1. Applicant's Name: a. Application Date: 2 May 2019 b. Date Received: 5 June 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 also requests her DD Form 214 be amended to show she completed her first term of service. The applicant seeks relief contending, in effect, while deployed to Afghanistan she was involved in a vehicle accident where she broke her philtrum and cracked four teeth causing the need for root canal surgery. Her suffering continued throughout the remainder of her career with several additional diagnoses to include Rheumatoid Arthritis, chronic pain and depression and anxiety in the form of PTSD. She lived in agony and pain as she tried to mentally and physically to recover from the traumatic and dramatizing deployment. Her pain was overbearing and in haste and desperation she turned to Marijuana to cope with her new seemingly hopeless life and situation. She disagrees with the decision to be chaptered out of the Military for drug use because she completed the full term of her contract. The applicant believes she should have been afforded the opportunity to go to a medical evaluation board (MEB). In a records review conducted on 29 September 2021, and by a 5-0 vote, the Board determined the discharge is inequitable based on the applicant's length and quality of service, combat related PTSD, and post service accomplishments. 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, 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: 20 July 2012 c. Separation Facts: (1) Date of Notification of Intent to Separate: 10 April 2012 (2) Basis for Separation: The applicant was informed of the following reasons: The applicant wrongfully used marijuana. (3) Recommended Characterization: General, Under Honorable Conditions (4) Legal Consultation Date: 10 April 2012 (5) Administrative Separation Board: NA (6) Separation Decision Date / Characterization: 6 July 2012 / General, Under Honorable Conditions 4. SERVICE DETAILS: a. Date / Period of Enlistment: 3 March 2009 / 3 years, 20 weeks b. Age at Enlistment / Education / GT Score: 24 / Test-Based Equivalent Diploma / 110 c. Highest Grade Achieved / MOS / Total Service: E-4 / 92Y, Unit Supply Specialist / 3 years, 4 months, 18 days d. Prior Service / Characterizations: NA e. Overseas Service / Combat Service: SWA / Afghanistan, 1 June 2010 - 1 June 2011 f. Awards and Decorations: NDSM, ACM-CS-2, GWOTSM, ASR, OSR, NATO Medal, Driver and Mechanic Badge-Driver Wheeled Vehicle(s) Clasp g. Performance Ratings: NA h. Disciplinary Action(s) / Evidentiary Record: FG Article 15, dated 30 January 2012, reflects the applicant wrongfully used marijuana on or about 5 January 2012. The punishment consisted of reduction to private/E-2; forfeiture of $835.00 pay per month for 2 months, suspended, to be automatically remitted if not vacated before 6 April 2012; and extra duty for 45 days. i. Lost Time / Mode of Return: None j. Diagnosed PTSD / TBI / Behavioral Health: A Report of Mental Status Evaluation, dated 8 March 2012, reflects the applicant could understand and participate in administrative proceedings. The applicant was diagnosed with Adjustment Disorder with Mixed Emotional Features. 5. APPLICANT-PROVIDED EVIDENCE: DD Form 293, Personal Statement, DD Form 214, Enlistment Contract 6. POST SERVICE ACCOMPLISHMENTS: The applicant starts since her discharge she has accomplished great things to include completing her degree from Virginia State University with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Music, Vocal Performance in May 2018. She plans to pursue her Master of Arts Degree in Music, Vocal Performance and Music Therapy in the spring of 2020. She has also been heavily engaged within her community and ecstatically living a drug free life. 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(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. 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 AMHRR record of service, the issues and documents submitted with the application were carefully reviewed. The applicant requests an upgrade to honorable. The applicant, by violating the Army's policy not to possess or use illegal drugs, compromised the special 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 that ultimately caused his discharge from the Army. The applicant contends while deployed to Afghanistan she was involved in a vehicle accident where she broke her philtrum and cracked four teeth causing the need for root canal surgery. The applicant also contends her suffering continued throughout the remainder of her career with several additional diagnoses to include Rheumatoid Arthritis, chronic pain and depression and anxiety in the form of PTSD. The applicant further contends her pain was overbearing and in haste and desperation she turned to Marijuana to cope with her new seemingly hopeless life and situation. The applicant goes on to contend she should have been afforded the opportunity to go to a MEB. The applicant states she disagrees with the decision to be chaptered out of the military for drug- use because she completed the full term of her contract and request her DD Form 214 be amended to show she completed the full term of her contract. 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. The Board's Medical Advisor, a voting member, reviewed DoD and VA medical records and found the applicant was diagnosed with Acute Reaction to Stress, Adjustment Disorder, Anxiety Disorder NOS, and Cannabis Related Disorder in-service. The applicant was undergoing a MEB for arthritis during which she was determined to also have PTSD. Post- service, the applicant is service connected for combat related PTSD with an additional diagnosis of MDD. (2) Did the condition exist or experience occur during military service? Yes. The applicant was diagnosed with Acute Reaction to Stress, Adjustment Disorder, Anxiety Disorder NOS, and Cannabis Related Disorder in-service. The applicant was undergoing a MEB for arthritis during which she was determined to also have PTSD. (3) Does the condition or experience actually excuse or mitigate the discharge? Yes. Per liberal consideration and association between trauma symptoms and self-medication, the basis for separation is mitigated. (4) Does the condition or experience outweigh the discharge? (N/A) b. Response to Contention(s): (1) The applicant contends while deployed to Afghanistan she was involved in a vehicle accident where she broke her philtrum and cracked four teeth causing the need for root canal surgery. The applicant was diagnosed with Acute Reaction to Stress, Adjustment Disorder, Anxiety Disorder NOS, and Cannabis Related Disorder in-service. The applicant was undergoing a MEB for arthritis during which she was determined to also have PTSD. The Board determined this contention was valid, and granted relief. (2) The applicant also contends her suffering continued throughout the remainder of her career with several additional diagnoses to include Rheumatoid Arthritis, chronic pain and depression and anxiety in the form of PTSD. The applicant further contends her pain was overbearing and in haste and desperation she turned to Marijuana to cope with her new seemingly hopeless life and situation. The applicant was diagnosed with Acute Reaction to Stress, Adjustment Disorder, Anxiety Disorder NOS, and Cannabis Related Disorder in-service. With the medical mitigation of the applicant's PTSD, the Board voted to upgrade the discharge. c. The Board granted the request upon finding the separation is now inequitable. The applicant held an in-service diagnoses of combat related PTSD mitigating marijuana use. d. Rationale for Decision: (1) The Board determined the discharge is inequitable based on the applicant's PTSD medically mitigating marijuana use due to the nexus between PTSD and abusing drugs to self- medicate. Accordingly, the Board voted to grant relief in the form of an upgrade of the characterization of service to honorable. (2) The Board voted to change the narrative reason for separation to Misconduct (Minor Infractions), with a corresponding SPD code of JKN. (3) The Board voted to upgrade the RE-code to 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 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 AR20190010768 1