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 general (under honorable conditions). The applicant requests an upgrade to honorable. The applicant seeks relief contending, in effect, being an outstanding Soldier and highly respected by leaders and peers. Before returning from deployment the applicant's spouse took the kids and left. The applicant turned to alcohol and was charged with DUI a few months after redeployment. The applicant did not receive a DD Form 214 for the first term of honorable service. The applicant has issues with employment, providing for the children and no medical insurance. The applicant wants to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. b. Board Type and Decision: In a records review conducted on 15 December 2022, and by a 5-0 vote, the Board determined that the characterization of service was inequitable based on the applicant's PTSD outweighing the basis for separation - two DUIs. Accordingly, the Board voted to grant relief in the form of an upgrade to the characterization of service to Honorable. The Board determined the narrative reason/SPD code and RE code were proper and equitable and voted not to change them 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 / General (Under Honorable Conditions) b. Date of Discharge: 24 December 2014 c. Separation Facts: (1) Date of Notification of Intent to Separate: 2 October 2014 (2) Basis for Separation: The applicant was informed of the following reasons: The applicant wrongfully operated a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol on 2 February 2014 and 16 August 2014. (3) Recommended Characterization: Under Other Than Honorable Conditions (4) Legal Consultation Date: 6 October 2014 (5) Administrative Separation Board: On 19 November 2014, the applicant was notified to appear before an administrative separation board and advised of rights. On 11 December 2014, the administrative separation board convened, and the applicant appeared with counsel. The board recommended the applicant's discharge with characterization of service of under other than honorable conditions. On 19 December 2014, the separation authority approved the findings and recommendations of the administrative separation board. (6) Separation Decision Date / Characterization: 19 December 2014 / Under Other Than Honorable Conditions 4. SERVICE DETAILS: a. Date / Period of Enlistment: 30 August 2010 / 6 years b. Age at Enlistment / Education / GT Score: 24 / some college / 125 c. Highest Grade Achieved / MOS / Total Service: E-4 / 91D10, Power-Generation Equipment / 7 years, 11 months, 1 day d. Prior Service / Characterizations: USAR, 24 January 2007 - 20 August 2008 / HD IADT, 8 February 2007 - 12 July 2007 / HD (Concurrent Service) RA, 21 August 2008 - 29 August 2010 / HD e. Overseas Service / Combat Service: Alaska / SWA Afghanistan (6 November 2012 - 26 May 2013) f. Awards and Decorations: ARCOM, AAM-2, AGCM, NDSM, GWOTSM, ASR, OSR-2, NATOMDL / The applicant's AMHRR reflects award of the ACM-CS, however, the award is not reflected on the DD Form 214. g. Performance Ratings: NA h. Disciplinary Action(s) / Evidentiary Record: Military Police Report, dated 10 February 2014, reflects the applicant was apprehended for: Driving Under the influence (off post). General Officer Memorandum of Reprimand, dated 28 March 2014, reflects, the applicant was reprimanded for driving under the influence of alcohol in Anchorage, Alaska, on 2 February 2014. An Anchorage Police Officer initiated a traffic stop after observing the applicant's vehicle driving erratically. Upon contact, the officer observed the applicant had blood-shot, watery eyes and an odor of an alcoholic beverage emitting from the applicant's breath when speaking. Subsequently, the applicant failed a series of Standardized Field Sobriety Tests and provided a breath sample resulting in a Breath Alcohol Content of .086 percent. General Officer Memorandum of Reprimand, dated 3 October 2014, reflects, the applicant was reprimanded for driving under the influence of alcohol in Wasilla, Alaska, on 16 August 2014. A Palmer Police Officer initiated a traffic stop after observing the applicant's vehicle repeatedly crossing over the center lines for several miles and not maintaining a consistent speed. Upon contact, the Officer detected a strong odor of alcohol emitting from the applicant and noted the applicant had bloodshot watery eyes, slightly slurred speech, and difficulty maintaining balance. The applicant failed a series of Standardized Field Sobriety Tests and provided a breath sample resulting in a Breath Alcohol Content of .075 percent. Furthermore, the applicant was driving on a suspended driver's license due to a previous DUI the applicant was charged with earlier this year. Military Police Report, dated 4 December 2014, reflects the applicant was apprehended for: Failed to obey general order traffic post driving revocation violation; Fail to obey other order, open container violation (on post). Two Developmental Counseling Forms, for various acts of misconduct. i. Lost Time / Mode of Return: None j. Applicant Provided and/or AMHHR Listed PTSD / TBI / Other Behavioral Health Conditions: Report of Medical History, dated 11 March 2014, the examining medical physician noted in the comments section: The applicant has insomnia and getting family life counseling. 5. APPLICANT-PROVIDED EVIDENCE: DD Form 214; DD Form 293; VA Letter; Three letters of recommendation; Honorable Discharge Certificate; Oath of Reenlistment Certificate; DA Form 4/2 and supporting document. 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) 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 14-12a 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 record of service, the issues and documents submitted with the application were carefully reviewed. The applicant contends, has issues with medical insurance and was denied by the VA; and wants to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Eligibility for veteran's benefits 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 contends having issues with employment and providing for the children. The Board does not grant relief to gain employment or enhance employment opportunities. The applicant contends good service, including a combat tour. The Board will consider the applicant's service accomplishments and the quality of service according to the DODI 1332.28. The applicant contends turning to alcohol and being charged with DUI a few months after redeployment, and after the spouse left with the children. Army Regulation 600-85, paragraph 7- 3 entitled voluntary (self) identification and referral, states voluntary (self) ID is the most desirable method of identifying substance use disorder. The individual whose performance, social conduct, interpersonal relations, or health becomes impaired because of these problems has the personal obligation to seek help. Soldiers seeking self-referral for problematic substance use may access services through BH services for a SUD evaluation. The Army Military Human Resource Record (AMHRR) is void of a mental status evaluation. There is no evidence in the AMHRR the applicant ever sought assistance before committing the misconduct, which led to the separation action under review. 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: PTSD, Adjustment Disorder, Anxiety, Major Depressive Disorder. (2) Did the condition exist or experience occur during military service? Yes. The Board's Medical Advisor found that the applicant's PTSD, Adjustment Disorder, and Anxiety existed during military service. There is no evidence that applicant's post service diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder existed during 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 given the nexus between PTSD and self-medicating with substances, the applicant's PTSD likely contributed to the DUI's that led to the separation. (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 PTSD outweighed the basis for separation - two instances of DUI - for the aforementioned reason. b. Response to Contention(s): (1) The applicant contends turning to alcohol and being charged with DUI a few months after redeployment. The Board found validity in this contention and determined that the applicant's two DUIs are mitigated by the applicant's PTSD and thus, relief is warranted. (2) The applicant contends having issues with medical insurance and was denied by the VA; and wants to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. 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. (3) The applicant contends having issues with employment and providing for the applicant's children. The Board considered this contention but does not grant relief to gain employment or enhance employment opportunities. (4) The applicant contends good service, including a combat tour. The Board considered this contention, but ultimately determined relief is warranted based on the applicant's PTSD outweighing the discharge. c. The Board determined that the characterization of service was inequitable based on the applicant's PTSD outweighing the DUI basis for separation, and as such relief is warranted. d. Rationale for Decision: (1) The Board voted to change the applicant's characterization of service to Honorable because the applicant's PTSD mitigated the applicant's misconduct of two instances of DUI. Thus the prior characterization is no longer appropriate. (2) The Board voted not to change the applicant's reason for discharge or accompanying SPD code 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 and the applicant's PTSD is service limiting. 10. BOARD ACTION DIRECTED: a. Issue a New DD-214: Yes b. Change Characterization to: Honorable 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 AR20210002462 1