1. Applicant's Name: a. Application Date: 4 February 2019 b. Date Received: 22 March 2019 c. Counsel: None 2. REQUEST, ISSUES, BOARD TYPE, AND DECISION: The current characterization of service for the period under review is general (under honorable conditions). The applicant requests an upgrade to honorable. The applicant seeks relief contending, in effect, the discharge was unfair; he proudly served 8 years, 10 months in the United States Army and received several medals; he had an ongoing case with behavioral health and his primary care physician to determine which medications would best for to help his attention deficit and his PTSD flashbacks; he was discharged on the day his contract ended; the applicant alleges other Soldiers failed to comply with Army standards, tested positive multiple times for illegal substances and separated after multiple opportunities in the alcohol and substance abuse program; his situation was handled unethically and disgracefully; was punished twice and more severe than other Soldiers with a onetime offense; he had a desire to join the Reserves, but his discharge prevents him from doing so. In a records review conducted on 28 July 2021, and by a 5-0 vote, the Board determined the discharge is inequitable based on the applicant's length and quality of service, to include combat service, the circumstances surrounding the discharge (OBHI and PTSD diagnoses), and prior period of honorable service. Therefore, the Board voted to grant relief in the form of an upgrade of the characterization of service to Honorable and changed to the separation authority to AR 635-200, paragraph 14-12a, the narrative reason for separation to Misconduct (Minor Infractions), with a corresponding separation code of JKN. Please see Section 9 of this document for more detail regarding the Board's decision. (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 / General (Under Honorable Conditions) b. Date of Discharge: 10 December 2018 c. Separation Facts: Yes (1) Date of Notification of Intent to Separate: 31 May 2018 (2) Basis for Separation: The applicant was informed of the following reasons for the discharge; The applicant wrongfully used dextroamphetamine, a scheduled II controlled substance between (26 November 2017 and 28 November 2107); and The applicant was found guilty of wrongful use at a FG Article 15 hearing (18 April 2018). (3) Recommended Characterization: The unit commander recommended an Honorable discharge. The intermediate commander recommended a General (Under Honorable Conditions) discharge. (4) Legal Consultation Date: 3 October 2018, applicant waived legal counsel. (5) Administrative Separation Board: The applicant waived consideration of his case by an administrative separation board. (6) Separation Decision Date / Characterization: 18 October 2018 / General (Under Honorable Conditions) / The separation was suspended for a period of 6 months (not to exceed 12 months). 4. SERVICE DETAILS: a. Date / Period of Enlistment: 12 December 2014 / 4 years b. Age at Enlistment / Education / GT Score: 19 / HS Graduate / 92 c. Highest Grade Achieved / MOS / Total Service: E-5 / 88M20, Motor Transport Operator / 9 years, 1 month, 12 days d. Prior Service / Characterizations: USAR, 29 October 2009 to 8 February 2010 / HD RA, 9 February 2010 to 29 November 2012 / HD RA, 30 November 2012 to 11 December 2014 / HD e. Overseas Service / Combat Service: Germany / SWA / Afghanistan, 19 March 2011 to 14 March 2012 f. Awards and Decorations: ARCOM-2, AAM-2, AGCM, NDSM, ACM-2CS, GWOTSM, NOPDR, ASR, OSR, NATO MDL, CAB g. Performance Ratings: 1 June 2014 to 22 March 2015, Best Qualified 1 September 2016 to 31 August 2018, Qualified h. Disciplinary Action(s) / Evidentiary Record: FG Article 15, dated 18 December 2015, for without authority, leaving his appointed place of duty, charge of quarters at building 212 (30 October 2015); reduction to SPC / E-4. Positive urinalysis test coded IR (Inspection Random), dated 28 November 2017, for DAMP. FG Article 15, dated 18 April 2018, for wrongfully used dextroamphetamine, a scheduled II controlled substance between (26 November 2017 and 28 November 2107); forfeiture of $1,562 pay for one month (suspended) and extra duty for 15 days. The applicant received several negative counseling statements for being flagged. i. Lost Time / Mode of Return: None j. Diagnosed PTSD / TBI / Behavioral Health: Report of Medical History, dated 23 July 2018, indicates the applicant was seen at behavioral health for an adjustment disorder and anxiety. Report of Mental Status Evaluation, dated 27 July 2018, reflects the applicant was diagnosed with PTSD. Page 2 of the report is not contained in the AMHRR. 5. APPLICANT-PROVIDED EVIDENCE: DD Form 293 (two pages); Self-Authored Statement (two pages); Unit Commander's Recommendation Memorandum (three pages); Medical Record (three pages); and a DD Form 214 (two pages). 6. POST SERVICE ACCOMPLISHMENTS: None submitted with the application. 7. STATUTORY, REGULATORY AND POLICY REFERENCE(S): a. Section 1553, Title 10, United States Code (Review of Discharge or Dismissal) provides for the creation, composition, and scope of review conducted by a Discharge Review Board(s) within established governing standards. As amended by Sections 521 and 525 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020, 10 USC 1553 provides 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), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), sexual trauma, intimate partner violence (IPV), or spousal abuse, as a basis for discharge review. The amended guidance provides 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, sexual trauma, IPV, or spousal abuse, as a basis for the discharge. Further, the guidance provides that Military Boards for Correction of Military/Naval Records and Discharge Review Boards will develop and provide specialized training specific to sexual trauma, IPV, spousal abuse, as well as the various responses of individuals to trauma. b. Multiple Department of Defense Policy Guidance Memoranda published between 2014 and 2018. The documents are commonly referred to by the signatory authorities' last names (2014 Secretary of Defense Guidance [Hagel memo], 2016 Acting Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness [Carson memo], 2017 Official Performing the Duties of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness [Kurta memo], and 2018 Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness [Wilkie memo]. (1) Individually and collectively, these documents provide further clarification 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. (2) 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. c. Army Regulation 15-180 (Army Discharge Review Board), dated 25 September 2019, sets forth the policies and procedures under which the Army Discharge Review Board is authorized to review the character, reason, and authority of any Servicemember discharged from active military service within 15 years of the Servicemember's date of discharge. Additionally, it prescribes actions and composition of the Army Discharge Review Board under Public Law 95-126; Section 1553, Title 10 United States Code; and Department of Defense Directive 1332.41 and Instruction 1332.28. d. Army Regulation 635-200 provides the basic authority for the separation of enlisted personnel. (1) Chapter 3, Section II provides the authorized types of characterization of service or description of separation. (2) Paragraph 3-7a states an Honorable discharge is a separation with honor and 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. (3) Paragraph 3-7b states a General discharge is a separation from the Army under honorable conditions and is issued to a Soldier whose military record is satisfactory but not sufficiently meritorious to warrant an honorable discharge. (4) Paragraph 3-7c states Under other-than-honorable-conditions discharge is an administrative separation from the Service under conditions other than honorable and it may be issued for misconduct, fraudulent entry, security reasons, or in lieu of trial by court martial based on certain circumstances or patterns of behavior or acts or omissions that constitute a significant departure from the conduct expected of Soldiers in the Army. (5) 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. (6) Paragraph 14-3 prescribes a discharge under other than honorable conditions is normally appropriate for a Soldier discharged under this chapter. However, the separation authority may direct a general discharge if such is merited by the Soldier's overall record. (7) 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. e. 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 12c, misconduct (serious offense). f. 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." 8. DISCUSSION OF FACT(S): The Army Discharge Review Board considers applications for upgrade as instructed by Department of Defense Instruction 1332.28. The applicant requests an upgrade to honorable. The applicant's record of service, the issues and documents submitted with the application were carefully reviewed. The applicant seeks relief contending, the discharge was unfair. The AMHRR reflects the applicant was discharged for wrongful use of dextroamphetamine, a scheduled II controlled substance. The separation approving authority suspended the discharge for 6 months (not to exceed 12 months). The applicant contends he proudly served for 8 years, 10 months in the U.S. Army and received several medals. 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 contends he had an ongoing case with behavioral health and his primary care physician to determine which medications would best for to help his attention deficit and his PTSD flashbacks. The AMHRR shows that the applicant seen at behavioral health for an adjustment disorder and anxiety. Further, the AMHRR shows that on 27 July 2018, the applicant underwent a mental status evaluation which indicates the applicant was diagnosed with PTSD. The applicant contends he was discharged on the day his contract ended. The AMHRR indicates the applicant was discharged on 10 December 2018. The applicant's Enlisted Record Brief shows that the applicant's ETS date was 11 December 2018. Actually, the applicant was discharged a day prior to ETS date. The applicant alleges other Soldiers failed to comply with Army standards, tested positive multiple times for illegal substances and separated after multiple opportunities in the alcohol and substance abuse program. The method in which another Soldier's case was handled is not relevant to the applicant's case. Applicable regulations state that each case must be decided on an individual basis considering the unique facts and circumstances of that particular case. The applicant contends his situation was handled unethically and disgracefully. The applicant bears the burden of presenting substantial and credible evidence to support this contention. There is no evidence in the AMHRR, nor has the applicant produced sufficient evidence to support the contention that his situation was handled unethically and disgracefully. The applicant alleges he was punished twice and more severe than other Soldiers with a onetime offense. Although a single incident, the discrediting entry constituted a departure from the standards of conduct expected of Soldiers in the Army. Army Regulation 635-200, in pertinent part, stipulates there are circumstances in which the conduct or performance of duty reflected by a single incident provides the basis for a characterization of service. The applicant desires to join the Reserves, but his discharge prevents him from doing so. Soldiers being processed for separation are assigned reentry codes based on their reason for discharge. Based on Army Regulation 635-5-1 and the SPD Code/RE Code Cross Reference Table, the applicant was appropriately assigned an RE code of 3. There was no basis to grant a change to the reason or to the RE code. An RE Code of 3 indicates the applicant requires a waiver prior to being allowed to reenlist. If reenlistment is desired, the applicant should contact a local recruiter to determine eligibility to reenlist. Recruiters can best advise a former service member as to the needs of the Army at the time, and are required to process waivers of RE codes if appropriate. 9. BOARD DISCUSSION AND DETERMINATION: a. As directed by the 2017 memo signed by A.M. Kurta, the board considered the following factors: (1) Did the applicant have a condition or experience that may excuse or mitigate the discharge? Yes. Applicant's in-service and VA diagnosis of PTSD is potentially mitigating under Liberal Consideration. (2) Did the condition exist or experience occur during military service? Yes. Applicant was diagnosed with PTSD both on active duty and by the VA (who service connected his PTSD at 50%). (3) Does the condition or experience actually excuse or mitigate the discharge? Yes. As there is a nexus between PTSD and the use of illicit drugs to self-medicate symptoms, there is a nexus between applicant's PTSD diagnosis and his wrongful use of dextroamphetamine. (4) Does the condition or experience outweigh the discharge? Yes. The severity of the applicant's PTSD condition outweighs his discharge and warrants a discharge upgrade. b. Response to Contention: (1) The applicant seeks relief contending, the discharge was unfair. The Board determined this contention was valid due to mitigating PTSD diagnosis. (2) The applicant alleges other Soldiers failed to comply with Army standards, tested positive multiple times for illegal substances and separated after multiple opportunities in the alcohol and substance abuse program. The method in which another Soldier's case was handled is not relevant to the applicant's case. Applicable regulations state that each case must be decided on an individual basis considering the unique facts and circumstances of that particular case. (3) The applicant contends his situation was handled unethically and disgracefully. The applicant bears the burden of presenting substantial and credible evidence to support this contention. There is no evidence in the AMHRR, nor has the applicant produced sufficient evidence to support the contention that his situation was handled unethically and disgracefully. (4) The applicant desires to join the Reserves, but his discharge prevents him from doing so. Applicant holds an RE of 3, which enables re-entry with appropriate waivers. The Board voted to not upgrade this code and to retain the waiver requirement prior to re-entry. c. The Board determined the discharge was inequitable based on the applicant's PTSD diagnosis mitigating the drug use. d. Rationale for Decision: (1) The Board voted to change the applicant's characterization of service to Honorable because the applicant's PTSD mitigated the dextroamphetamine use. Thus the prior characterization is no longer appropriate. (2) The Board voted to change the reason for discharge to Misconduct (Minor Infractions) under the same pretexts. Thus the reason for discharge is no longer appropriate. The SPD code associated with the new reason for discharge is JKN. (3) The RE code will not change, as the current code is consistent with the procedural and substantive requirements of the regulation. 10. BOARD ACTION DIRECTED: a. Issue a New DD-214: Yes b. Change Characterization to: Honorable c. Change Reason / SPD Code to: Misconduct (Minor Infractions) / JKN d. Change RE Code to: No Change e. Change Authority to: AR 635-200, paragraph 14-12a Authenticating Official: Legend: AWOL - Absent Without Leave AMHRR - Army Military Human Resource Record BCD - Bad Conduct Discharge BH - Behavioral Health CG - Company Grade Article 15 CID - Criminal Investigation Division ELS - Entry Level Status FG - Field Grade Article 15 GD - General Discharge HS - High School HD - Honorable Discharge IADT - Initial Active Duty Training MP - Military Police MST - Military Sexual Trauma N/A - Not applicable NCO - Noncommissioned Officer NIF - Not in File NOS - Not Otherwise Specified OAD - Ordered to Active Duty OBH (I) - Other Behavioral Health (Issues) OMPF - Official Military Personnel File PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder RE - Re-entry SCM - Summary Court Martial SPCM - Special Court Martial SPD - Separation Program Designator TBI - Traumatic Brain Injury UNC - Uncharacterized Discharge UOTHC - Under Other Than Honorable Conditions VA - Department of Veterans Affairs ARMY DISCHARGE REVIEW BOARD CASE REPORT AND DIRECTIVE AR20190004967 3