1. Applicant's Name: a. Application Date: 10 October 2019 b. Date Received: 15 October 2019 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. The applicant seeks relief contending, in effect, that in 2012 just after deployment from Afghanistan he was arrested and sentenced to community service for trespassing in the civilian sector. He was unaware that he was suffering from PTSD. Immediately after he received help. Then in 2014 the unit deployed back to Afghanistan. Upon return in 2015, the applicant was transferred to a new unit; the old chain of command met with the new one in the office. Soon after the applicant was informed of the separation for the incident in 2012. The discharge occurred in July 2015 with an under honorable conditions discharge characterization. The applicant believes this is unjust; served in Iraq and Afghanistan twice and the military record will reflect no infractions except 2012, which all community service as served, paid all fines and sought help for PTSD. The applicant is asking the board to find it in their hearts to upgrade the service characterization into an honorable discharge. In a records review hearing conducted on 12 January 2022, and by a 4 - 1 vote, the Board determined the discharge is inequitable based on the applicant's length and quality of service, to include combat service, the circumstances surrounding the discharge (OBHI and PTSD diagnoses), and prior period of Honorable Service. 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 PA 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 (Serious Offense) / AR 635-200, Paragraph 14-12c / JKQ / RE-3 / General (Under Honorable Conditions) b. Date of Discharge: 16 July 2015 c. Separation Facts: (1) Date of Notification of Intent to Separate: 18 June 2015 (2) Basis for Separation: The applicant was informed of the following reasons: for on multiple occasions failing to inform his leadership of his scheduled appointments, after being counseled to report all his appointments to his chain of command; On multiple occasions failing to show up to his scheduled medical appointments; Being arrested for impersonation of a peace officer on 9 April 2013 Missing his dental appointment, because he was found at his house drunk, and deemed an ASAP failure on 8 May 2015; and Being disrespectful to SGT M. and disobeying an order from him to stand at parade rest on 1 May 2015. (3) Recommended Characterization: General (Under Honorable Conditions) (4) Legal Consultation Date: 25 June 2015 (5) Administrative Separation Board: The applicant waived consideration of his case by an administrative separation board. (6) Separation Decision Date / Characterization: 7 July 2015 / General (Under Honorable Conditions) 4. SERVICE DETAILS: a. Date / Period of Enlistment: 17 February 2010 / 6 years (the enlistment was extended 4 months on 6 February 2013 giving the applicant a new ETS of 16 June 2016) b. Age at Enlistment / Education / GT Score: HS Graduate / 97 c. Highest Grade Achieved / MOS / Total Service: E-4 / 11B10, Infantryman / 7 years, 1 month, 18 days d. Prior Service / Characterizations: RA, 20 May 2008 to 16 February 2010 / HD e. Overseas Service / Combat Service: SWA / Iraq and Afghanistan (9 October 2009 to 17 September 2010; 29 July 2012 to 11 December 2012 and 7 February 2014 to 20 October 2014) f. Awards and Decorations: ARCOM-2, AAM, ACM-CS, ICM-AD, AGCM-2, NDSM, GWOTSM, ASR, OSR, NATOMDL, CIB g. Performance Ratings: None h. Disciplinary Action(s) / Evidentiary Record: DA Form's 4187 changing the applicant's duty status as follows: Present for duty (PDY) to Confinement Civilian Authority (CCA), effective 8 April 2013; CCA to PDY, effective 14 April 2013; PDY to Absent Without Leave (AWOL), effective 19 June 2015; and AWOL to PDY, effective 22 June 2015 i. Lost Time / Mode of Return: Lost time totaling 9 days: CCA 6 days (9 April 2013 to 14 April 2013) and 3 days (20 June 2015 to 22 June 2015) / mode of return unknown j. Diagnosed PTSD / TBI / Behavioral Health: NIF; however, medical documents submitted by the applicant from the Department of Veterans Affairs, make reference to the applicant having problems with Anxiety, Chronic Constipation, Nightmares Associated with Chronic Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Asthma, Binge Drinker, Binge Eating Disorder, Essential Hypertension, Insomnia, Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome, and Smoker. 5. APPLICANT-PROVIDED EVIDENCE: DD Form 149 in lieu of DD Form 293; separation documents; medical treatment documents from the Department of Veterans Affairs; summary of benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs, dated 9 November 2021, indicating the applicant has been awarded 100 percent service connected disability. 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 5 provides for the basic separation of enlisted personnel for the convenience of the government. Paragraph 5-3 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. (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, states a Soldier is subject to action per this section for commission of a serious military or civilian offense, if the specific circumstances of the offense warrant separation and a punitive discharge is, or would be, authorized for the same or a closely related offense under the Manual for Courts-Martial. 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 "JKQ" as the appropriate code to assign enlisted Soldiers who are discharged under the provisions of Army Regulation 635-200, Chapter 14, paragraph 12c, misconduct (serious offense). f. 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. 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 requests an upgrade to honorable. The applicant's record of service, the issues and documents submitted with the application were carefully reviewed. The AMHRR records indicates separation action was initiated against the applicant for on multiple occasions failing to inform his leadership of his scheduled appointments, after being counseled to report all his appointments to his chain of command; on multiple occasions failing to show up to his scheduled medical appointments; being arrested for impersonation of a peace officer; missing his dental appointment, because he was found at his house drunk, and deemed an ASAP failure; and being disrespectful to SGT M. and disobeying an order from him to stand at parade rest. The applicant seeks relief contending that in 2012 just after deployment from Afghanistan he was arrested and sentenced to community service for trespassing in the civilian sector. He was unaware that he was suffering from PTSD. Immediately after he received help. Then in 2014 his unit deployed him back to Afghanistan. Upon his return in 2015 he was transferred to a new unit; his old chain of command met with his new one in the office. Soon after he was informed he would be separated for the incident in 2012. He was discharged July 2015 with an under honorable conditions discharge. The applicant believes this is unjust; he served in Iraq and Afghanistan twice and his military record will reflect that he hasn't had any infractions except 2012 which he served his community service and paid all fines and sought help for PTSD. He is asking the board to find it in their hearts to allow him to have his service made into an honorable discharge. The applicant's contentions were noted and he is to be commended on his in-service accomplishments. As noted in the prior paragraph, the service record indicates the applicant committed several discrediting offenses, which constituted a departure from the standards of conduct expected of Soldiers in the Army. The numerous incidents of misconduct adversely affected the quality of his service, brought discredit on the Army, and were prejudicial to good order and discipline. The applicable Army regulation states there are circumstances in which the conduct or performance of duty reflected by various incidents of misconduct provides the basis for a characterization of service which the applicant received at the time of his discharge. The applicant's in-service record contains no evidence of a Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder diagnosis. The post-service documents submitted by the applicant from the Department of Veterans Affairs awarding him 100 percent service connected disability were noted. The fact the Veterans Administration has granted the applicant service connection for medical conditions the applicant suffered while on active duty does not support a conclusion that these conditions rendered the applicant unfit for further service at the time of his discharge processing. 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. Review of the applicant's military medical record (AHLTA) and VA medical record (JLV) indicates that the applicant has a mitigating BH diagnosis, PTSD. This diagnosis was determined by the VA to be 100% service connected. (2) Did the condition exist or experience occur during military service? Yes. The Board arrived at this finding based upon the determination of service connection by the VA, which indicates the applicant's condition of PTSD existed during military service. (3) Does the condition or experience actually excuse or mitigate the discharge? Partially. The Board arrived at this finding based upon the opinion of the Agency BH the applicant has a BH condition which mitigates most of the misconduct. As there is an association between PTSD and avoidance behaviors, problems with authority and self-medication with alcohol, there is a nexus between the diagnosis of PTSD and missed medical/dental appointments, FTRs, disrespectfulness, failure to obey orders and being drunk at home. Applicant's diagnosis of PTSD does not mitigate impersonating a peace officer as such behavior is not characteristic of PTSD. (4) Does the condition or experience outweigh the discharge? Yes. The Board concurred with the opinion of the Board's Medical Advisor, a voting member, that BH diagnoses of PTSD are often associated with avoidance behavior, problems with authority and self- medication with alcohol. As a result, the ADRB applied liberal consideration and found that the cause for separation is partially mitigated by BH condition for the reasons listed in (3) above. The applicant's offenses of impersonating a peace officer are not medically mitigated, as there is no nexus between these behaviors and the BH conditions listed. b. Response to Contention(s): (1) The applicant contends, unawareness of suffering from PTSD diagnosis, which contributed to misbehaviors. The Board determined that this contention was valid and voted to upgrade the characterization of service due to PTSD mitigating the applicant's avoidance behaviors, problems with authority and self-medication with alcohol, there is a nexus between the diagnosis of PTSD and missed medical/dental appointments, FTRs, disrespectfulness, failure to obey orders and being drunk at home charges. (2) Applicant contends good service. The Board recognizes and appreciates the applicant's willingness to serve and considered this contention during board proceedings. However, 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 while impersonating a peace officer. This brought discredit on the Army, and was prejudicial to good order and discipline. By the misconduct, the applicant diminished the quality of service. c. The Board determined the discharge is inequitable based on the applicant's length and quality of service, to include combat service, the circumstances surrounding the discharge (OBHI and PTSD diagnoses), and prior period of Honorable Service. 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. d. Rationale for Decision: (1) The Board voted to change the applicant's characterization of service to Honorable because the applicant had a BH condition which mitigated the applicant's misconduct of avoidance behaviors, problems with authority and self-medication with alcohol, there is a nexus between the diagnosis of PTSD and missed medical/dental appointments, FTRs, disrespectfulness, failure to obey orders and being drunk at home charges. Thus the prior characterization is no longer appropriate. (2) The Board voted to change the reason for discharge to Misconduct (Minor Infractions) under the same pretexts, thus the reason for discharge is no longer appropriate. The SPD code associated with the new reason for discharge is JKN. (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: Honorable c. Change Reason / SPD Code to: Misconduct (Minor Infractions)/JKN d. Change RE Code to: No Change e. Change Authority to: AR 635-200, paragraph 14-12a 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 AR20200003317 5