1. Applicant's Name: a. Application Date: 2 January 2020 b. Date Received: 10 January 2020 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, during the enlistment the applicant had developed mental issues affecting the overall conduct and decision making. The applicant recently spent two weeks in psychiatric care in the hospital and five months in behavioral health programs. Major stresses from both work and personal life led to the applicant to being unable to continue wanting to be here. These issues had a bearing on the discharge and requests a change of the narrative reason because now the applicant is unable to support himself and family members. The applicant is currently enrolled in an outside behavioral health program to continue working on himself inside and out. The narrative reason affects him from finding gainful employment and the ability to improve his overall quality of life. In a records review conducted on 23 June 2021, and by a 3-2 vote, the Board determined the discharge is inequitable based on the circumstances surrounding the discharge (Limited Use evidence). 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: 12 December 2019 c. Separation Facts: (1) Date of Notification of Intent to Separate: 12 November 2019 (2) Basis for Separation: The applicant was informed of the following reasons: Between on or about 20 April 20019, and on or about 20 May 2019, he wrongfully used marijuana; and, Between on or about 7 September 2019, and on or about 7 October 2019, he wrongfully used marijuana. (3) Recommended Characterization: General (Under Honorable Conditions) (4) Legal Consultation Date: On 13 November 2019, the applicant waived his rights to consult with a JAG officer. (5) Administrative Separation Board: NA (6) Separation Decision Date / Characterization: 20 November 2019 / General (Under Honorable Conditions) 4. SERVICE DETAILS: a. Date / Period of Enlistment: 3 January 2017 / 3 years, 21 weeks b. Age at Enlistment / Education / GT Score: 19 / HS Graduate / 96 c. Highest Grade Achieved / MOS / Total Service: E-4 / 92Y10, Unit Supply Specialist / 2 years, 11 months, 10 days d. Prior Service / Characterizations: None e. Overseas Service / Combat Service: Niger / None f. Awards and Decorations: JSAM, NDSM, GWOTEM, GWOTSM, ASR g. Performance Ratings: NA h. Disciplinary Action(s) / Evidentiary Record: Electronic Copy of DD Form 2624, dated 24 May 2019, reflects the applicant tested positive for THC 291 (marijuana), during an Inspection Random (IR) urinalysis testing, conducted on 20 May 2019. Law Enforcement Report - Initial - Final, dated 18 June 2019, reflects and investigation established that the applicant committed the offense of Wrongful Use of Marijuana. On 18 June 2019, was interviewed and admitted to smoking marijuana. FG Article 15, dated 1 July 2019, for wrongfully using marijuana (between 20 April and 20 May 2019). The punishment consisted of a reduction to E-3 (suspended); and, extra duty and restriction for 45 days (suspended). Electronic Copy of DD Form 2624, dated 24 October 2019, reflects the applicant tested positive for THC 42 (marijuana), during an Rehabilitation Testing (RO) urinalysis testing, conducted on 7 October 2019. i. Lost Time / Mode of Return: None j. Diagnosed PTSD / TBI / Behavioral Health: Report of Mental Status Evaluation, dated 29 August 2019, reflects the applicant was cleared for any administrative actions deemed appropriate by the command. The applicant could understand the difference between right and wrong and could participate in the proceedings. The applicant was diagnosed with: Adjustment Disorder with depressed mood. 5. APPLICANT-PROVIDED EVIDENCE: DD Form 293; case separation packet; Transition Center Checklist; Frequently Asked Questions; Fort Bragg Transportation Office contact information; DD Form 1797; Transportation Center, Fort Bragg information; Unit Clearance Record; Soldier For Life, Transition Assistance Program; Automated DA Form 3645; military service records. 6. POST SERVICE ACCOMPLISHMENTS: The applicant states, he is enrolled in an outside behavioral health program to continue to work on himself inside and out. 7. 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, 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 and marred the quality of his service. The applicant contends the narrative reason for the discharge needs changed. The applicant contends an upgrade of his discharge will allow better employment. The applicant contends the development of a mental issued that affected the behavior and led to the discharge. The applicant's service record contains documentation that supports a diagnosis of in service adjustment disorder with depressed mood. The record shows on 29 August 2019, the applicant underwent a mental status evaluation (MSE), which indicates the applicant was mentally responsible and was able to recognize right from wrong. The MSE was considered by the separation authority. The Army Discharge Review Board is authorized to consider post-service factors in the recharacterization of a discharge. There is no law or regulation which provides an unfavorable discharge may be upgraded based solely on the passage of time or good conduct in civilian life subsequent to leaving the service. Outstanding post-service conduct, to the extent such matters provide a basis for a more thorough understanding of the applicant's performance and conduct during the period of service under review, is considered during Board proceedings. The Board reviews each discharge on a case-by-case basis to determine if post-service accomplishments help demonstrate previous in-service misconduct was an aberration and not indicative of the member's overall character. The applicant's separation packet contains an electronic DD Forms 2624 (Specimen Custody Document for Drug Testing) which show the urinalysis test was coded RO, which indicates "Rehabilitation Testing." The government introduced the document into the discharge process revealing the applicant had self-referred to the Army Substance Abuse Program (ASAP) for substance abuse. This is limited use information as defined in AR 600-85. Use of this information mandates award of an honorable discharge. 8. 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) Paragraph 3-7c states Under other-than-honorable-conditions discharge is an administrative separation from the Service under conditions other than honorable and it may be issued for misconduct, fraudulent entry, security reasons, or in lieu of trial by court martial based on certain circumstances or patterns of behavior or acts or omissions that constitute a significant departure from the conduct expected of Soldiers in the Army. (5) Paragraph 3-8a states A Soldier is entitled to an honorable characterization of service if limited-use evidence (see AR 600-85, chap 6) is initially introduced by the Government in the discharge proceedings, and the discharge is based upon those proceedings. The separation authority will consult with the servicing Judge Advocate in cases involving limited use evidence. (6) 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. (7) 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. (8) 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. 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 "JKK" as the appropriate code to assign enlisted Soldiers who are discharged under the provisions of Army Regulation 635-200, Chapter 14, misconduct (drug abuse). f. The SPD Code/RE Code Cross Reference Table shows that a Soldier assigned an SPD Code of "JKK" will be assigned an RE Code of "4." 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 arrived at this finding based upon the medical advisor's review of the Armed Forces Health Longitudinal Technology Application (AHLTA) and Joint Legacy Viewer (JLV). In-service records reflect a diagnosis of Adjustment Disorder. The applicant was hospitalized for 6 days related to a relational break up resulting in suicidal ideation. The applicant attended a behavioral health IOP and SUDCC treatment, successfully discharged in September. (2) Did the condition exist or experience occur during military service? YES, In-service records indicate the applicant had a diagnosis of Adjustment Disorder. (3) Does the condition or experience actually excuse or mitigate the discharge? NO, Drug use is uncharacteristic of an Adjustment Disorder; an Adjustment Disorder is related to difficulty adapting rather than impaired judgement or avoidance. (4) Does the condition or experience outweigh the discharge? NO, Drug use is uncharacteristic of an Adjustment Disorder; an Adjustment Disorder is related to difficulty adapting rather than impaired judgement or avoidance. b. The ADRB determined that the applicant's characterization of service was inequitable based on- The applicant's separation packet contains an electronic DD Forms 2624 (Specimen Custody Document for Drug Testing) which show the urinalysis test was coded RO, which indicates "Rehabilitation Testing." The government introduced the document into the discharge process revealing the applicant had self-referred to the Army Substance Abuse Program (ASAP) for substance abuse. This is limited use information as defined in AR 600-85. Use of this information mandates award of an honorable discharge. c. The applicant's contentions regarding his mental condition, life stressors and his desire to better his family's life were carefully considered; however, the requested relief was previously granted due to limited use evidence being introduced by the government. d. Rationale for Decision: (1) The Board voted to change the applicant's characterization of service to Honorable because the government used Limited Use evidence in discharge proceedings. Thus the prior characterization is no longer appropriate. (2) The board voted to change the reason to Minor Misconduct, because Drug Use was no longer appropriate due to limited use evidence. (3) Because the characterization and reason were changed, the SPD/RE code will change to JKN/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 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 AR20200002779 1