1. Applicant's Name: a. Application Date: 2 January 2020 b. Date Received: 6 January 2020 c. Counsel: None 2. REQUEST, ISSUES, BOARD TYPE, AND DECISION: The current characterization of service for the period under review is under other than honorable conditions. The applicant requests an upgrade to general (under honorable conditions). The applicant seeks relief contending, in effect, there is a need for medical benefits due to post- traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from the Iraq War. The applicant provides a four-page statement outlining combat experiences which occurred in Iraq and led to PTSD. The applicant reports being plagued with thoughts and sounds from combat experiences; scanning for enemy troops on building tops and horizons; getting mad and sad too often; and self-medicating in order to feel normal. In a records review conducted on 15 September 2021, and by a 5 - 0 vote, the Board determined that the characterization of service was too harsh based on the applicant's length, quality of service, to include combat service, and as a result the board determined the characterization as inequitable. Accordingly, the Board voted to grant relief in the form of an upgrade to the characterization of service to General (Under Honorable Conditions). The Board determined the narrative reason, SPD code, and RE code were proper and equitable and voted not to change them. 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 / Under Other Than Honorable Conditions b. Date of Discharge: 15 August 2007 c. Separation Facts: (1) Date of Notification of Intent to Separate: 9 July 2007 (2) Basis for Separation: The applicant was informed of the following reasons: The applicant used marijuana between on or about 25 September 2006 and on or about 25 October 2006, and again between on or about 2 March 2007 and on or about 2 April 2007. The applicant also used cocaine between on or about 29 March 2007 and on or about 2 April 2007. The applicant further failed to report to his appointed place of duty on 20 April 2007. (3) Recommended Characterization: Under Other Than Honorable Conditions (4) Legal Consultation Date: 12 July 2007 (5) Administrative Separation Board: The applicant waived an Administrative Separation Board on 12 July 2007. (6) Separation Decision Date / Characterization: 8 August 2007 / Under Other Than Honorable Conditions 4. SERVICE DETAILS: a. Date / Period of Enlistment: 4 November 2004 / 3 years, 23 weeks b. Age at Enlistment / Education / GT Score: 20 / HS Graduate / 97 c. Highest Grade Achieved / MOS / Total Service: E-4 / 19D, Cavalry Scout / 2 years, 9 months, 12 days d. Prior Service / Characterizations: None e. Overseas Service / Combat Service: SWA / Iraq, 27 September 2005 - 1 September 2006 f. Awards and Decorations: ARCOM, NDSM, GWOTSM, ICM, ASR, OSR, CAB, Driver and Mechanic Badge with Driver-Wheeled Vehicle(s) Clasp g. Performance Ratings: NA h. Disciplinary Action(s) / Evidentiary Record: FG, Article 15, dated 8 January 2007, for wrongfully using marijuana on or between 25 October 2006 and 2 November 2006 and on or between 25 September 2006 and 25 October 2006. The punishment consisted of reduction to E-1; forfeiture of $636.00 per month for 2 months, suspended, to be automatically remitted if not vacated before 15 April 2007; and extra duty and restriction for 45 days. Report of Mental Status Evaluation, dated 27 February 2007, found the applicant was mentally responsible and had the capacity to understand and participate in the proceedings. The applicant was also psychiatrically cleared for any administrative action deemed appropriate by command. On 24 April 2007, the applicant was charged with failing to go at the prescribed time to the appointed place of duty on or about 20 April 2007; wrongfully using marijuana between on or about 2 March 2007 and 2 April 2007; and wrongfully using cocaine between on or about 29 March 2007 and 2 April 2007. On 24 May 2007, the applicant pled guilty to the charges and accepted an Other Than honorable discharge. In exchange for those actions, the Convening Authority agreed to refer the Charges and Specifications to a Summary Court-Martial. Record of Trial By Summary Court-Martial, held on 31 May 2007, shows the applicant pled guilty and was found guilty of failing to go at the prescribed time to the appointed place of duty on or about 20 April 2007; wrongfully using marijuana between on or about 2 March 2007 and 2 April 2007; and wrongfully using cocaine between on or about 29 March 2007 and 2 April 2007. The punishment consisted of forfeiture of $867.00 per month for 1 month and confinement for 30 days. i. Lost Time / Mode of Return: None j. Diagnosed PTSD / TBI / Behavioral Health: NIF 5. APPLICANT-PROVIDED EVIDENCE: DD Form 293, Personal Statement, 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) 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) 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. (6) 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. (7) 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 FACTS: 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 an upgrade to General, (Under Honorable Conditions). 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 he was suffering from PTSD, which affected his behavior and led to his discharge. However, a careful review of the entire record reveals this medical condition did not overcome the reason for discharge and characterization of service granted. The record shows that on 27 February 2007, the applicant underwent a mental status evaluation, which indicates the applicant was mentally responsible. It appears, the applicant's chain of command determined that the applicant was mentally responsible as indicated by the mental status evaluation. The applicant contends there is a need for medical benefits due to PTSD stemming from the Iraq War. Eligibility for veteran's benefits to include medical and educational benefits under the Post- 9/11 or Montgomery GI Bill does not fall within the purview of the Army Discharge Review Board. Accordingly, the applicant should contact a local office of the Department of Veterans Affairs for further assistance. 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? No. The Board's Medical Advisor, a voting member, reviewed DoD and VA medical records and found no mitigating BH diagnoses on the applicant. The applicant provided no documents or testimony that, when applying liberal consideration, convinced the Board of a possible mitigating BH condition. The applicant made a self-report of PTSD, there is no medical evidence present or provided to support this diagnosis. (2) Did the condition exist or experience occur during military service? N/A. The applicant did not provide any medically relevant documentation to support his contention of PTSD influence on his drug abuse. (3) Does the condition or experience actually excuse or mitigate the discharge? N/A. Medical determination cannot be made at this time due to the absence of documentation and accompanying diagnoses by a medical professional. (4) Does the condition or experience outweigh the discharge? N/A. Despite the lack of evidence, due to the drug use occurring after deployment, the applicant's assertion of a possible mitigating BH condition, the Board determined that relief was warranted to allow VA treatment. b. Response to Contentions: (1) The applicant contends he was suffering from PTSD, which affected his behavior and led to his discharge. However, a careful review of the entire record reveals no actual medical documentation of this diagnosis or any other BH diagnosis to overcome the reason for discharge and characterization of service granted. However, since the timing of the drug abuse lines up with the applicant's assertions and was post-deployment, the Board voted to upgrade the discharge to allow VA treatment. (2) The applicant contends there is a need for medical benefits due to PTSD stemming from the Iraq War. Eligibility for veteran's benefits to include medical and educational benefits under the Post-9/11 or Montgomery GI Bill does not fall within the purview of the Army Discharge Review Board. Accordingly, the applicant should contact a local office of the Department of Veterans Affairs for further assistance. However, the Board approved the requested relief to permit VA treatment. c. The Board determined that the characterization of service was too harsh based on the applicant's length, quality of service, to include combat service, and as a result it is inequitable. d. Rationale for Decision: (1) The Board voted to change the applicant's characterization of service to General (Under Honorable Conditions) because the applicant's drug use occurred after deployment and given the timeline of the applicants' drug abuse the board voted to upgrade to facilitate VA assistance. Thus the prior characterization is no longer appropriate. (2) The Board voted not to change the applicant's reason for discharge or accompanying SPD code under the same pretexts, and 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: Yes b. Change Characterization to: General, Under Honorable Conditions 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 AR20200002845 1