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 uncharacterized. The applicant requests an upgrade to honorable. The applicant seeks relief contending, in effect, being released from the Army National Guard (ARNG) because the applicant’s grandparent passed away a week prior to attending training. The applicant informed the noncommissioned officer in charge (NCOIC) at the ARNG the applicant was coping with the death and the applicant was told to just ship. While in training the applicant was having a hard time accepting the grandparent’s passing and sought grievance counseling. Since the applicant was in a training environment, the applicant was told the applicant was having a hard time adjusting to the military lifestyle mentally and was released with an uncharacterized which is reflected on the DD Form 214 and NGB Form 22. In 2008, a year after the incident, the applicant reentered the Active Duty Army and has been serving honorably, with two combat deployments: one to Iraq and one to Afghanistan. The applicant believes the applicant has proven the ability to serve in the military successfully. It is embarrassing to look at the permanent record and the applicant does not want it to hinder the applicant’s career in the Army. The applicant is currently a staff sergeant in the Infantry and has completed all Noncommissioned Officer Education System (NCOES) courses. Th applicant has earned 152 semester hours through civilian education, and has trained and mentored Soldiers in garrison and led them through deployments. The Army is the applicant’s passion and the applicant truly loves the job. The applicant wants to push the career further, but is hesitant because of the discharge being on the applicant’s permanent record, which reflects negatively on the applicant for individuals and leaders who personally do not know the applicant. b. Board Type and Decision: In a records review conducted on 25 August 2023, and by a 5-0 vote, the Board denied the request upon finding the separation 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: Condition, Not a Disability / AR 635- 200, Paragraph 5-17 / JFV / RE-3 / Uncharacterized b. Date of Discharge: 21 August 2007 c. Separation Facts: (1) Date of Notification of Intent to Separate: NIF (2) Basis for Separation: NIF (3) Recommended Characterization: NIF (4) Legal Consultation Date: NIF (5) Administrative Separation Board: NIF (6) Separation Decision Date / Characterization: NIF 4. SERVICE DETAILS: a. Date / Period of Enlistment: 12 June 2006 / NIF b. Age at Enlistment / Education / GT Score: 17 / HS Graduate / 106 c. Highest Grade Achieved / MOS / Total Service: E-3 / None / 1 year, 2 months, 29 days / The applicant’s DD Form 214 reflects in: Block 12c, Net Active Service This Period: 1 month, 20 days; however, the DD Form 214 omitted the 2 months, 15 days, the applicant was on active duty for basic training from 12 June 2006 to 26 August 2006, a total of 4 months, 5 days on active duty. Block 12e, Total Prior Inactive Service, 1 year, 1 month, 9 days; however, the record shows the applicant was on prior inactive service for 19 days and on inactive service during this period for 10 months, 5 days; a total of inactive service, both prior and during this period, of 10 months, 24 days. The applicant was in the Split Training Program. The DD Form 214 covers the period the applicant began basic training until the applicant’s release from active while attending advanced individual training. It appears the calculations include both inactive duty time, before and during this period, and active duty time during this period, but did not separate the period the applicant as on active duty while in basic training from the inactive duty period. d. Prior Service / Characterizations: ARNG, 23 May 2006 – 11 June 2006 / NA e. Overseas Service / Combat Service: None f. Awards and Decorations: None g. Performance Ratings: NA h. Disciplinary Action(s) / Evidentiary Record: Nine Post Appointment Instructions v27, Community Mental Health Services, from 20 July to 20 August 2007, which reflects the applicant was scheduled for evaluation with a therapist or psychiatrist for a Chapter 5-13, Chapter 5-17, or to evaluate whether the condition existed prior to service (EPTS). Active Duty Report, 9 August 2006, reflects the applicant was on active duty from 12 June 2006 to 26 August 2006, 75 days. The applicant completed basic training. The applicant’s DD Form 214, reflects the applicant had not completed the first full term of service. The applicant was discharged under the authority of AR 635-200, paragraph 5-17, with a narrative reason of Condition, Not a Disability. The DD Form 214 was authenticated with the applicant’s signature. Army National Guard Retirement Points History Retirement, 11 October 2007, reflects the applicant was on active duty for initial entry training from 12 June 2006 to 26 August 2006 (75 days: 2 months, 15 days), and from 2 July 2007 to 21 August 2007 (50 days: 1 month, 20 days). i. Lost Time / Mode of Return: None j. Behavioral Health Condition(s): (1) Applicant provided: None (2) AMHRR Listed: Report of Mental Status Evaluation, 27 July 2007, reflects the applicant was evaluated because of a pending separation under Chapter 5-17, because of crying spells. The applicant admitted to having problems with depression since late adolescence and the depression became worse after arriving to training. The applicant contributed the problems to the poor adjustment to the military and wanted to be discharged from the Army. The applicant was cleared for any administrative actions deemed appropriate by the command. The applicant could understand and participate in administrative proceedings; could appreciate the difference between right and wrong; and met medical retention requirements. The applicant was diagnosed with: Adjustment Disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood. 5. APPLICANT-PROVIDED EVIDENCE: DD Form 293; four NCO Evaluation Reports; two Service School Academic Evaluation Reports; Enlisted Record Brief; and college transcript. 6. POST SERVICE ACCOMPLISHMENTS: The applicant enlisted in the Army and is serving honorably as an NCO in the Infantry; has completed all Noncommissioned Officer Education System (NCOES) courses; earned 152 semester hours through civilian education; and has trained and mentored Soldiers, leading the Soldiers through deployments. 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) Paragraph 3-9 states a separation will be described as entry-level with service uncharacterized if processing is initiated while a Soldier is in entry-level status. (4) Chapter 5 provides for the basic separation of enlisted personnel for the convenience of the government. (5) Paragraph 5-1 states a Soldier being separated under this paragraph will be awarded a characterization of service of honorable, general (under honorable conditions), or an uncharacterized description of service if in entry-level status. A general (under honorable conditions) discharge is normally inappropriate for individuals separated under the provisions of paragraph 5-14 (previously paragraph 5-17) unless properly notified of the specific factors in the service that warrant such characterization. (6) Paragraph 5-14 (previously paragraph 5-17) specifically provides that a Soldier may be separated for other physical or mental conditions not amounting to a disability, which interferes with assignment to or performance of duty and requires that the diagnosis be so severe that the Soldier’s ability to function in the military environment is significantly impaired. (7) Glossary defines entry-level status for ARNGUS and USAR Soldiers, entry-level status begins upon enlistment in the ARNG or USAR. For Soldiers ordered to IADT for one continuous period, it terminates 180 days after beginning training. For Soldiers ordered to IADT for the split or alternate training option, it terminates 90 days after beginning Phase II advanced individual training (AIT). (Soldiers completing Phase I BT or basic combat training remain in entry-level status until 90 days after beginning Phase II.) 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 “JFV” as the appropriate code to assign enlisted Soldiers who are discharged under the provisions of Army Regulation 635-200, Chapter 5-14 (previously Chapter 5-17), Condition, Not a Disability. 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) is void of the specific and circumstances concerning the events that 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 authenticated by the applicant’s signature. The applicant’s DD Form 214 indicates the applicant was discharged under the provisions of AR 635-200, Chapter 5, paragraph 5-17, by reason of Condition, Not a Disability, with a characterization of service of uncharacterized. The applicant contends family issues affected behavior and ultimately caused the discharge. The applicant did not submit any evidence, other than the applicant’s statement, to support the contention the discharge resulted from family issues. The applicant’s AMHRR shows the applicant underwent a mental status evaluation (MSE) on 27 July 2007, which indicates the applicant was evaluated because of a pending separation under Chapter 5-17, because of crying spells. The applicant admitted to having problems with depression since late adolescence and the depression became worse after arriving to training. The applicant was found to be mentally responsible and was able to recognize right from wrong. The applicant was diagnosed with adjustment disorder, with mixed anxiety and depressed mood. The MSE was considered by the separation authority. The applicant’s AMHRR does not contain any indication or evidence of arbitrary or capricious actions by the command. The applicant contends enlisting in the Army and is serving honorably as an NCO in the Infantry; completing all Noncommissioned Officer Education System (NCOES) courses; earning 152 semester hours through civilian education; and training and mentoring Soldiers, leading the Soldiers through deployments. The Army Discharge Review Board is authorized to consider post-service factors in the recharacterization of a discharge. No law or regulation provides for the upgrade of an unfavorable discharge based solely on the passage of time or good conduct in civilian life after leaving the service. 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 diagnoses/experiences: Adjustment Disorder and PTSD. (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. Applicant is service connected for PTSD that was incurred during a subsequent enlistment. (3) Does the condition or experience actually excuse or mitigate the discharge? No. The Board's Medical Advisor applied liberal consideration and opined that applicant was diagnosed in service with an Adjustment Disorder and discharged appropriately under Chapter 5-17. There is no evidence of any mitigating conditions or experiences that affect the appropriateness of the discharge. Applicant is service connected for PTSD that was incurred during a subsequent enlistment. (4) Does the condition or experience outweigh the discharge? N/A b. Response to Contention(s): (1) The applicant contends family issues affected behavior and ultimately caused the discharge. The Board considered this contention along with the totality of the record and determined that the applicant’s contention does not mitigate or outweigh the appropriateness of the applicant’s discharge resulting from the applicant’s Adjustment Disorder diagnosis. (2) The applicant contends enlisting in the Army and is serving honorably as an NCO in the Infantry; completing all Noncommissioned Officer Education System (NCOES) courses; earning 152 semester hours through civilian education; and training and mentoring Soldiers, leading the Soldiers through deployments. The Board considered the applicant’s conduct subsequent to the period of enlistment under review and determined that it does not mitigate or outweigh the appropriateness of the applicant’s Uncharacterized characterization of service, given review of the factors in the record pertaining to the period of enlistment under review. c. The Board determined that the discharge is, at this time, proper and equitable, in light of the current evidence of record. The applicant has exhausted their appeal options available with ADRB. However, the applicant may still apply to the Army Board for Correction of Military Records. 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 there were no mitigating factors for the Board to consider. Since the applicant was discharged for an Adjustment Disorder diagnosis, the applicant’s current Uncharacterized characterization of service is proper and equitable. The Board did not consider any issues of impropriety as the applicant did not present any impropriety issue for the Board's consideration. 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 UNC was proper and equitable. (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 AR20210001657 1