AIR FORCE DISCHARGE REVIEW BOARD DECISIONAL DOCUMENT  
	CASE NUMBER

FD-2021-00367	
					
The applicant was discharged on 11 October 2011 in accordance with AFI 36-3206 with an Honorable discharge for Adjustment Disorder.  The applicant appealed for an upgrade of his discharge narrative reason, and a change to the reenlistment eligibility code.  The Board was conducted on 4 November 2021.  

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 approve the applicant’s request to upgrade his discharge narrative reason to Condition, Not a Disability. It voted unanimously to deny his request to change the reenlistment eligibility code to 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.  

Due to evidence of  mental health condition/s 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 requested to upgrade all aspects of his discharge so that he can join the Army or Navy Reserves. The applicant’s leadership administratively discharged the applicant with an Honorable service characterization after a command directed mental health evaluation determined his mental health state made him unsuited for duty.  He stated that his chain of command believed he had an adjustment disorder because he was having difficulty adapting to military life, but he did not feel that was the case. The applicant explained that he was victim of a sexual assault by another officer and this traumatic event led to several years of depression. He stated that his chain of command didn’t know of the incident because of his embarrassment, he blamed himself, and DADT was still around. 

Per guidance from the Department of Defense, the narrative reason should be approved due to the fact that when the original narrative reason was Adjustment/Personality Disorder and there were no aggravating factors in the record, such as misconduct.  The Board determined the facts in this case met the criteria and, therefore approved the applicant’s request to change the narrative reason.  

 CONCLUSION:  
The Board found neither the evidence of record, nor that provided by the applicant substantiated any inequity.  However, sufficient evidence existed to convince the board the discharge was improper.  Therefore, the Board determined the discharge narrative reason was more accurately described as “Condition, Not a Disability.”  The Board did not change the reenlistment eligibility code.    

The DRB results were approved by the board president on 6 November 2021.  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)