1. Applicant’s Name: a. Application Date: 12 June 2020 b. Date Received: 9 September 202112 June 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 seeks relief contending, in effect, that an upgrade of the characterization of service would allow for the purpose of receiving 9/11 GI Bill benefits for college. The applicant contends the discharge was due to an ongoing mental illness that surfaced and then grew worse while the applicant was in the military and even carried over into the applicant’s personal life after discharge. The applicant indicates having a mental illness with Anxiety and Depression along with Alcoholism and Drug Addiction. The military was a very stressful and frustrating environment. The applicant would drink to relieve the frustrations, anxiety, and stress. The applicant contends alcohol is practically worshipped and heavily promoted by most of the military’s personnel; nobody really cared if you drank or got drunk just so long as you weren’t doing drugs. The applicant contends that prior to going on leave before deployment he requested several times to be sent to rehabilitation and was blown off by members of his command. b. Board Type and Decision: In a records review conducted on 9 June 2023, and by a 5-0 vote, the Board denied the request upon finding the separation was both proper and equitable. 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: 2 April 2009 c. Separation Facts: (1) Date of Notification of Intent to Separate: 2 March 2009 (2) Basis for Separation: The applicant was informed of the following reasons: for testing positive for cocaine twice during company urinalysis administered on 27 October 2008 and 1 December 2008 (3) Recommended Characterization: General (Under Honorable Conditions) (4) Legal Consultation Date: 9 March 2009 (5) Administrative Separation Board: None (6) Separation Decision Date / Characterization: 18 March 2009 / General (Under Honorable Conditions) 4. SERVICE DETAILS: a. Date / Period of Enlistment: 11 October 2007 / 3 years, 2 weeks b. Age at Enlistment / Education / GT Score: 20 / GED / 99 c. Highest Grade Achieved / MOS / Total Service: E-3 / 42A10, Human Resources Specialist / 2 years, 1 month, 27 days d. Prior Service / Characterizations: USAR, 2 February 2007 to 14 February 2007 / NA ADT, 15 February 2007 to 29 June 2007 / UNC USAR, 30 June 2007 to 10 October 2007 / NIF (Concurrent Service) e. Overseas Service / Combat Service: None f. Awards and Decorations: NDSM, GWTSM, ASR g. Performance Ratings: None h. Disciplinary Action(s) / Evidentiary Record: Electronic copy of the DD Form 2624, dated 4 November 2008, reflects the applicant tested positive for COC 181 during an Inspection Unit (IU) urinalysis testing conducted on 27 October 2008. FG Article 15 dated 19 December 2008 for wrongfully using cocaine on or about 27 October 2008. The punishment consisted of reduction to E-1, forfeiture of $673.00 pay per month for two months, and extra duty and restriction for 45 days. Electronic copy of the DD Form 2624, dated 11 December 2008, reflects the applicant tested positive for COC 335 during an Inspection Unit (IU) urinalysis testing conducted on 1 December 2008. Negative counseling statement in reference to the applicant wrongful use of cocaine on or about 24 October 2008. i. Lost Time / Mode of Return: None j. Behavioral Health Condition(s): See below (1) Applicant provided: Post-Service medical documents from Atrium Health indicating the applicant suffered of medical issues with Alcohol and drug abuse. Extract statements from various locations related to Alcohol, Substance Abuse and Depression, Anxiety and Depression. Decision letter from the Department of Veterans Affairs, indicating the applicant has been awarded 30 percent service-connected disability for adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood (claimed as anxiety and depression), effective 5 August 2019. (2) AMHRR Listed: NIF 5. APPLICANT-PROVIDED EVIDENCE: DD Form 293; self-authored letter; documents from separation packet; post-service medical documents; enlistment documents; certificate from the Cleveland Community College for Associate in Applied Science in Business Administration- Operations Management to included transcript; letters of recommendation; and decision letter from the Department of Veterans Affairs, indicating the applicant has been awarded 30 percent service-connected disability for adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood (claimed as anxiety and depression), effective 5 August 2019. 6. POST SERVICE ACCOMPLISHMENTS: The applicant makes references to having received an Associated degree in Business Administration Operations Management since discharge and is currently enrolled at Southern New Hampshire University in pursuit of a bachelor’s degree in the same field of study. The applicant also indicates having held down a job for going on 7 years and being promoted twice from machine operator to lead machine operator to plant foreman for over two years. 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 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. (5) 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. (6) 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, paragraph 12c(2), misconduct (drug abuse). 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-4 Applies to: Person separated from last period of service with a nonwaiverable disqualification. This includes anyone with a DA imposed bar to reenlistment in effect at time of separation or separated for any reason (except length of service retirement) with 18 or more years active Federal service. Eligibility: Ineligible for enlistment. 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 Army Military Human Resources Record (AMHRR), the issues, and documents submitted with the application were carefully reviewed. Evidence in the AMHRR indicates separation action was initiated against the applicant for testing positive for cocaine twice during a company urinalysis administered on 27 October 2008 and 1 December 2008. The applicant was separated under the provisions of Chapter 14, paragraph 14-12c(2), AR 635-200 with a general (under honorable conditions) discharge. The narrative reason specified by Army Regulations for a discharge under this paragraph is “Misconduct (Drug Abuse),” and the separation code is “JKK.” The applicant seeks relief contending, in effect, the discharge was due to an ongoing mental illness that surfaced and then grew worse while the applicant was in the military and even carried over into the applicant’s personal life after discharge. The applicant indicates having a mental illness with Anxiety and Depression along with Alcoholism and Drug Addiction. The military was a very stressful and frustrating environment. The applicant had many legitimate avenues through which to obtain assistance or relief, and there is no evidence in the record that the applicant ever sought such assistance before committing the misconduct which led to the separation action under review. The applicant contends, in effect, the applicant would drink to relieve the frustrations, anxiety, and stress. The applicant contends alcohol is practically worshipped and heavily promoted by most of the military’s personnel; nobody really cared if you drank or got drunk just so long as you weren’t doing drugs. The record does not contain any indication or evidence of arbitrary or capricious actions by the command and all requirements of law and regulation were met and the rights of the applicant were fully protected throughout the separation process. Additionally, by violating the Army's policy not to possess or use illegal drugs, the applicant 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 a discharge from the Army. The evidence submitted by the applicant indicates the applicant has been awarded a 30 percent service-connected disability for adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood (claimed as anxiety and depression), effective 5 August 2019. However, it should be noted the available AMHRR is void of any indication that the applicant was suffering from a disabling medical or mental condition during discharge processing that would have warranted separation processing through medical channels. The applicant expressed a desire for an upgrade of the characterization of service for the purpose of receiving 9/11 GI Bill benefits for college. However, it should be noted 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. 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'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 diagnosis: The applicant is service connected for an Adjustment Disorder. (2) Did the condition exist or experience occur during military service? Yes. The applicant asserts mental health issues in-service. (3) Does the condition or experience actually excuse or mitigate the discharge? No. The Board's Medical Advisor applied liberal consideration and opined that an Adjustment Disorder is a low-level difficulty coping with changes that does not render an individual cognitively impaired; the applicant could make informed decisions knowing right from wrong and possible consequences. (4) Does the condition or experience outweigh the discharge? No. After applying liberal consideration to the evidence, including the Board Medical Advisor opine, the Board determined that the available evidence did not support a conclusion that the applicant’s Adjustment Disorder outweighed the applicant’s cocaine use misconduct. b. Response to Contention(s): (1) The applicant seeks relief contending the discharge was due to an ongoing mental illness that surfaced and then grew worse while the applicant was in the military and even carried over into the applicant’s personal life after discharge. The applicant indicates having a mental illness with Anxiety and Depression along with Alcoholism and Drug Addiction. The Board considered this contention but determined that, while Adjustment Disorder is a potentially-mitigating condition under the Kurta Memorandum, the applicant’s Adjustment Disorder does not outweigh the applicant’s medically unmitigated cocaine use misconduct. Therefore, a discharge upgrade is not warranted. (2) The applicant expressed a desire for an upgrade of the characterization of service for the purpose of receiving 9/11 GI Bill benefits for college. The Board considered this contention and determined that eligibility for Veteran's benefits, to include educational benefits under the Post-9/11 or Montgomery GI Bill, healthcare or VA loans, do 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 c. The Board determined that the discharge is, at this time, proper and equitable, considering the current evidence of record. However, the applicant may request a personal appearance hearing to address the issues before the Board. 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 applicant’s characterization of service because, despite applying liberal consideration of all the evidence before the Board, the applicant’s Adjustment Disorder did not outweigh the medically unmitigated offense of cocaine use. The Board also considered the applicant's contention regarding GI Bill benefits and found that the totality of the applicant's record does not warrant a discharge upgrade. The discharge was consistent with the procedural and substantive requirements of the regulation, was within the discretion of the separation authority, and the applicant was provided full administrative due process. Therefore, the applicant’s General discharge was proper and equitable as the applicant’s misconduct fell below that level of meritorious service warranted for an upgrade to Honorable discharge. (2) The Board voted not to change the applicant’s reason for discharge or accompanying SPD code under the same pretexts, as 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 / Separation Order: No b. Change Characterization to: No Change 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 AR20200008388 1