MEMORANDUM OF CONSIDERATION

	IN THE CASE OF:      

	BOARD DATE:            6 July 2000                  
	DOCKET NUMBER:    AR1999030946

	I certify that hereinafter is recorded the record of consideration of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in the case of the above-named individual.

	Mr. Carl W. S. Chun		Director	
	Mr. Edmund P. Mercanti		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Calvin M. Fowler		Chairperson	
	Mr. Ernest M. Willcher		Member	
	Mr. John P. Infante		Member	

	The Board, established pursuant to authority contained in 10 U.S.C. 1552, convened at the call of the Chairperson on the above date.  In accordance with Army Regulation 15-185, the application and the available military records pertinent to the corrective action requested were reviewed to determine whether to authorize a formal hearing, recommend that the records be corrected without a formal hearing, or to deny the application without a formal hearing if it is determined that insufficient relevant evidence has been presented to demonstrate the existence of probable material error or injustice.

	The applicant requests correction of military records as stated in the application to the Board and as restated herein.

	The Board considered the following evidence:

	Exhibit A - Application for correction of military 
                records
	Exhibit B - Military Personnel Records (including
	            advisory opinion, if any)

APPLICANT REQUESTS:  That his undesirable discharge be changed to an honorable discharge.

APPLICANT STATES:  That after he returned from Vietnam he could not adjust.  He had been granted a compassionate reassignment to a unit in the United States after his tour in Vietnam in lieu of being reassigned to Germany.  However, his records became lost in the shuffle and he was only being paid $25.00 a month.  A lack of income, mental stress and a lack of a permanent job in his new unit overwhelmed him and he went AWOL.  When he returned he was given nonjudicial punishment (NJP), which he was later told that he shouldn’t have accepted due to his hardship situation.  His fine and loss of grade worsened his financial hardship so he went AWOL again.

EVIDENCE OF RECORD:  The applicant's military records show:

He enlisted in the Regular Army on 31 July 1969, was awarded the military occupational specialty of a lineman, was promoted to pay grade E-3, and was stationed in Germany.

On 31 March 1970 he reenlisted and served in Vietnam from 8 June 1970 to 2 May 1971.  While in Vietnam he accepted NJP on two occasions, once on 12 August 1970 for being absent from his place of duty, and once on 11 September 1970 for disobeying a lawful order.

After his return from Vietnam he was given a compassionate reassignment to Fort Knox, Kentucky.  He again accepted NJP while at Fort Knox in September 1971 for being absent from his place of duty on 23 and 24 August 1971, and for being AWOL from 30 August to 1 September 1971.

He again departed AWOL on 26 October 1971 and was returned to military control on 29 March 1972 for a total of 156 days of lost time.  On 25 April 1972 the applicant submitted a request for discharge for the good of the service in lieu of trial by court-martial.  He did not submit any matters of mitigation with his request.

That request was approved and the applicant was issued an Undesirable Discharge Certificate on 5 May 1972.

On 1 March 1974 the Army Discharge Review Board (ADRB) denied the applicant’s request to upgrade his discharge.  The stated reasons he gave for his 

request were the misplacement of his military records when he requested his discharge, and the hardship condition his family was experiencing at home at that time.  

On 3 August 1981 the ADRB again denied the applicant’s request to upgrade his undesirable discharge.  The applicant had not given any reason (basis) for his request.

Army Regulation 635-200 sets forth the basic authority for the separation of enlisted personnel.  Chapter 10 of that regulation provides, in pertinent part, that a member who has committed an offense or offenses for which the authorized punishment includes a punitive discharge may at any time after the charges have been preferred, submit a request for discharge for the good of the service in lieu of trial by court-martial.  A discharge under other than honorable conditions is normally considered appropriate. However, at the time of the applicant's separation the regulation provided for the issuance of an undesirable discharge.

DISCUSSION:  Considering all the evidence, allegations, and information presented by the applicant, together with the evidence of record and applicable law and regulations, it is concluded:

1.  The applicant’s discharge was effected in accordance with applicable regulations with no indication that his rights were violated.

2.  To the contrary, the applicant himself requested discharge.  If he had personal problems which constituted a hardship condition, he could have requested a hardship discharge or, at the very least, submitted those problems to the separation authority as matters of mitigation on his characterization of service.  The applicant did neither.

3.  While the applicant apparently had some personal problems, as evidenced by his compassionate reassignment, those problems did not excuse his prolonged period of AWOL.  From the applicant’s record of prior unauthorized absences, AWOL’s and disobeying lawful orders, it would appear that the applicant was unconcerned about the consequences of his actions.

4.  This Board concurs with the ADRB that there is no basis for upgrading the applicant’s undesirable discharge.
 
5.  In view of the foregoing, there is no basis for granting the applicant's request.

DETERMINATION:  The applicant has failed to submit sufficient relevant evidence to demonstrate the existence of probable error or injustice.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

__cmf____  ___emw_  ___jpi___  DENY APPLICATION

		   Carl W. S. Chun
		   Director, Army Board for Correction
		   of Military Records

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999030946	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20000706	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	YYYYMMDD	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR .  .  .  .  .  	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	DENY	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	A71.00	
2.	A93.07	
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.