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 (previously upgraded from G(UHC) in 2020). The applicant requests an upgrade to honorable (original request). The applicant seeks relief contending, in effect, the discharge was improper because the applicant was suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and the attempts at treatment within the military were not taken seriously. b. Board Type and Decision: In a records review conducted on 20 September 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 (Minor Infractions) / AR 635-200, Chapter 14-12a / JKN / RE-3 / Honorable (originally General (UHC)) b. Date of Discharge: 4 November 2013 c. Separation Facts: The applicant’s Army Military Human Resource Record (AMHRR) includes partial facts and circumstances of the case separation file. (1) Date of Notification of Intent to Separate: NIF (2) Basis for Separation: NIF (3) Recommended Characterization: General (Under Honorable Conditions) (4) Legal Consultation Date: NIF (5) Administrative Separation Board: NA (6) Separation Decision Date / Characterization: 10 October 2013 / General (Under Honorable Conditions) 4. SERVICE DETAILS: a. Date / Period of Enlistment: 30 March 2010 / 4 years b. Age at Enlistment / Education / GT Score: 18 / High School Graduate / 112 c. Highest Grade Achieved / MOS / Total Service: E-4 / 25C10, Radio Operator Maintainer / 3 years, 7 months, 5 days d. Prior Service / Characterizations: None e. Overseas Service / Combat Service: Hawaii, SWA / Afghanistan (31 March 2011 – 1 April 2012) f. Awards and Decorations: ACM-2CS-2, ARCOM, AAM, AGCM, USAFGCM, NDSM, ASR, OSR-2, NATOMDL, CAB g. Performance Ratings: NA h. Disciplinary Action(s) / Evidentiary Record: The applicant’s Enlisted Record Brief (ERB), 5 September 2013, reflects the applicant was flagged for Involuntary Separation or Discharge (Field Initiated) (BA), effective 10 March 2019; Adverse Action (AA), effective 23 June 2013 was ineligible for reenlistment due to an adverse action (9B). The applicant was reduced from E-4 to E-1 effective 12 August 2013. The applicant’s DD Form 214 reflects the applicant did not complete the first full term of service. The applicant was discharged under the authority of AR 635-200, paragraph 14-12a, with a narrative reason of Misconduct (Minor Infractions). The DD Form 214 was not authenticated with the applicant’s electronic signature. i. Lost Time / Mode of Return: None j. Behavioral Health Condition(s): (1) Applicant provided: Medical Record, 11 September 2012, reflects the applicant was diagnosed with Axis I: Adjustment Disorder with Anxiety R/O PTSD. Health Record, 29 July 2013, reflects the applicant was diagnosed with: Axis I: 307.42 Primary Insomnia and V61.1 Partner Relational Problem; Axis II: Antisocial traits; Axis III: Sleep disturbance; Axis IV: Relationship and Legal Stressors. MedStar Medical Group letter, 15 July 2014, reflects the applicant was diagnosed with: Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (ICD-309.81); Insomnia (ICD-780.52); Marijuana Abuse (ICD- 305.20). Progress Notes, 12 May 2015, reflects the applicant had h/o anxiety and depression, was initially started with MH at VA in California. A PCL-C was performed and was positive for PSD. Progress Notes, 19 March 2018, reflect the applicant was admitted in the hospital because they were having thoughts of hurting oneself. The applicant was also having worsening anxiety and depressed mood as well as feeling unsafe. The applicant was diagnosed with PTSD Major Depressive Disorder. VA Benefit Letter, 13 March 2019, reflects the applicant is receiving 70 percent service- connected disability compensation; however, the letter does not state the nature of the disability. Mindoula Health, Inc letter, 15 May 2019, reflects the applicant has been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (ICD 9 – 305.20); Insomnia (ICD 9 – 780.52); Depressive Disorder (ICD 9 296.32); Anxiety (ICD 9 – 300.02); and Adjustment Disorder with Anxiety (ICD 9 – 309.24). (2) AMHRR Listed: None 5. APPLICANT-PROVIDED EVIDENCE: DD Form 293; Army Medical Records; Medstar Medical Group Records; M. T., LCSW Records; ERB; DD Form 214; VA Letter, three letters of support; ARCOM Certificate. 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 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. (4) 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. (5) Paragraph 14-12a addresses minor disciplinary infractions, defined as a pattern of misconduct, consisting solely of minor military disciplinary infractions. 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 “JKN” as the appropriate code to assign enlisted Soldiers who are discharged under the provisions of Army Regulation 635-200, Chapter 14, misconduct (minor infractions). 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 Army Military Human Resources Record (AMHRR) includes partial facts and circumstances concerning the events which led to the discharge from the Army. The applicant’s AMHRR does contain a properly constituted DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty), which was not authenticated by the applicant’s electronic signature. The applicant’s DD Form 214 indicates the applicant was discharged under the provisions of AR 635-200, Chapter 14, paragraph 14-12a, by reason of Misconduct (Minor Infractions), with a characterization of service of honorable. The applicant contends suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and the attempts at treatment within the military were not taken seriously. The applicant provided Medical Record, 11 September 2012, which reflects the applicant was diagnosed with Axis I: Adjustment Disorder with Anxiety R/O PTSD. The Health Record, 29 July 2013, reflects the applicant was diagnosed with: Axis I: 307.42 Primary Insomnia and V61.1 Partner Relational Problem; Axis II: Antisocial traits; Axis III: Sleep disturbance; Axis IV: Relationship and Legal Stressors. The MedStar Medical Group letter, 15 July 2014, reflects the applicant was diagnosed with: Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (ICD-309.81); Insomnia (ICD-780.52); Marijuana Abuse (ICD- 305.20). Progress Notes, 12 May 2015, reflects the applicant had h/o anxiety and depression, was initially started with MH at VA in California. A PCL-C was performed and was positive for PTSD. Progress Notes, 19 March 2018, reflect the applicant was admitted in the hospital because they were having thoughts of hurting oneself. The applicant was also having worsening anxiety and depressed mood as well as feeling unsafe. The applicant was diagnosed with PTSD Major Depressive Disorder. The VA Benefit Letter, 13 March 2019, reflects the applicant is receiving 70 percent service-connected disability compensation; however, the letter does not state the nature of the disability. The Mindoula Health, Inc letter, 15 May 2019, reflects the applicant has been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (ICD 9 – 305.20); Insomnia (ICD 9 – 780.52); Depressive Disorder (ICD 9 296.32); Anxiety (ICD 9 – 300.02); and Adjustment Disorder with Anxiety (ICD 9 – 309.24). The applicant’s AMHRR does not contain any indication or evidence of arbitrary or capricious actions by the command. The third-party statements provided with the application speak highly of the applicant and recognize the applicant’s struggles with PTSD and good conduct after leaving the Army. 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, after applying liberal consideration found the applicant’s PTSD, in part, mitigated the applicant’s original basis for separation that warranted a previous Board’s discharge characterization upgrade to HD, and now warrants reconsideration of whether the applicant’s PTSD, Adjustment Disorder, PTSD, and Major Depressive Disorder warrant reconsideration of the applicant’s narrative reason and RE code. A previous Board (December 2020) determined the basis of separation to be assault based on medical records. This Board considered that basis for consistency in deciding on narrative reason and RE code. (2) Did the condition exist, or experience occur during military service? Yes. The Board's Medical Advisor found that the applicant was diagnosed in service with an Adjustment Disorder and the VA has diagnosed and service connected the applicant for PTSD and Major Depressive Disorder. Service connection establishes that the applicant's PTSD and Major Depressive Disorder existed at the time of military service. (3) Does the condition or experience excuse or mitigate the discharge? No. The Board's Medical Advisor applied liberal consideration and opined that there is evidence of multiple potentially mitigating Behavioral Health conditions. The applicant was diagnosed in service with an Adjustment Disorder and the VA has diagnosed and service connected the applicant for PTSD and Major Depressive Disorder. The basis of separation is not specifically contained in the file, so the Board deferred to a previous Board’s determination of assault for consistency (recommended upon legal review). The applicant already has an Honorable Discharge and further review of the evidentiary record do not warrant a change to the narrative reason or SPD. The RE Code should remain a 3 due to applicant’s service connection for multiple behavioral health conditions. (4) Does the condition or experience outweigh the discharge? N/A The applicant already has an honorable characterization. b. Response to Contention(s): (1) The applicant contends suffering from PTSD and the attempts at treatment within the military were not taken seriously. Given the current characterization of service is honorable, there is no further relief available with respect to characterization. Evidentiary and medical records do not warrant a change to the narrative reason, SPD, or RE code. The evidentiary record does not contain evidence that the command denied the applicant treatment or did not take treatment attempts seriously. c. The Board determined that the discharge is, at this time, proper and equitable based on the evidentiary record. However, the applicant may request a personal appearance hearing to address 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 despite applying liberal consideration as the applicant already has an honorable characterization. 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. (2) The Board voted not to change the applicant’s narrative reason for discharge or accompanying SPD. For consistency, the Board considered a previous Board’s basis of separation (assault) and found that did not warrant a change to the narrative reason or SPD. The reason the applicant was discharged was both proper and equitable based on the evidentiary record and previous Board’s determination. (3) The RE code will not change due to the applicant’s multiple behavioral health conditions. 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 AR20210001615 1