so she doesn’t want to have her military experience tarnished by misrepresentation on her DD214. 

The DRB determined that, through the administrative actions taken by the chain of command in this case, the applicant had ample opportunities to change her negative behavior.  The Board concluded the negative aspects of the applicant’s service outweighed the positive contributions she made during her Air Force career.    

After a thorough review of the service record and inputs from the Board’s psychiatrist/ psychologist, the DRB found no conclusive indication that any mental health issues had a direct impact on the applicant's misconduct or discharge. There is evidence the applicant was taking antidepressant medication intermittently during her time in service, although the records indicate the applicant reported her symptoms to be stable. The applicant did not provide additional evidence of the physical or sexual abuse beyond her one sentence of testimony. Additionally, she did not provide evidence of a nexus between her allegations of physical and sexual abuse to her acts of misconduct.

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 her request was not approved. 

The DRB results were approved by the board president on 23 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)