1. Applicant's Name: a. Application Date: 27 June 2018 b. Date Received: 2 July 2018 c. Counsel: None 2. REQUEST, ISSUES, BOARD TYPE, AND DECISION: The applicant requests an upgrade of an under other than honorable conditions discharge to honorable. The applicant seeks relief contending, in pertinent part and in effect, missed some formations due to arguing with the daughter's mother, which took a toll on the applicant. Before the applicant went AWOL, the applicant asked the commander and executive officer for guidance concerning a picture of the daughter with a boot imprint on her face, resulting from the stepfather abusing her. The commander was unable to provide guidance, except to take an emergency leave and handle it. Fed up with the response, the applicant left and went home to take the daughter back. The applicant was given split custody in court. The applicant returned to the unit with the court papers. However, prior to arriving at the new unit of assignment, it was already decided on discharging the applicant. The applicant is currently incarcerated due to the mother of the daughter placing the applicant in a situation that costed the applicant, not only his military career, but the pride of having to defend others. The applicant does not have access to military records, but it should provide proof of the situation. 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 Impulse Control Disorder and Adjustment Disorder. The applicant does not have any VA records available for review. In summary, the applicant does not have 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 13 December 2019, and by a 5-0 vote, the Board denied the request upon finding the separation was both proper and equitable. (Board member names available upon request) 3. DISCHARGE DETAILS: a. Reason / Authority / Codes / Characterization: Misconduct (Serious Offense) / AR 635-200, Paragraph 14-12c / JKQ / RE-3 / Under Other Than Honorable Conditions b. Date of Discharge: 10 January 2011 c. Separation Facts: (1) Date of Notification of Intent to Separate: 7 December 2010 (2) Basis for Separation: The applicant was informed of the following reasons: The applicant was absent without leave on 29 July 2009, and remained absent until 10 May 2010, and again, on 8 July 2010, and remained absent until 2 September 2010. (3) Recommended Characterization: Under Other Than Honorable Conditions (4) Legal Consultation Date: 2 November 2010 (however, there is also a waiver, dated 8 December 2010 in the file) (5) Administrative Separation Board: Waived, 8 December 2010, pursuant to an accepted Offer to Plead Guilty, dated 14 October 2010. The applicant pleaded guilty to two specifications of Article 86 UCMJ, in exchange for referring the charge and its specifications to a summary court-martial, and dismissing specification 1 of the charge. (6) Separation Decision Date / Characterization: 30 December 2010 / Under Other Than Honorable Conditions 4. SERVICE DETAILS: a. Date / Period of Enlistment: 22 April 2008 / 3 years b. Age at Enlistment / Education / GT Score: 20 / GED / 99 c. Highest Grade Achieved / MOS / Total Service: E-4 / 14J10, Air Defense C4I (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence) Tactical Operations Center Enhanced Operator/Maintainer / 2 years, 11 months, 29 days d. Prior Service / Characterizations: RA (10 January 2007 to 21 April 2008) / HD e. Overseas Service / Combat Service: Korea / None f. Awards and Decorations: AAM; NDSM; GWOTSM; KDSM; ASR; OSR g. Performance Ratings: NA h. Disciplinary Action(s) / Evidentiary Record: Report of Mental Status Evaluation, dated 3 November 2010, providing no diagnosis, psychiatrically cleared the applicant for any administrative action deemed appropriate by his command. Record of Trial by Summary Court-Martial and its associated documents, indicates the applicant was found guilty of the following charge on 5 November 2010: Two specifications of violating Article 86, UCMJ, for being AWOL on 29 July 2009, and remained absent until 10 May 2010; and being AWOL on 8 July 2010, and remained absent until 2 September 2010. The sentence consisted of 30 days of confinement. Offer to Plead Guilty, dated 14 October 2010, and its acceptance, dated 25 October 2010, indicates that the applicant offered to plead guilty to two specifications of the Charge and to waive his right to an administrative separation board, and in exchange for referring the charge and its specifications to a Summary Court-Martial and dismissal of the first specification of the Charge. Sentencing Appendix, dated 14 October 2010, indicate the summary court-martial convening authority agreed to disapprove any confinement adjudged in excess of 15 days. i. Lost Time / Mode of Return: 368 days (AWOL: (11 June 2009 to 6 July 2009, for 26 days (note that this AWOL period was dismissed in a summary court-martial)), (29 July 2009 to 9 May 2010, for 285 days), (8 July 2010 to 2 September 2010, for 57 days) / The applicant returned to his unit after the first AWOL period; he surrendered to military authorities on 10 May 2010; and the applicant was apprehended by civil authorities on 2 September 2010, and returned to military authorities on 3 September 2010, for the latter AWOL period. j. Diagnosed PTSD / TBI / Behavioral Health: Report of Medical History, dated 3 and 15 November 2011, indicates the applicant and the examiner noted behavioral health issues. Health Record, dated 15 November 2010, lists "Chronic" issues, in pertinent part, as "Impulse control disorder and Adjustment disorder with disturbance of emotions and conduct." 5. APPLICANT-PROVIDED EVIDENCE: DD Form 293 (Application for the Review of Discharge), dated 27 June 2018. 6. POST SERVICE ACCOMPLISHMENTS: None provided 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. 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. Paragraph 14-12c states a Soldier is subject to action per this section for commission of a serious military or civilian offense, if the specific circumstances of the offense warrant separation and a punitive discharge is, or would be, authorized for the same or a closely related offense under the Manual for Courts-Martial. Army Regulation 635-5-1 (Separation Program Designator (SPD) Codes) provides the specific authorities (regulatory or directive), reasons for separating Soldiers from active duty, and the SPD codes to be entered on the DD Form 214. It identifies the SPD code of "JKQ" as the appropriate code to assign enlisted Soldiers who are discharged under the provisions of Army Regulation 635-200, Chapter 14, paragraph 14-12c, Misconduct (Serious Offense). The SPD Code/RE Code Cross Reference Table shows that a Soldier assigned an SPD Code of "JKQ" will be assigned an RE Code of 3. 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 his under other than honorable conditions discharge to honorable. The applicant's available record of service and the issues submitted with his application were carefully reviewed. The record confirms that 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. By the serious incidents of misconduct, the applicant knowingly risked a military career and marred the quality of his service that ultimately caused his discharge from the Army. 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 contends that he was having family issues that affected his behavior and ultimately caused him to be discharged. However, he had many legitimate avenues through which to obtain assistance or relief and there is no evidence in the record that he ever sought such assistance before committing the misconduct which led to the separation action under review. Although the applicant did not present any behavioral health issues, a careful review of the available record indicates the applicant's behavioral health issues symptoms existed. If the Board determines the applicant's behavioral health issues were significant contributing factors to his misconduct, it can grant appropriate relief by changing the reason for separation and/or the characterization of service. The record does not contain any indication or evidence of arbitrary or capricious actions by the command and all requirements of law and regulation were met and the rights of the applicant were fully protected throughout the separation process. 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 13 December 2019, and by a 5-0 vote, the Board denied the request upon finding the separation was both proper and equitable. 10. BOARD ACTION DIRECTED: a. Issue a New DD-214 / Issue a New Separation Order: No b. Change Characterization to: No Change c. Change Reason to: No Change d. Change Authority to: No Change e. Change SPD / RE Code to: No Change Authenticating Official: 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 AR20180012547 1