1. Applicant's Name: a. Application Date: 3 April 2019 b. Date Received: 5 April 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 and a narrative reason change. The applicant seeks relief contending, in effect, he did good things in the military and he is trying to rejoin the military. The applicant states he made a mistake by trying to make extra money. He states he has grown up and learned a great lesson. He also states received the AGCM and an AAM and a Certificate of Achievement for helping to apprehend an individual wanted by the German police. The applicant further states he was sexually assaulted when he first arrived to Germany. In a records review conducted on 30 June 2021, and by a 5-0 vote, the Board determined the characterization of service was proper and equitable. 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: 17 March 2015 c. Separation Facts: (1) Date of Notification of Intent to Separate: NIF (2) Basis for Separation: The applicant was informed of the following reasons: On 17 June 2014, the applicant made a sworn statement to a Military Police investigator that he had "No idea" who might have deposited fraudulent checks into his USAA bank account, an account the bank closed due to suspected fraudulent activity. On 30 October 2014, after additional fraudulent activity involving the applicant's Navy Federal Credit Union account, the applicant told another investigator he was approached in June 2014 in an online forum by an individual holding himself out as M. R. A. who offered to share proceeds with the applicant from any checks the applicant allowed him to deposit into his USAA account. The applicant knowingly gave this individual his USAA account information because he told the applicant, by cashing these checks, the applicant could make a lot of money. During the October 2014 interview, the applicant admitted making a false police report in June 2014 because the applicant denied knowing anything about how the checks were deposited into his account. (3) Recommended Characterization: General, under honorable conditions (4) Legal Consultation Date: 17 February 2015 (5) Administrative Separation Board: NA (6) Separation Decision Date / Characterization: NIF / General, under honorable conditions 4. SERVICE DETAILS: a. Date / Period of Enlistment: 4 October 2011 / 5 years b. Age at Enlistment / Education / GT Score: 18 / HS Graduate / 92 c. Highest Grade Achieved / MOS / Total Service: E-4 / 31B, Military Police / 3 years, 5 months, 14 days d. Prior Service / Characterizations: NA e. Overseas Service / Combat Service: Germany / None f. Awards and Decorations: AAM, AGCM, NDSM, GWOTSM, ASR, OSR, Marksmanship Badge-Rifle Bar g. Performance Ratings: NA h. Disciplinary Action(s) / Evidentiary Record: Mental Status Evaluation, dated 27 January 2015, reflects the applicant was cleared for any administrative actions deemed appropriate by the command. The applicant could understand and participate in the administrative proceedings and could appreciate the difference between right and wrong. Numerous Developmental Counseling Forms, for various acts of misconduct. i. Lost Time / Mode of Return: None j. Diagnosed PTSD / TBI / Behavioral Health: NIF 5. APPLICANT-PROVIDED EVIDENCE: DD Form 293, Victim Reporting Preference Statement, DD Form 214, COA, AAM Certificate, AGCM Certificate, Certificate of Promotion 6. POST SERVICE ACCOMPLISHMENTS: The applicant states he has grown up and learned a great lesson. 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) 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. (5) 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. (6) 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). 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 and a narrative reason change. The applicant's record of service, the issues and documents submitted with the application were carefully reviewed. The applicant contends he did good things in the military and he is trying to rejoin the military. The applicant also contends he made a mistake by trying to make extra money; however, he has grown up and learned a great lesson. The applicant further contends he was sexually assaulted. 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) Per records, the applicant experienced a MST in April 2012. In-service diagnoses were Adjustment Disorder, Depression, Anxiety, and Alcohol Disorder. Post-service, the applicant is service connected for PTSD related to the MST with an additional diagnosis of Unspecified Depressive Disorder. (2) Did the condition exist or experience occur during military service? (YES) The applicant experienced a MST with diagnoses of Adjustment Disorder, Depression, Anxiety, and Alcohol Disorder in-service. Post-service, the applicant is service connected for PTSD related to the MST with an additional diagnosis of Unspecified Depressive Disorder. (3) Does the condition or experience actually excuse or mitigate the discharge? (NO) Despite applying liberal consideration, the applicant's diagnoses and MST do not directly mitigate the basis for separation. Specifically, the applicant's misconduct reflects purposeful, conscious, and thought-out steps over time with behaviors to avoid detection. These are not characteristic of trauma symptoms. (4) Does the condition or experience outweigh the discharge? (NO) Despite applying liberal consideration, the ADRB decided that the applicant's misconduct could not be attributed to PTSD due to MST, Adjustment Disorder, Depression, Anxiety, or Alcohol Disorder with which he has been diagnosed. The applicant demonstrated a pattern of deceptive behavior, including filing a false report and making false official statements. These deliberate actions are not characteristic of PTSD or any of the other BH diagnoses the applicant held. As such, while applying liberal consideration, the Board determined the applicant's PTSD due to MST did not outweigh the misconduct that resulted in the General discharge. b. The applicant contends he did good things in the military and he is trying to rejoin the military. The ADRB carefully considered the applicant's entire record. The Board decided that the applicant's series of deceptive and illegal behaviors outweigh the applicant's positive accomplishments while serving. Further, the ADRB does not have a policy of granting discharge upgrades for the purpose of allowing Veterans to rejoin the military. c. The applicant also contends he made a mistake by trying to make extra money; however, he has grown up and learned a great lesson. The ADRB acknowledged the applicant's contrition and acceptance, but found that the negative consequences of the applicant's misconduct outweighed his contrition. d. The applicant further contends he was sexually assaulted. The ADRB carefully weighed the applicant's MST experience, and subsequent PTSD. However, after applying liberal consideration, the Board found the applicant demonstrated a pattern of deceptive behavior, including filing a false report and making false official statements. These deliberate actions are not characteristic of PTSD or any of the other BH diagnoses the applicant held. e. The Board determined the characterization of service was proper and equitable. f. Rationale for Decision: (1) The Board voted not to change the applicant's characterization of service because the applicant displayed a pattern of deceptive behavior, including filing a false report ant making false official statements. The applicant's misconduct reflects purposeful, conscious, and thought-out steps over time with behaviors to avoid detection. These are not characteristic of trauma symptoms associated with the applicant's PTSD from MST or any of the other BH diagnoses nor is the misconduct outweighed by said diagnoses. (2) The board voted not to change the reason, because the separation was proper an equitable. (3) Because the characterization and reason were not changed, the SPD/RE code will not change. 10. BOARD ACTION DIRECTED: a. Issue a New DD-214 / Issue a New Separation Order: No Change 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 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 NA - Not applicable NCO - Noncommissioned Officer NIF - Not in File NOS - Not Otherwise Specified OAD - Ordered to Active Duty OMPF - Official Military Personnel File PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder RE - Reentry 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 AR20190010612 2