1. Applicant's Name: a. Application Date: 2 August 2019 b. Date Received: 6 August 2019 c. Counsel: None 2. REQUEST, ISSUES, BOARD TYPE, AND DECISION: The current characterization of service for the period under review is honorable. The applicant requests a narrative reason, reentry eligibility (RE), and separation program designator (SPD) code change. The applicant seeks relief contending, in effect, she dealt with over three years of mistreatment and discrimination. Her career and discharge circumstances were tampered with and destroyed by the carelessness of her chain of command. The constant berating and fear of dissatisfying her superiors took a toll on her wellbeing and motivation. She was diagnosed with adjustment disorder with depressed mood and anxiety in 2014. The applicant contends she had honorable service. In a records review conducted on 2 March 2022, and by a 5 - 0 vote, the Board denied the request upon finding the separation was both 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: Pattern of Misconduct / AR 635-200, Paragraph 14-12b / JKA / RE-3 / Honorable b. Date of Discharge: 29 July 2019 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: 9 April 2018 / 5 years b. Age at Enlistment / Education / GT Score: 23 / 1 Semester of College / 101 c. Highest Grade Achieved / MOS / Total Service: E-5 / 68X, Behavioral Health Specialist / 6 years, 11 months, 23 days d. Prior Service / Characterizations: RA, 7 August 2012 - 8 April 2018 / HD e. Overseas Service / Combat Service: Germany (28 April 2016 - 29 July 2019 / None f. Awards and Decorations: ARCOM, AGCM, GWOTSM, NOCPDR, ASR, OSR-2, Sharpshooter Marksmanship Qualification Badge-Rifle Bar g. Performance Ratings: 1 August 2016 - 31 July 2017 / Qualified 31 July 2017 - 30 April 2018 / Not Qualified h. Disciplinary Action(s) / Evidentiary Record: DA Form 2166-9-1, for the period 31 July 2017 - 30 April 2018, reflects the applicant engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a junior enlisted Soldier; displayed lack of order and discipline to superiors by violating lawful orders and showing disrespect. On 19 July 2018, the applicant was disapproved for the award of the Army Good Conduct Medal for the period of Active Duty Service from 6 August 2015 to 6 August 2018, due to receiving an Article 15. The applicant provides evidence showing she received a FG Article 15, dated 18 March 2019, for failing to go at the prescribed time to her appointed place of duty on 2 separate occasions and failed to obey a lawful order by wrongfully parking in the patient parking spot. The imposed punishment was not provided. i. Lost Time / Mode of Return: None j. Diagnosed PTSD / TBI / Behavioral Health: The applicant provides evidence showing she was diagnosed with adjustment disorder with depressed mood on 6 August 2015. 5. APPLICANT-PROVIDED EVIDENCE: DD Form 293, Personal Statement, Excerpt of TRADOC Regulation 600-11(Equal Opportunity Action Plan), Excerpt from TC 26-6 (Commander's Equal Opportunity Handbook), Letters of Support-2, Developmental Counseling Form, Memorandum for Record, dated 31 October 2017, DA Form 1559 (Inspector General Action Request)-2, Documents pertaining to a Bar to Continued Service, DA Form 2627 (Record of Proceedings Under Article 15, UCMJ), Screenshots, Medical Record, DD Form 214. 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) 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 14-2b 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. (7) Chapter 15 provides for the basic separation of enlisted personnel for the convenience of the government. It provides explicitly for separation under the prerogative of the Secretary of the Army. Secretarial plenary separation authority is exercised sparingly and seldom delegated. Ordinarily, it is used when no other provision of this regulation applies, and early separation is clearly in the Army's best interest. Separations under this paragraph are effective only if approved in writing by the Secretary of the Army or the Secretary's approved designee as announced in updated memorandums. Secretarial separation authority is normally exercised on a case-by-case basis. e. Army Regulation 601-210, Regular Army and Reserve Components Enlistment Program, governs eligibility criteria, policies, and procedures for enlistment and processing of persons into the Regular Army, the U.S. Army Reserve, and Army National Guard for enlistment per DODI 1304.26. It also prescribes the appointment, reassignment, management, and mobilization of Reserve Officers' Training Corps cadets under the Simultaneous Membership Program. Chapter 4 provides the criteria and procedures for waiverable and nonwaiverable separations. Table 3-1, defines reentry eligibility (RE) codes: RE-3 Applies to: Person who is not considered fully qualified for reentry or continuous service at time of separation, but disqualification is waiverable. Eligibility: Ineligible unless a waiver is granted. f. 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 "JKA" as the appropriate code to assign enlisted Soldiers who are discharged under the provisions of Army Regulation 635-200, Chapter 14, paragraph 12b, pattern of misconduct. The SPD Code/RE Code Cross Reference Table shows that a Soldier assigned an SPD Code of "JKA" will be assigned an RE Code of "3." 8. SUMMARY 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 requests a narrative reason, reentry eligibility (RE), and separation program designator (SPD) code change. The applicant's service AMHRR is void of the specific facts and circumstances concerning the events which led to the 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, paragraph 14-12b, by reason of Pattern of Misconduct, with a characterization of service of Honorable. The applicant requests the narrative reason for the discharge be changed. The applicant was separated under the provisions of Chapter 14, paragraph 14-12b, AR 635-200 with an honorable discharge. The narrative reason specified by Army Regulations for a discharge under this paragraph is "Pattern of Misconduct," and the separation code is "JKA." Army Regulation 635-8, Separation Documents, governs the preparation of the DD Form 214 and dictates the entry of the narrative reason for separation, entered in block 28 and separation code, entered in block 26 of the form, will be as listed in tables 2-2 or 2-3 of AR 635-5-1, Separation Program Designator (SPD) Codes. The regulation stipulates no deviation is authorized. There is no provision for any other reason to be entered under this regulation. The applicant requests the separation code (SPD) be changed. Separation codes are three- character alphabetic combinations that identify reasons for, and types of, separation from active duty. The primary purpose of SPD codes is to provide statistical accounting of reasons for separation. They are intended exclusively for the internal use of DoD and the Military Services to assist in the collection and analysis of separation data. SPD Codes are controlled by OSD and then implemented in Army policy AR 635-5-1 to track types of separations the SPD code specified by Army Regulations for a discharge under Chapter 14, paragraph 14-12b, is "JKA." Army Regulation 635-8, Separation Documents, governs the preparation of the DD Form 214 and dictates the entry of the separation code entered in block 26 of the form, will be as listed in tables 2-2 or 2-3 of AR 635-5-1, Separation Program Designator (SPD) Codes. The regulation stipulates no deviation is authorized. There is no provision for any other SPD code to be entered under this regulation. The SPD Code/RE Code Cross Reference Table shows that a Soldier assigned an SPD Code of "JKA" will be assigned an RE Code of "3." The applicant contends she dealt with over three years of mistreatment and discrimination. The applicant had many legitimate avenues through which to obtain assistance or relief and there is no evidence in the record that he ever sought such assistance before committing the misconduct which led to the separation action under review. The applicant contends her career and discharge circumstances were tampered with and destroyed by the carelessness of her chain of command. There is insufficient evidence available in the official record to make a determination upon the applicant's quality of service. Moreover, there is a presumption of regularity in the conduct of governmental affairs which is applied in all Army discharge reviews unless there is substantial credible evidence to rebut the presumption. The applicant contends the constant berating and fear of dissatisfying her superiors took a toll on her wellbeing and motivation. She was diagnosed with adjustment disorder with depressed mood and anxiety in 2014. The applicant provides evidence that supports a diagnosis of in service adjustment disorder with depressed mood and anxiety. The applicant's available record is void of a mental status evaluation. The applicant contends she had honorable service. The applicant's service accomplishments and the quality of the service prior to the incidents that caused the initiation of discharge proceeding were carefully considered. If the applicant desires a personal appearance hearing, it will be her responsibility to meet the burden of proof and provide the appropriate documents (i.e., the discharge packet) or other evidence sufficient to explain the facts, circumstances, and reasons underlying the separation action, for the Board's consideration because they are not available in the official record. 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 the applicant's DOD and VA health records and the applicant was diagnosed with Adjustment DO with depressed mood and Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). (2) Did the condition exist or experience occur during military service? Yes. The Board arrived at this finding based upon the Adjustment DO with depressed mood was diagnosed in- service. The MDD was diagnosed and 30% service connected by the VA. (3) Does the condition or experience actually excuse or mitigate the discharge? Partial. The Board arrived at this finding based upon the applicant has two BH conditions which mitigate some of her misconduct: an in-service diagnosis of Adjustment DO with depressed mood and a VA 30% service connected diagnosis of MDD. As there is an association between these two conditions and increased irritability, there is a nexus between these conditions and the applicant's showing of disrespect. These conditions, however, do not mitigate being involved in an inappropriate relationship or violating lawful orders due to the fact that neither condition affects one's ability to distinguish right from wrong and act in the right. Accordingly, while Liberal Consideration was applied, these two offenses are not mitigated. (4) Does the condition or experience outweigh the discharge? No. Despite the Board's application of liberal consideration, the applicant has two BH conditions which mitigates the misconduct of disrespect. However, the BH issues does not mitigate being in an inappropriate relationship or violating lawful orders. The panel concurred with the medical opine and further discussed the applicant's contingency of mistreatment and discrimination; however, there is no evidence in the file to support the claim. b. Response to Contention(s): (1) The applicant contends she dealt with over three years of mistreatment and discrimination. The Board determined there was no sufficient evidence of said mistreatment and discrimination. The applicant did not provide supporting documentation to merit to the claim. (2) The applicant contends her career and discharge circumstances were tampered with and destroyed by the carelessness of her chain of command. The Board determined that the applicant did not provide sufficient evidence to support this contention for the Board to consider and the Board determined the command did not act in an arbitrary or capricious manner. (3) The applicant contends the constant berating and fear of dissatisfying her superiors took a toll on her wellbeing and motivation. She was diagnosed with adjustment disorder with depressed mood and anxiety in 2014. The Board reviewed the applicant's DOD and VA health records and determined this contention was valid, as the applicant was diagnosed with Adjustment DO with depressed mood and Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). (4) The applicant contends she had honorable service. The Board determined the applicant's discharge was appropriate because the quality of the applicant's service was not consistent with the Army's standards for acceptable personal conduct and performance of duty by military personnel. It brought discredit on the Army, and was prejudicial to good order and discipline. By being in an inappropriate relationship or violating lawful orders, the applicant diminished the quality of service below that meriting an honorable discharge at the time of separation. c. The Board determined that the discharge is, at this time, proper and equitable, in light of the current evidence of record. However, the applicant may request a personal appearance hearing to address the issues before the Board. The applicant is responsible for satisfying the burden of proof and providing documents or other evidence sufficient to support the applicant's contention(s) that the discharge was improper or inequitable. d. Rationale for Decision: (1) The Board voted not to change the applicant's narrative reason, reentry eligibility, or separation program designator code, despite applying liberal consideration of all the evidence before the Board, the applicant's BH diagnoses of Adjustment DO with depressed mood and Major Depressive Disorder did not excuse or mitigate the offenses of being in an inappropriate relationship or violating lawful orders. The discharge was consistent with the procedural and substantive requirements of the regulation, was within the discretion of the separation authority, and the applicant was provided full administrative due process. (2) The Board voted not to change the applicant's reason for discharge or accompanying SPD code under the same pretexts, as the reason the applicant was discharged was both proper and equitable. (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 / Separation Order: No b. Change Characterization to: No Change c. Change Reason / SPD Code to: No Change d. Change RE Code to: No Change e. Change Authority 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 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 AR20190013850 1