1. Applicant's Name: a. Application Date: 26 April 2021 b. Date Received: 26 April 2021 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 honorable. The applicant requests a narrative reason change and a reentry eligibility (RE) code change. The applicant seeks relief contending, in effect, in 2010, the applicant started receiving medical care at the VA medical center in Washington DC. The applicant was diagnosed with anxiety and depression disorder with a combined rating of 70 percent and not a personality disorder. The applicant wants the narrative reason for separation on the DD Form 214 to reflect the service- connected disability, also the reentry code to reflect the same. b. Board Type and Decision: In a records review conducted on 10 August 2023, and by a 5-0 vote, the Board determined the narrative reason for the applicant's separation is improper based on updated Army Regulations governing Convenience of the Government separations. Therefore, the Board directed issuing a new DD Form 214 changing the separation authority to AR 635-200, paragraph 5-14, and the narrative reason for separation to Condition, not a Disability, with a corresponding separation code to JFV. The Board determined the reenlistment code was 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: Personality Disorder / AR 635-200, Paragraph 5-13 / JFX / RE-3 / Honorable b. Date of Discharge: 17 April 2007 c. Separation Facts: (1) Date of Notification of Intent to Separate: 30 March 2007 (2) Basis for Separation: The applicant was informed of the following reasons: The applicant was separated for a personality disorder. (3) Recommended Characterization: Honorable (4) Legal Consultation Date: 30 November 2007 (5) Administrative Separation Board: NA (6) Separation Decision Date / Characterization: 5 April 2007 / Honorable 4. SERVICE DETAILS: a. Date / Period of Enlistment: 3 April 2005 / 6 years b. Age at Enlistment / Education / GT Score: 26 / GED / 107 c. Highest Grade Achieved / MOS / Total Service: E-4 / 94R10, Avionics System Repairer / 5 years, 5 months, 9 days d. Prior Service / Characterizations: 9 November 2001 - 2 April 2005 / HD e. Overseas Service / Combat Service: Korea, SWA / Iraq (11 January 2005 - 28 December 2005) f. Awards and Decorations: AAM-2, AGCM, NDSM, GWOTSM, KDSM, ASR, OSR g. Performance Ratings: NA h. Disciplinary Action(s) / Evidentiary Record: Developmental Counseling Form, for separation under AR 635-200, Chapter 5, paragraph 5-17, Other Designated Physical or Mental Condition. i. Lost Time / Mode of Return: None j. Behavioral Health Condition(s): (1) Applicant provided: Mental Status Evaluation, dated 20 February 2007, reflects the applicant was cleared for any administrative actions deemed appropriate by the command. The applicant was mentally responsible with a clear-thinking process and had the mental capacity to understand and participate in the proceedings. The applicant was diagnosed with: Axis I: Adjustment Disorder, Sedative Abuse and Axis II: Personality Disorder. Medical Record- Patient Release/Discharge Instructions, dated 27 February 2007, reflects the applicant was diagnosed with: Adjustment Disorder, Personality Disorder, and Substance Abuse Disorder. VA Rating Decision Letter, dated 23 September 2013, reflects the applicant was granted 70 percent evaluation for major depressive disorder based on suicidal ideation. (2) AMHRR Listed: MSE as described in previous paragraph 4j(1). Report of Medical Examination dated 7 March 2007, the examining medical physician noted in the comments section: Anxiety/Depression. 5. APPLICANT-PROVIDED EVIDENCE: DD Form 293; DD Form 214; MEDCOM Form 699-R; MEDCOM Form 691-R; VA Rating Decision; VA Medical Records; VA Benefit Summary Letter; VA Certification for Schedule A Letter. 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) 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) Chapter 5 provides for the basic separation of enlisted personnel for the convenience of the government. (4) Paragraph 5-13, in effect at the time, stated that a Soldier may be separated for a personality disorder, not amounting to disability, when the condition interfered with assignment to or performance of duty. The regulation requires that the condition is a deeply ingrained maladaptive pattern of behavior of long duration that interferes with the Soldier's ability to perform military duties. The regulation also directs that commanders will not take action prescribed in this Chapter in lieu of disciplinary action and requires that the disorder is so severe that the Soldier's ability to function in the military environment is significantly impaired. Army policy requires the award of an Honorable discharge in such case. (5) Paragraph 5-13h stipulates that the characterization for a Soldier separated under this paragraph will be characterized as honorable unless an entry-level separation is required under chapter 3, section II. Characterization of service under honorable conditions may be awarded to a Soldier who has been convicted of an offense by general court-martial or who has been convicted by more than one special court-martial in the current enlistment, period of obligated service, or any extension thereof. e. Army Regulation 635-5-1 (Separation Program Designator (SPD) Codes), in effect at the time, provided 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 identified the SPD code of "JFX" as the appropriate code to assign enlisted Soldiers who were discharged under the provisions of Army Regulation 635-200, Chapter 5-13, Personality Disorder. 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-1 Applies to: Person completing his or her term of active service who is considered qualified to reenter the U.S. Army. Eligibility: Qualified for enlistment if all other criteria are met. 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. 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 a narrative reason change and a reentry eligibility (RE) code change. Evidence in the applicant's Army Military Human Resource Record (AMHRR) confirms the applicant was diagnosed by a competent medical authority with a personality disorder: Adjustment Disorder, Sedative Abuse, and Personality Disorder. The applicant contends the narrative reason for separation needs changed. The applicant was separated under the provisions of Chapter 5, paragraph 5-13, AR 635-200 with an honorable discharge. The narrative reason specified by Army Regulations for a discharge under this paragraph is "Personality Disorder," and the separation code is "JFX." Army Regulation 635-8, Separation Processing and Documents, governs preparation of the DD Form 214, and dictates the entry of the narrative reason for separation, entered in block 28 and separation code, entered in block 26 of the form, will be as listed in tables 2-2 or 2-3 of AR 635-5-1, Separation Program Designator (SPD) Codes. The regulation stipulates no deviation is authorized. There is no provision for any other reason to be entered under this regulation. The applicant contends being diagnosed by VA with anxiety and depression disorder with a combined rating of 70 percent and not a personality disorder. The applicant provided a copy of a Mental Status Evaluation (MSE), dated 20 February 2007, which reflects the applicant was cleared for any administrative actions deemed appropriate by the command. The applicant was mentally responsible with a clear-thinking process and had the mental capacity to understand and participate in the proceedings. The applicant was diagnosed with: Axis I: Adjustment Disorder, Sedative Abuse and Axis II: Personality Disorder. The MSE was considered by the separation authority. Medical Record-Patient Release/Discharge Instructions, dated 27 February 2007 reflects the applicant was diagnosed with: Adjustment Disorder, Personality Disorder; and Substance Abuse Disorder. VA Rating Decision Letter, dated 23 September 2013 reflects the applicant was granted 70 percent evaluation for major depressive disorder based on suicidal ideation. The applicant requests a reentry eligibility (RE) code change. AR 635-200, para 1-37f states that the separation authority will determine the RE Code for Soldiers without a remaining MSO and when discharge is required based on waiverable and nonwaiverable guidance in AR 601- 210.. The applicant RE 3 code was appropriately assigned as the applicant had behavioral health conditions that interfered with the performance of the applicant's duty (see AR 635-200, para 5-14a.). An RE Code of "3" indicates the applicant requires a waiver before being allowed to reenlist. Recruiters can best advise a former service member as to the Army's needs at the time and are required to process waivers of reentry eligibility (RE) codes if appropriate. 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 applicant's testimony, and found that the applicant's personality disorder does not mitigate the applicant's discharge because the applicant was separated for a personality disorder, not based on misconduct which potentially could be mitigated by medical condition(s). However, the Board voted to change the narrative reason as stated in paragraph 9b(1), below. (2) Did the condition exist or experience occur during military service? N/A. (3) Does the condition or experience actually excuse or mitigate the discharge? N/A (4) Does the condition or experience outweigh the discharge? N/A. b. Response to Contention(s): (1) The applicant contends the narrative reason for separation needs changed. The Board considered this contention and determined that it was valid. Therefore, a discharge upgrade is warranted. (2) The applicant contends being diagnosed by the VA with anxiety and depression disorder with a combined rating of 70 percent and not a personality disorder. The Board considered this contention and determined that it was valid based on updates to Army Regulation 635-200. Therefore, a narrative reason upgrade is warranted. (3) The applicant requests a reentry eligibility (RE) code change. The Board considered this contention and determined that the current RE code is proper and equitable and appropriately assigned as the applicant had behavioral health conditions that interfered with the performance of the applicant's duty. However, if the applicant desires to rejoin military service, the applicant may apply for a waiver. c. The Board determined the narrative reason for the applicant's separation is improper based on updates to Army Regulation 635-200. Therefore, the Board directed the issuing of a new DD Form 214 changing the separation authority to AR 635-200, paragraph 5-14, and the narrative reason for separation to Condition, Not a Disability, with a corresponding separation code to JFV. The board determined the RE code was proper and equitable. d. Rationale for Decision: (1) The Board voted not to change the applicant's characterization of service because the applicant already holds an Honorable characterization. (2) The Board voted to change the reason for discharge Condition, Not a Disability. Thus, the reason for discharge is no longer appropriate. The SPD code associated with the new reason for discharge is JFV. (3) The RE code will not change, as the current code is consistent with the procedural and substantive requirements of the regulation and if the applicant desires to rejoin military service, a waiver for the applicant's service behavioral health conditions are required. 10. BOARD ACTION DIRECTED: a. Issue a New DD-214: Yes b. Change Characterization to: No Change c. Change Reason / SPD code to: Condition (Not a Disability)/ JFV d. Change RE Code to: No Change e. Change Authority to: AR 635-200, paragraph 5-14, Other Designated Physical or Mental Condition 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 AR20210000858 1