1. Applicant's Name: a. Application Date: 28 March 2019 b. Date Received: 2 April 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, while in the military she had a couple of alcohol related incidents, which led to her discharge. She was diagnosed with major depressive disorder, with generalized anxiety in July 2018, three months prior to her discharge. This mental health condition greatly impacted her behavior at the time due to the fact that she was self- medicating with alcohol. All of the incidents which led to her discharge were committed prior to being placed on medication for her mental health conditions. Since being placed on medication she has stopped abusing alcohol and she is in school to pursue a degree in Human Resources. In a records review conducted on June 30, 2021, and by a 5-0 vote, the Board determined the characterization of service was inequitable based on the applicant's length of service and the circumstances surrounding the discharge (chain of command recommendations, and third party letters of support and the diagnoses of OBHI, MST, PTSD). 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: Pattern of Misconduct / AR 635-200 / Chapter 14-12b / JKA / RE-3 / General (Under Honorable Conditions) b. Date of Discharge: 11 October 2018 c. Separation Facts: (1) Date of Notification of Intent to Separate: 21 May 2018 (2) Basis for Separation: The applicant was informed of the following reasons: The applicant unlawfully struck two individuals in the face on 22 January 2017; consumed alcohol while underage on 22 January 2017; failed to be at her appointed place of duty on 27 December 2017; failed to obey a general order by possessing alcohol while in Iraq; and the applicant made a false official statement to a noncommissioned officer on 27 December 2018. (3) Recommended Characterization: General, under honorable conditions (4) Legal Consultation Date: 31 May 2018 (5) Administrative Separation Board: NA (6) Separation Decision Date / Characterization: 10 September 2018 / General, under honorable conditions 4. SERVICE DETAILS: a. Date / Period of Enlistment: 6 June 2016 / 4 years, 22 weeks b. Age at Enlistment / Education / GT Score: 17 / HS Graduate / 101 c. Highest Grade Achieved / MOS / Total Service: E-3 / 42A, Human Resources Specialist / 2 years / 4 months / 6 days d. Prior Service / Characterizations: NA e. Overseas Service / Combat Service: f. Awards and Decorations: NDSM, GWOTSM, GWOTEM, ASR, OSR, IRCM-CS g. Performance Ratings: NA h. Disciplinary Action(s) / Evidentiary Record: FG Article 15, dated 30 January 2017, reflects the applicant unlawfully struck two individuals in the face and wrongfully disobey Kansas Statue 41-727 by consuming alcohol under the age of 21. The punishment consisted of reduction to private/E-1; forfeiture of $799.00 pay per month for 2 months; and extra duty and restriction for 45 days. CG Article 15, dated 14 March 2018, reflects the applicant failed to go at the prescribed time to her appointed place of duty on or about 27 December 2017; failed to obey a lawful general order by wrongfully possessing alcohol in Iraq on or about 31 December 2017; and with intent to deceive, make an official statement, which was totally false, and was known by the applicant to be false. The punishment consisted of reduction to private/E-2; restriction for 14 days; forfeiture 7 days' pay, suspended for 3 months; and extra duty for 14 days, suspended for 3 months. A Report of Mental Status Evaluation, dated 16 April 2018, reflect, in part, the applicant showed no evidence of an impairing behavioral disorder and had no duty limitations due to behavioral health reasons. i. Lost Time / Mode of Return: None j. Diagnosed PTSD / TBI / Behavioral Health: The applicant provides a VA Rating Decision, dated 22 January 2019, which reflects the applicant was service connected for major depression disorder, moderate, recurrent to include generalized anxiety disorder with an evaluation of 50-percent effective 12 October 2018. 5. APPLICANT-PROVIDED EVIDENCE: DD Form 293, VA rating Decision, DD Form 214 6. POST SERVICE ACCOMPLISHMENTS: The applicant states since being placed on medication she has stopped abusing alcohol and she is in school to pursue a degree in Human Resources. 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 14-12b, addresses a pattern of misconduct consisting of either discreditable involvement with civilian or military authorities or discreditable conduct and conduct prejudicial to good order and discipline including conduct violating the accepted standards of personal conduct found in the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Army Regulations, the civilian law and time-honored customs and traditions of the Army. 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 contends she was diagnosed with major depressive disorder, with generalized anxiety three months prior to her discharge which greatly impacted her behavior due to self- medicating with alcohol. The applicant also contends that all of the incidents which led to her discharge were committed prior to being placed on medication for her mental health conditions. 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 applicant held in-service diagnoses of Adjustment Disorder and Alcohol Dependence. Additionally, the applicant filed a SHARP compliant with VA endorsement of a MST. Post-service, the applicant is service connected for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD); however, also carries a diagnosis of PTSD and Alcohol Use Disorder related to the MST. (2) Did the condition exist or experience occur during military service? YES, the applicant held in-service diagnoses of Adjustment Disorder and Alcohol Dependence. Additionally, the applicant filed a SHARP compliant with VA endorsement of a MST. Post- service, the applicant is service connected for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD); however, also carries a diagnosis of PTSD and Alcohol Use Disorder related to the MST. While documentation is insufficient to determine whether or not the applicant's service connected MDD or PTSD existed in-service, per liberal consideration, the diagnosis is accepted and applied as if it did exist in-service. (3) Does the condition or experience actually excuse or mitigate the discharge? PARTIALLY, medical records indicate the SHARP incident occurred prior to the alcohol use while deployed. Based on liberal consideration, and association between trauma and substance use for self-medication and/or avoidance as well as difficulty with authority as a means of regaining control, the basis for separation is partially mitigated; events on 27 December 2017. The prior assault and underage drinking are not mitigated. (4) Does the condition or experience outweigh the discharge? PARTIALLY, based on liberal consideration, and association between trauma and substance use for self-medication and/or avoidance as well as difficulty with authority as a means of regaining control, the basis for separation is partially mitigated; events on 27 December 2017. The prior assault and underage drinking are not mitigated. b. The applicant contends she was diagnosed with major depressive disorder, with generalized anxiety three months prior to her discharge. The board determined, based on liberal consideration, and association between trauma and substance use for self- medication and/or avoidance as well as difficulty with authority as a means of regaining control, the basis for separation is partially mitigated; events on 27 December 2017. c. The applicant contends that all of the incidents which led to her discharge were committed prior to being placed on medication for her mental health conditions. The available evidence validates this contention; the board was unable to determine from available evidence that all the misconduct was related to her mental health conditions. d. The Board determined the characterization of service was inequitable based on the applicant's length of service and the circumstances surrounding the discharge (chain of command recommendations, and third party letters of support and the diagnoses of OBHI, MST, PTSD). e. Rationale for Decision: (1) The board voted to change the applicant's characterization of service because the association between trauma and substance use for self-medication and/or avoidance as well as difficulty with authority as a means of regaining control, mitigated the events on 27 December 2017. And the applicant's overall record of service to include combat service, recommendations from his chain of command at the time of separation and third party letters of support outweighed the unmitigated misconduct. (2) The board voted to change the reason to Misconduct (Minor Infractions), because the after mitigation due to liberal consideration guidance and the applicant's overall record the misconduct was determined to be minor in nature. (3) Because the characterization and reason changed, the SPD code will change to JKN, but the RE code will not change as RE-3 by regulation is the correct code for a Minor Misconduct JKN separation. 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 / 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 AR20190012959 1