1. Applicant's Name: a. Application Date: 17 January 2018 b. Date Received: 5 February 2018 c. Counsel: None 2. REQUEST, ISSUES, BOARD TYPE, AND DECISION: The applicant requests an upgrade of the characterization of service from general (under honorable conditions) to honorable. The applicant seeks relief contending, in effect, earned a Combat Action Badge and a Purple Heart, and because of injury sustained in Iraq, led to mental conditions. The applicant was diagnosed with PTSD in 2009 at the VA Medical Center in Columbia, SC and was recently diagnosed with TBI. Per the Board's Medical Officer, a voting member, based on the information available for review at the time in the service record, the Armed Forces Health Longitudinal Technology Application (AHLTA), and Joint Legacy Viewer (JLV), notes indicate diagnoses of Anxiety Disorder NOS, Major Depression, Adjustment Disorder with Disturbance of Emotions and Conduct. The VA has diagnosed the applicant with PTSD, mTBI, Major Depressive Disorder, Anxiety Disorder, and Alcohol Use Disorder. The applicant is 50% service-connected for PTSD. In summary, the applicant has a BH diagnosis that is mitigating for the misconduct which led to separation from the Army. In a records review conducted at Arlington, VA on 1 February 2019, and by a 3-2 vote, the Board denied the request upon finding the separation was both proper and equitable. However, notwithstanding the propriety of the applicant's discharge, the Board found that the applicant's DD Form 214, blocks 25, 26, 27, and 28, contain erroneous entries. The Board directed the following administrative corrections and reissue of the applicant's DD Form 214, as approved by the separation authority: a. block 25, separation authority changed to AR 635-200, paragraph 14-12c, b. block 26, separation code changed to JKQ, c. block 27, reentry code changed to 3, d. block 28, narrative reason for separation changed to Misconduct (Serious Offense). (Board member names available upon request) 3. DISCHARGE DETAILS: a. Reason / Authority / Codes / Characterization: Misconduct (Drug Abuse) / AR 635- 200, Paragraph 14-12c(2) / JKK / RE-4 / General (Under Honorable Conditions) b. Date of Discharge: 31 October 2008 c. Separation Facts: Yes (1) Date of Notification of Intent to Separate: 7 October 2008 (2) Basis for Separation: The applicant was informed of the following reason for his discharge; he was AWOL (22 November 2007 until 28 July 2008). (3) Recommended Characterization: General (Under Honorable Conditions) (4) Legal Consultation Date: 14 October 2008 (5) Administrative Separation Board: NA (6) Separation Decision Date / Characterization: 23 October 2008 / General (Under Honorable Conditions) 4. SERVICE DETAILS: a. Date / Period of Enlistment: 21 September 2005 / 3 years, 18 weeks / moral waiver 9 September 2005 b. Age at Enlistment / Education / GT Score: 19 years / GED Certificate / 101 c. Highest Grade Achieved / MOS / Total Service: E-3 / 13B10, Cannon Crewmember / 2 years, 4 months, 4 days d. Prior Service / Characterizations: None e. Overseas Service / Combat Service: SWA / Iraq, 19 October 2006 to 10 September 2007 f. Awards and Decorations: AAM, NDSM, ICM-CS, ASR, OSR g. Performance Ratings: NA h. Disciplinary Action(s) / Evidentiary Record: Report of Mental Status Evaluation, dated 30 July 2008, revealed no evidence of current suicidal or homicidal intent or plan; altered thought process, or any psychiatric disorder which would explain the behaviors for which this separation is being considered. FG Article 15, dated 8 October 2008, for wrongful use of cocaine (28 August 2008); reduction to PVT / E-1, forfeiture of $673 pay for two months, extra duty and restriction for 45 days. i. Lost Time / Mode of Return: AWOL for 276 days, 22 October 2007 to 27 July 2008; returned to unit. j. Diagnosed PTSD / TBI / Behavioral Health: The applicant submitted VA Form 21- 4138, Statement in Support of Claim, dated 2 April 2016, from the VA Claims Intake Center, Janesville, WI, relates under the fully developed claims process the applicant was filing service compensation for injury to right lung, right forearm, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), Post Traumatic Disorder (PTSD) and all mental health disorders associated with PTSD. 5. APPLICANT-PROVIDED EVIDENCE: DD Form 149 (two pages); DD Form 214; and VA Form 21-4138, Statement in Support of Claim. 6. POST SERVICE ACCOMPLISHMENTS: None submitted with the application. 7. REGULATORY CITATION(S): Army Regulation 635-200 sets forth the basic authority for the separation of enlisted personnel. Chapter 14 establishes policy and prescribes procedures for separating members for misconduct. Specific categories include minor disciplinary infractions, a pattern of misconduct, and commission of a serious offense, to include abuse of illegal drugs, convictions by civil authorities and desertion or being absent without leave. Action will be taken to separate a member for misconduct when it is clearly established that rehabilitation is impractical or unlikely to succeed. Paragraph 14-12c(2) terms abuse of illegal drugs as serious misconduct. It continues; however, by recognizing relevant facts may mitigate the nature of the offense. Therefore, a single drug abuse offense may be combined with one or more minor disciplinary infractions or incidents of other misconduct and processed for separation under paragraph 14-12a or 14-12b as appropriate. Army policy states that an under other than honorable conditions discharge is normally considered appropriate; however, a general (under honorable conditions) or an honorable discharge may be granted. National Defense Authorization Act 2017 provided specific guidance to the Military Boards for Correction of Military/Naval Records and Discharge Review Boards when considering discharge upgrade requests by Veterans claiming Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) in connection with combat or sexual assault or sexual harassment as a basis for discharge review. Further, it provided that Boards will include, as a voting board member, a physician trained in mental health disorders, a clinical psychologist, or a psychiatrist when the discharge upgrade claim asserts a mental health condition, including PTSD; TBI; as a basis for the discharge. In August 2017, the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness provided further clarifying guidance to the Military Discharge Review Boards and Boards for Correction of Military/Naval Records when considering requests by Veterans for modification of their discharge due to mental health conditions, including PTSD; TBI; sexual assault; or sexual harassment. Liberal consideration will be given to Veterans petitioning for discharge relief when the application for relief is based in whole or in part on matters relating to mental health conditions, including PTSD; TBI; sexual assault; or sexual harassment. Special consideration will be given to Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) determinations that document a mental health condition, including PTSD; TBI; or sexual assault/harassment potentially contributed to the circumstances resulting in a less than honorable discharge characterization. Special consideration will also be given in cases where a civilian provider confers diagnoses of a mental health condition, including PTSD; TBI; or sexual assault/harassment if the case records contain narratives supporting symptomatology at the time of service or when any other evidence which may reasonably indicate that a mental health condition, including PTSD; TBI; or sexual assault/harassment existed at the time of discharge might have mitigated the misconduct that caused a discharge of lesser characterization. Conditions documented in the service record that can reasonably be determined to have existed at the time of discharge will be considered to have existed at the time of discharge. In cases in which a mental health condition, including PTSD; TBI; or sexual assault/harassment may be reasonably determined to have existed at the time of discharge, those conditions will be considered potential mitigating factors in the misconduct that caused the characterization of service in question. All Boards will exercise caution in weighing evidence of mitigation in cases in which serious misconduct precipitated a discharge with a less than Honorable characterization of service. Potentially mitigating evidence of the existence of undiagnosed combat related PTSD, PTSD-related conditions due to TBI or sexual assault/harassment as causative factors in the misconduct resulting in discharge will be carefully weighed against the severity of the misconduct. PTSD is not a likely cause of premeditated misconduct. Caution shall be exercised in weighing evidence of mitigation in all cases of misconduct by carefully considering the likely causal relationship of symptoms to the misconduct. 8. DISCUSSION OF FACT(S): The applicant requests an upgrade of the characterization of service from general (under honorable conditions) to honorable. The applicant's record of service, the issues and documents submitted with his application were carefully reviewed. The record confirms the applicant's discharge was appropriate because the quality of his service was not consistent with the Army's standards for acceptable personal conduct and performance of duty by military personnel. It brought discredit on the Army, and was prejudicial to good order and discipline. The applicant, by violating the Army's policy not to possess or use illegal drugs, compromised the trust and confidence placed in a Soldier. The applicant, as a Soldier, had the duty to support and abide by the Army's drug policies. By abusing illegal drugs, the applicant knowingly risked a military career and diminished the quality of his service below that meriting an honorable discharge at the time of separation. The applicant provided no independent corroborating evidence demonstrating that either the command's action was erroneous or that the applicant's service mitigated the misconduct or poor duty performance, such that he should have been retained on Active Duty. The applicant seeks relief contending, he earned a Combat Action Badge and a Purple Heart. The applicant's service accomplishments and the quality of his service prior to the incidents that caused the initiation of discharge proceeding were carefully considered. The applicant further contends, because of injury sustained in Iraq led to mental condition. The applicant bears the burden of presenting of substantial and credible evidence to support this contention. There is no evidence in the record, nor has the applicant produced any evidence to support the contention that his injury led to mental condition. The applicant also contends, he was diagnosed with PTSD in 2009 at the VA Medical Center in Columbia, SC; and he was recently diagnosed with TBI. VA Form 21-4138, Statement in Support of Claim, from the VA Claims Intake Center, Janesville, WI, relates under the fully developed claims process the applicant was filing service compensation for injury to his right lung, right forearm, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), Post Traumatic Disorder (PTSD) and all mental health disorders associated with PTSD. However, the service record contains no evidence of PTSD and a TBI diagnosis and the applicant did not submit any evidence to support the contention that the discharge was the result of any medical condition. Notwithstanding the propriety of the applicant's discharge, someone in the discharge process erroneously entered on the applicant's DD Form 214, block 25, separation authority as AR 635- 200, paragraph 14-12c(2), block 26, separation code as JKK, block 27, reentry code as 4 and block 28, narrative reason for separation as misconduct (drug abuse). However, the DD Form should read block 25, separation authority as AR 635-200, paragraph 14-12c, block 26, separation code as JKQ, block 27, reentry code as 3 and block 28, narrative reason for separation as misconduct (serious offense), as approved by the separation authority. The discharge was consistent with the procedural and substantive requirements of the regulation, was within the discretion of the separation authority, and the applicant was provided full administrative due process. 9. BOARD DETERMINATION: In a records review conducted at Arlington, VA on 1 February 2019, and by a 3-2 vote, the Board denied the request upon finding the separation was both proper and equitable. However, notwithstanding the propriety of the applicant's discharge, the Board found that the applicant's DD Form 214, blocks 25, 26, 27, and 28, contain erroneous entries. The Board directed the following administrative corrections and reissue of the applicant's DD Form 214, as approved by the separation authority: a. block 25, separation authority changed to AR 635-200, paragraph 14-12c, b. block 26, separation code changed to JKQ, c. block 27, reentry code changed to 3, d. block 28, narrative reason for separation changed to Misconduct (Serious Offense). 10. BOARD ACTION DIRECTED: a. Issue a New DD-214: Yes b. Change Characterization to: No Change c. Change Reason to: Misconduct (Serious Offense) d. Change Authority to: AR 635-200, paragraph 14-12c e. Change SPD / RE Code to: JKQ / RE-3 Authenticating Official: SECRETARIAL REVIEWING AUTHORITY: While the Board found your separation was both proper and equitable; as the Secretarial Reviewing Authority, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army (Review Boards) reviewed the findings, conclusions, and the board's recommendation under the authority of Title 10 United States Code Section 1553(b) and Department of Defense Instruction 1332.28 (Discharge Review Board (DRB) Procedures and Standards), enclosure E3.7.1.1.1. The Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army (Review Boards) finds sufficient evidence to upgrade the characterization of service to Honorable. Therefore, your DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) will be corrected by issuing you a new DD Form 214 changing the characterization of service to Honorable; the separation authority as AR 635-200, para 14-12a; narrative reason as misconduct (minor infractions); and SPD code as JKN. Legend: AWOL - Absent Without Leave GD - General Discharge NCO - Noncommissioned Officer SCM - Summary Court Martial BCD - Bad Conduct Discharge HS - High School NIF - Not in File SPCM - Special Court Martial BH - Behavioral Health HD - Honorable Discharge NOS - Not Otherwise Specified SPD - Separation Program Designator CG - Company Grade Article 15 IADT - Initial Active Duty Training OAD - Ordered to Active Duty TBI - Traumatic Brain Injury CID - Criminal Investigation Division MP - Military Police OMPF - Official Military Personnel File UNC - Uncharacterized Discharge ELS - Entry Level Status MST - Military Sexual Trauma PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder UOTHC - Under Other Than Honorable Conditions FG - Field Grade Article 15 NA - Not applicable RE - Reentry VA - Veterans Affairs ARMY DISCHARGE REVIEW BOARD CASE REPORT AND DIRECTIVE AR20180003216 1