1. Applicant's Name: a. Application Date: 10 July 2019 b. Date Received: 15 July 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 separation program designator (SPD) and reentry eligibility (RE) code change. The applicant seeks relief contending, in effect, the applicant's SPD and RE codes are listed incorrectly on discharging DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty). In a records review conducted on 11 February 2022, and by a 5-0 vote, the Board found that the applicant's DD Form 214, block 26 contains an erroneous SPD code of LBK. In view of the error, the Board directed an administrative correction to block 26 to read MBK, as required by Army Regulations. 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: Completion of Required Active Service / AR 635-200 / Chapter 4 / LBK / NA / Honorable b. Date of Discharge: 29 September 2006 c. Separation Facts: (1) Date of Notification of Intent to Separate: NA (2) Basis for Separation: Orders 250-0074, dated 7 September 2006, reflect the applicant was released from active duty not by reason of physical disability and assigned to local ARNG unit with an effective date of 29 September 2006. (3) Recommended Characterization: NA (4) Legal Consultation Date: NA (5) Administrative Separation Board: NA (6) Separation Decision Date / Characterization: NA 4. SERVICE DETAILS: a. Date / Period of Enlistment: 17 October 1999 / NIF (Applicant was ordered to active duty in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom with a report date of 20 July 2005, the applicant entered active duty on 17 July 2005) b. Age at Enlistment / Education / GT Score: 30 / NIF / NIF c. Highest Grade Achieved / MOS / Total Service: E-7 / 27D40, Paralegal Specialist / 1 year, 2 months, 13 days d. Prior Service / Characterizations: RA, 1 March 1990 - 16 October 1999 / HD e. Overseas Service / Combat Service: SWA / Iraq/Kuwait (15 September 2005 - 4 September 2006) f. Awards and Decorations: ARCOM-3, AAM-4, AGCM-3, ARCAM, NDSM-BS, GWOTSM, HSM, ICM, NCOPDR-2, ASR, OSR-3, AFRM-M Device, NATO MDL, Drive and Mechanic Badge-Wheeled Vehicle(s) Clasps g. Performance Ratings: 1 October 2005 - 30 September 2006 / Fully Capable h. Disciplinary Action(s) / Evidentiary Record: None i. Lost Time / Mode of Return: None j. Diagnosed PTSD / TBI / Behavioral Health: None 5. APPLICANT-PROVIDED EVIDENCE: DD Form 149, 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, paragraph 3-7, establishes the types of administrative discharges/character of service. An honorable discharge is a separation with honor. The honorable characterization 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. Only the honorable characterization may be awarded a Soldier upon completion of his/her period of enlistment or period for which called or ordered to AD or ADT or where required under specific reasons for separation, unless an entry-level status separation (uncharacterized) is warranted. (2) Chapter 4, establishes the policies and procedures for separating a Soldier upon expiration of enlistment of fulfillment of service obligation. The periods of military service required of all Army Soldiers will be in accordance with applicable laws. Periods for which enlistment is authorized are in NGR 600-200, AR 140-111, and AR 601-210. Periods for which Soldiers are ordered to AD are prescribed by law. Soldier enlisted or ordered to AD normally will be discharged or released from AD on the date he/she completes the period for which enlisted or ordered to AD. Personnel released from AD and transferred to the USAR upon completion of the term of service for which ordered into active Federal service, or released to their Reserve Component upon completion of AD. These Soldiers will not be discharged until completion of their reserve obligation. (3) Paragraph 4-5, states, a Soldier being separated upon expiration of enlistment or fulfillment of service obligation will be awarded a character of service of honorable, unless the Soldier is in entry-level status and service is uncharacterized. 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. f. Department of the Army Personnel Policy Guidance (PPG) for Overseas Contingency Operations provides updated personnel guidance related to mobilized, employed, deployed, redeployed, and demobilized personnel in support of the overseas contingency operation (OCO). It applies to Active Army, the Army National Guard, U.S Army Reserve, retired Soldiers, Department of the Army civilians, Department of Defense civilians, contractors, Red Cross employees, and Army Air Force Exchange Services employees. Paragraph 6-14, states for Item 26 (separation code) enter "MBK" for Soldiers separating for completion of required active service orders and for Item 27 (reentry code) enter "NA." 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 AMHRR record of service, the issues and documents submitted with the application were carefully reviewed. The applicant requests a change of the SPD and RE codes. The applicant requests the SPD and RE codes 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 4, Completion of Required Active Service, is "MBK." Army Regulation 635-5, 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 applicant contends the RE and SPD codes are listed incorrectly on discharging DD Form 214. The service record indicates that someone in the discharge process erroneously entered on the applicant's DD Form 214, block 26, SPD code as "LBK." Department of the Army Personnel Policy Guidance for Overseas Contingency Operations states the SPD code for Soldiers separating for completion of required active service orders is "MBK." Based on the PPG for Overseas Contingency Operations the applicant's RE code is appropriately listed as "NA." 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? N/A. Applicant already holds an Honorable discharge, so there is no medical mitigation required for a characterization upgrade. (2) Did the condition exist or experience occur during military service? N/A (3) Does the condition or experience actually excuse or mitigate the discharge? N/A (4) Does the condition or experience outweigh the discharge? N/A b. The applicant contends the RE and SPD codes are listed incorrectly on discharging DD Form 214. The Board determined that a correction was required for the SPD code, but no action required for the RE code, as Reservists do not have RE-codes the paperwork being contended was the completion of active duty mobilization only. c. The Board determined that the SPD code was erroneously input as LBK. Therefore, the Board voted to change the SPD code to MBK, but no further changes for the DD 214. However, the applicant may still apply to the Army Board for Correction of Military Records. 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 characterization of service due to it already being Honorable. (2) The Board voted not to change the applicant's reason for discharge due to it being proper and equitable, however, the SPD code will be updated to MBK. (3) The RE code will not change as there is no RE-code requirement for Reservists and it is unclear whether applicant was moving into IRR status, in which the panel is not authorized to change the RE code. 10. BOARD ACTION DIRECTED: a. Issue a New DD-214: Yes b. Change Characterization to: No Change c. Change Reason / SPD Code to: No Change / MBK 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 AR20200001101 1