ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


		BOARD DATE: 10 May 2019

	DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20160015265


APPLICANT REQUESTS:  Her under honorable conditions (general) discharge from the 
Washington Army National Guard be upgraded to an honorable discharge.

APPLICANT'S SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS CONSIDERED BY THE BOARD: 

*	DD Form 149 (Application for Correction of Military Record Under the Provisions 
of Title 10, U.S. Code, Section 1552)
*	Certificates of Achievement, dated 26 June 1993 and 25 June 1994
*	DA Form 638-1 (Recommendation For Award), dated 3 December 1994
*	DA Form 4980-18 (Army Achievement Medal Certificate), dated 9 May 1995
*	National Guard Bureau (NGB) Form 56 (General Discharge Certificate), dated  
14 June 2000
*	three character reference letters
*	a letter from The Adjutant General, Washington Army National Guard 
(WAARNG), dated 8 July 2016

FACTS:

1.  The applicant did not file within the three year time frame provided in Title 10, United 
States Code (USC), section 1552 (b); however, the Army Board for Correction of 
Military Records conducted a substantive review of this case and determined it is in the 
interest of justice to excuse the applicant's failure to timely file. 

2.  The applicant states her unit was on active duty for a period of three months just 
before the war ended.  She is trying to get qualified for a Department of Veterans Affairs 
(VA) home loan but the VA doesn’t accept general discharges.  She was a good Soldier 
who represented her country with dignity and respect.  She knows The Adjutant General 
said her service was satisfactory but not sufficiently meritorious to warrant an honorable 
discharge; however, she did receive a medal of achievement.

3.  The applicant enlisted in the WAARNG on 19 December 1991.  She entered active 
duty on 11 March 1992 for the purpose of completing her initial active duty for training.  
She completed her initial training and was released from active duty on 14 August 1992, 
to the control of the WAARNG.  She was issued a DD Form 214 that shows an 
Honorable Character of Service.

4.  Orders 165-18, issued by WAARNG on 14 June 2000, discharged her from the 
ARNG and as a Reserve of the Army (USAR), effective 14 June 2000.  Her service was 
characterized as under honorable conditions with an assignment loss code of MM 
(Misconduct).

5.  The applicant’s record is void of a discharge packet containing the specific facts and 
circumstances surrounding her discharge.  However, her record does contain an  
NGB Form 22 (Report of Separation and Record of Service) that shows she was 
discharged on 14 June 2000, under the provisions of National Guard Regulation (NGR) 
600-200 (Enlisted Personnel Management System), paragraph 1-26e, by reason of acts 
or patterns of misconduct/drug abuse.  Her service was characterized as under other 
than honorable conditions.

6.  An NGB Form 22A (Correction to NGB Form 22), dated 21 August 2013, corrected 
the applicant’s characterization of service to reflect an under honorable conditions 
(general) discharge.

7.  The applicant petitioned the WAARNG for an upgrade of her discharge.  The 
Adjutant General of the WAARNG notified the applicant, on 8 July 2016, of the error 
identified on her NGB Form 22 but did not upgrade her discharge.  Consequently, she 
applied to this Board for relief.

BOARD DISCUSSION:

The Board considered the applicant’s request and the evidence in the available record 
to include the change in characterization for her discharge and the letter from The 
Adjutant General, WAARNG.  The Board did not find specific evidence of the 
misconduct that led to her separation and based on the evidence determined that an 
injustice had occurred.  

After a thorough review of the evidence, the Board determined by prepondance of 
evidence that relief was warranted.

BOARD VOTE:

Mbr 1	Mbr 2	Mbr 3

:X	:X	:X	GRANT FULL RELIEF

:	:	:	GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

:	:	:	GRANT FORMAL HEARING

:	:	:	DENY APPLICATION


BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

The Board determined the evidence presented is sufficient to warrant a 
recommendation for relief.  As a result, the Board recommends that the records of the 
individual concerned be corrected by reissuing the NGB 22A (Correction to NGB Form 
22) for the period ending 14 June 2000 to reflect an Honorable discharge. 



	  
I certify that herein is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the 
Army Board for Correction of Military Records in this case.


ADMINISTRATIVE NOTE(S):

Not Applicable



REFERENCES:

1.  Title 10, USC, section 1552(b), provides that applications for correction of military 
records must be filed within three years after discovery of the alleged error or injustice.  
This provision of law also allows the Army Board for Correction of Military Records 
(ABCMR) to excuse an applicant's failure to timely file within the three-year statute of 
limitations if the ABCMR determines it would be in the interest of justice to do so.

2.  Army Regulation 135-178 sets forth the basic authority for the separation of enlisted 
Soldiers of the ARNG and U.S. Army Reserve.

	a.  Paragraph 2-9a provides that an honorable characterization of service is 
appropriate when the quality of the Soldier's service generally has met the standards of 
acceptable conduct and performance of duty for Army personnel or is otherwise so 
meritorious that any other characterization would be clearly inappropriate.

	b.  Paragraph 2-9b provides that a general (under honorable conditions) 
characterization of service is warranted when significant negative aspects of the 
Soldier's conduct or performance of duty outweigh positive aspects of the Soldier's 
military record.

ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)	 AR20160015265

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