1. Applicant's Name: a. Application Date: 5 July 2020 b. Date Received: 14 July 2020 c. Counsel: None 2. REQUEST, ISSUES, BOARD TYPE, AND DECISION: a. Applicant's Requests and Issues: The current characterization of service for the period under review is general (under honorable conditions). The applicant requests an upgrade to honorable. The applicant further requests correction of the military occupational specialty (MOS) and issuance of a DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty). The applicant seeks relief contending, in effect, the unit was empathetic to the applicant's situation and assured the applicant an honorable characterization would be issued. The applicant needs to substantiate active duty to receive a Certificate of Eligibility from the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA). b. Board Type and Decision: In a telephonic personal appearance hearing conducted on 20 March 2023, and by a 5-0 vote, the Board determined that the characterization of service was inequitable based on the applicant's Unspecified Depressive Disorder mitigated the applicant's Unexcused Absences. Accordingly, the Board voted to grant relief in the form of an upgrade to the characterization of service to Honorable. Please see Section 10 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: NIF / AR 135-178 / NA / General (Under Honorable Conditions) b. Date of Discharge: 6 September 2013 c. Separation Facts: (1) Date of Notification of Intent to Separate: An Affidavit of Service-Hand Delivery, reflects the applicant signed for the Notice of Separation on 19 February 2013 (2) Basis for Separation: The applicant was informed of the following reasons: The applicant had accumulated nine or more unexcused absence during the last twelve months (3) Recommended Characterization: Under Other Than Honorable Conditions (4) Legal Consultation Date: 10 April 2013 (5) Administrative Separation Board: On 10 April 2013, the applicant submitted a request for conditional waiver and voluntarily waived the right to a hearing before an administrative separation board based on the condition that upon the separation the applicant's service would be characterized as general (under honorable conditions). (6) Separation Decision Date / Characterization: 26 July 2013 / General (Under Honorable Conditions) 4. SERVICE DETAILS: a. Date / Period of Enlistment: 21 October 2009 / 8 years (USAR) b. Age at Enlistment / Education / GT Score: 21 / 1 year college / 113 c. Highest Grade Achieved / MOS / Total Service: E-4 / 21B10, Combat Engineer / 3 years, 10 months, 24 days (taken from enlistment date through discharge date) d. Prior Service / Characterizations: RA, 21 October 2009 - 19 February 2010 / HD (Concurrent Service) (IADT) e. Overseas Service / Combat Service: None f. Awards and Decorations: AAM, NDSM, ASR g. Performance Ratings: NA h. Disciplinary Action(s) / Evidentiary Record: Letters of Instruction - Unexcused Absence, dated reflects the applicant was absent from a scheduled unit training assembly (UTA) or a multiple unit training assembly (MUTA) for the following periods: 3 November 2012 (MUTA 1 and 2) 4 November 2012 (MUTA 1and 2) 2 December 2012 (MUTA 1and 2) 5 January 2013 (MUTA 1 and 2) 6 January 2013 (MUTA 1 and 2) Affidavits of Service by Mail reflects the Letters of Instruction were mailed to the applicant via Certified Mail. Memorandum, subject: Commander's Report for Separation Under AR 135-178, Chapter 13, dated 26 March 2013, reflects the applicant's commander recommended the applicant be separated from the U.S. Army Reserve prior to the expiration of the term of service and that the service be characterized as under other than honorable conditions. The commander's reasons were as follows; the applicant failed to attend at least nine Army Reserve training assemblies within a one-year period; the applicant provided no valid reason for failing to attend the Army training assemblies; and the applicant had not provided a response to the memorandum of notification but had submitted a letter for an extension. i. Lost Time / Mode of Return: NIF j. Applicant Provided and/or AMHHR Listed PTSD / TBI / Behavioral Health Condition(s): The applicant provides two Clinical Psychiatric Interview Mental Status Reports which are illegible. 5. APPLICANT-PROVIDED EVIDENCE: DD Form 149, Partial Separation Packet, Personnel Qualification Record, Orders 13-059-00047, dated 28 February 2013, Order Number 022442, dated 7 February 2012, Certificate of Affiliation, Creed of the NCO, Certificate of Diploma-2, Order 13-241-00013, dated 29 August 2013, Clinical Psychiatric Interview Mental Status, dated 11 February 2013 and 15 May 2013. 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 135-178 prescribes the policies, standards, and procedures to ensure the readiness and competency of the U.S. Army while providing for the orderly administrative separation of Army National Guard of the United States (ARNGUS) and U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) enlisted Soldiers for a variety of reasons. Readiness is promoted by maintaining high standards of conduct and performance. (1) Paragraph 2-9a prescribes an 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. (2) Paragraph 2-9b, prescribes, if a Soldier's service has been honest and faithful, it is appropriate to characterize that service as general (under honorable conditions). Characterization of service as general (under honorable conditions) is warranted when significant negative aspects of the Soldier's conduct or performance of duty outweigh positive aspects of the Soldier's military record. (3) Chapter 12 (previously Chapter 13) provides in pertinent part, that individuals can be separated for being an unsatisfactory participant. Soldier is subject to discharge for unsatisfactory participation when it is determined that the Soldier is unqualified for further military service because: The Soldier is an unsatisfactory participant as prescribed by AR 135- 91, chapter 4; Attempts to have the Soldier respond or comply with orders or correspondence. 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 Army Military Human Resources Record (AMHRR), the issues, and documents submitted with the application were carefully reviewed. The applicant requests an upgrade to honorable. The applicant further requests correction of the MOS and issuance of a DD Form 214. The applicant's AMHRR contains a properly constituted discharge order: Orders 13-241-00013, dated 29 August 2013. The orders indicate the applicant was discharged under the provisions of AR 135-178, with a characterization of service of general (under honorable conditions). The applicant contends the unit was empathetic to the applicant's situation and assured the applicant an honorable characterization would be issued. On 10 April 2013, the applicant submitted a request for conditional waiver and voluntarily waived the right to a hearing before an administrative separation board based on the condition that upon the separation the applicant's service would be characterized as general (under honorable conditions). The applicant needs to substantiate active duty to receive a Certificate of Eligibility from VA. Eligibility for veteran's benefits to include 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. The applicant requests correction of the MOS and issuance of a DD Form 214. This request does not fall within this board's purview. This request will be addressed by the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) under separate correspondence. 9. DOCUMENTS / TESTIMONY PRESENTED DURING PERSONAL APPEARANCE: In addition to the evidence in the record, the Board carefully considered the additional document(s) and testimony presented by the applicant at the personal appearance hearing. a. The applicant submitted the following additional document(s): N/A b. The applicant presented the following additional contention(s): Applicant and character witness) provided oral argument and statements in support of the contentions provided in written submissions and in support of previously submitted documentary evidence c. Counsel / Witness(es) / Observer(s): 10. 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, applicant's statement, and/or civilian provider documentation and found that the applicant has the following potentially-mitigating diagnoses/experiences: Unspecified Depressive Disorder. (2) Did the condition exist or experience occur during military service? Yes. The Board's Medical Advisor found the applicant experienced Unspecified Depressive DO while in military service. (3) Does the condition or experience actually excuse or mitigate the discharge? Yes. The Board's Medical Advisor applied liberal consideration and opined that, based on the available documentation and the applicant's testimony, it is the opinion of the Agency BH Advisor that the applicant has a mitigating BH condition, Unspecified Depressive Disorder. As there is an association between Unspecified Depressive Disorder and avoidant behaviors, there is a nexus between applicant's diagnosis of Unspecified Depressive DO and the offenses of missing multiple drills. (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. As a result, the ADRB applied liberal consideration and found that the applicant's Unspecified Depressive DO outweighed the missed drills basis for separation for the aforementioned reasons. b. Response to Contention(s): (1) The applicant contends the unit was empathetic to the applicant's situation and assured the applicant an honorable characterization would be issued. The Board found on 10 April 2013, the applicant submitted a request for conditional waiver and voluntarily waived the right to a hearing before an administrative separation board based on the condition that upon the separation the applicant's service would be characterized as general (under honorable conditions). This evidence contradicts the applicant's contention. However, the Board ultimately did not address the contention due to an upgrade being granted based on the applicant's Unspecified Depressive Disorder outweighing the applicant's missed drills and relief was warranted. (2) The applicant requests an upgrade to honorable. The applicant further requests correction of the MOS and issuance of a DD Form 214. The Board determined that the applicant's requested change to the DD Form 214 does not fall within the purview of the ADRB. The applicant may apply to the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR), using a DD Form 149 regarding this matter. A DD Form 149 may be obtained from a Veterans' Service Organization. c. The Board determined that the characterization of service was inequitable based on the applicant's Unspecified Depressive Disorder mitigated the applicant's Unexcused Absences. Accordingly, the Board voted to grant relief in the form of an upgrade to the characterization of service to Honorable. d. Rationale for Decision: (1) The Board voted to change the applicant's characterization of service to Honorable because the applicant's Unspecified Depressive DO mitigated the missed drills. Thus, the prior characterization is no longer appropriate. (2) As there were no Reasons/SPD Codes/RE-codes listed on the applicant's discharge paperwork, due to being in the Army Reserves, no upgrade actions are required for these items. 11. BOARD ACTION DIRECTED: a. Issue a New Separation Order: Yes b. Change Characterization to: Honorable c. 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 AR20200008364 1