1. Applicant's Name: a. Application Date: 27 February 2019 b. Date Received: 4 March 2019 c. Counsel: 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, that he has overcome lots of adversity within the Army and made a terrible mistake while enlisted. He faced a major unwanted distraction. He didn't understand what was going on, but he knew he was up against many raw emotions and mental issues, which made it hard for him to focus on life and reality. Unfortunately, he was having chronic PTSD symptoms that were not being treated at the time, and he was at his lowest moment. He made a costly mistake, in which he regrets to this day. Now that he is currently taking daily medications and being treated for PTSD, he can focus more on becoming better than he was yesterday. Each day, he strives to prove not only to himself but to his wife and kids that he is not that person he was before. His current wish is to have this negative mark on his military career upgraded. He can assure the board that he is an extremely hard worker. He is willing to put forth any additional necessary effort to achieve this request. He truly hopes that his words spoken inside this letter will move the hearts of the board as it did his while writing it and thanks the board for their time and cooperation. In a records review conducted on 05 May 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, and the circumstances surrounding the discharge (OBHI and PTSD diagnoses). 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), the separation code to JKN, and the reentry code to RE-3. 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 (Drug Abuse) / AR 635- 200 / Chapter 14-12c(2) / JKK / RE-4 / General (Under Honorable Conditions) b. Date of Discharge: 15 July 2013 c. Separation Facts: (1) Date of Notification of Intent to Separate: NIF (2) Basis for Separation: The applicant was informed of the following reasons: NIF (3) Recommended Characterization: NIF (4) Legal Consultation Date: NIF (5) Administrative Separation Board: NIF (6) Separation Decision Date / Characterization: NIF 4. SERVICE DETAILS: a. Date / Period of Enlistment: 13 January 2010 / 3 years, 21 weeks (On 20 September 2012, the applicant extended his enlistment 14 months, giving him a newt ETS dated of 8 August 2014). b. Age at Enlistment / Education / GT Score: 19 / HS Graduate / NIF c. Highest Grade Achieved / MOS / Total Service: E-4 / 92G10, Food Service Operation Specialist / 3 years, 6 months, 3 days d. Prior Service / Characterizations: None e. Overseas Service / Combat Service: Hawaii, SWA / Afghanistan (1 April 2011 to 10 April 2012) f. Awards and Decorations: ARCOM, NDSM, ACM-2CS, GWOTSM, ASR, NATOMDL, CAB g. Performance Ratings: None h. Disciplinary Action(s) / Evidentiary Record: NIF i. Lost Time / Mode of Return: None j. Diagnosed PTSD / TBI / Behavioral Health: NIF 5. APPLICANT-PROVIDED EVIDENCE: DD Form 293; self-authored statement; letter of recommendation/support; letter from the Department of Veterans Affairs; and DD Form 214 for the period of service under review. The letter from the Department of Veterans Affairs, indicates the applicant is entitled to compensation for service-connected disabilities rated at 60 percent or more. 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 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. (2) 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. (3) 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. The SPD Code/RE Code Cross Reference Table shows that a Soldier assigned an SPD Code of "JKK" will be assigned an RE Code of "4." 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's record of service, the issues and documents submitted with the application were carefully reviewed. The applicant's record is void of the facts and circumstances concerning the events which led to his discharge from the Army. However, the applicant's record does contain a properly constituted DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty), which was authenticated by the applicant's signature. The DD Form 214 indicates the applicant was discharged under the provisions of AR 635-200, Chapter 14, paragraph 14-12c(2), by reason of Misconduct (Drug Abuse), with a characterization of service of general (under honorable conditions). There are no details that requirements of law and regulation were not met or the rights of the applicant were violated during the separation process. The applicant seeks relief contending that he has overcome lots of adversity within the Army and made a terrible mistake while enlisted. He faced a major unwanted distraction. He didn't understand what was going on, but he knew he was up against many raw emotions and mental issues, which made it hard for him to focus on life and reality. Unfortunately, he was having chronic PTSD symptoms that were not being treated at the time, and he was at his lowest moment. He made a costly mistake, in which he regrets to this day. Now that he is currently taking daily medications and being treated for PTSD, he can focus more on becoming better than he was yesterday. Each day, he strives to prove not only to himself but to his wife and kids that he is not that person he was before. His current wish is to have this negative mark on his military career upgraded. He can assure the board that he is an extremely hard worker. He is willing to put forth any additional necessary effort to achieve this request. He truly hopes that his words spoken inside this letter will move the hearts of the board. 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) Based upon a review of the Armed Forces Health Longitudinal Technology Application (AHLTA) and Joint Legacy Viewer (JLV). AHLTA does not reflect an in-service behavioral health diagnosis; however, the applicant is service connected for combat related PTSD. (2) Did the condition exist or experience occur during military service? (Unknown) AHLTA records are void of a diagnosis for consideration. While the applicant is service connected for combat related PTSD, documentation is insufficient to determine if the condition existed in-service. (3) Does the condition or experience actually excuse or mitigate the discharge? (YES) Based on liberal consideration, and nexus between PTSD and substance use, the basis for separation is mitigated. (4) Does the condition or experience outweigh the discharge? (YES) Lacking specific and detailed basis of separation, the board believes one-time drug abuse as the misconduct. As such, the condition does outweigh the discharge as there is no evidence of complicating factors and significant impact on others or the command. b. The applicant's contentions of remorse, one-time mistake and sincere regret were noted; however, it is unknown if these contentions have merit because the facts and circumstances leading to the discharge are not contained in the service record. There is a presumption of regularity in the conduct of governmental affairs which is applied in all Army discharge reviews but there is substantial credible evidence that this discharge is medically medicated, which was unknown to the command. c. The ADRB determined that the applicant's characterization of service was inequitable based on the circumstances surrounding the discharge (OBHI and PTSD diagnoses), which mitigated drug use. d. Rationale for Decision: (1) The board voted to change the applicant's characterization of service because of the circumstances surrounding the discharge (OBHI and PTSD diagnoses) mitigated the drug use. (2) The board voted to change the reason to Misconduct (Minor Infractions), as this is reflective of the new characterization while acknowledging the lack of details for the basis of separation. (3) Because the characterization and reason were changed, the SPD/RE is changed to JKN / RE-3. 10. BOARD ACTION DIRECTED: a. Issue a New DD-214: Yes b. Change Characterization to: Honorable c. Change Reason to: Misconduct (Minor Infractions) d. Change Authority to: AR 635-200, paragraph 14-12a e. Change SPD / RE Code to: JKN / RE-3 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 AR20190005881 1