1. Applicant’s Name: a. Application Date: 31 December 2020 b. Date Received: 5 January 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 and RE-code change. The applicant seeks relief contending, in effect, that the current reentry eligibility (RE) code does not represent the person that the applicant is, nor does it represent who the applicant was. This code is based on a single lapse of judgment taken under the duress of bullying and previous negative experiences. The applicant regrets that the action hurt others even though they hurt the applicant first. b. Board Type and Decision: In a records review conducted on 2 December 2022, 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: Non-Retention on Active Duty / AR 635-200 / Chapter 4 / JGH / RE-4 / Honorable b. Date of Discharge: 1 November 2016 c. Separation Facts: (1) Date of Notification of Intent to Separate: NIF (2) Basis for Separation: The applicant was informed of the following reasons: 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: 1 December 2010 / 6 years b. Age at Enlistment / Education / GT Score: 26 / 1 Year College / 123 c. Highest Grade Achieved / MOS / Total Service: E-6 / 25B30, IT Specialist / 14 years, 1 month, 26 days d. Prior Service / Characterizations: USAR, 6 September 2002 to 18 November 2002 / NA RA, 19 November 2002 to 29 January 2006 / HD RA, 30 January 2006 to 30 November 2010 / HD (Concurrent Service) e. Overseas Service / Combat Service: Korea, Germany, SWA / Iraq (3 October 2005 to 15 September 2006 and 19 July 2008 to 3 October 2009), Qatar (8 April 2013 to 11 December 2013), and Afghanistan (12 December 2013 to 3 April 2014) f. Awards and Decorations: ARCOM-5, AAM-2, MUC, AGCM-4, NDSM, GWOTEM, GWOTSM, KDSM, HSM, NOPDR-2, OSR-4, ACM-CS, ICM-CS 4 g. Performance Ratings: 8 April 2014 to 8 August 2015, Fully Capable 9 August 2015 to 9 September 2016, Exceeded Standard / Highly Qualified h. Disciplinary Action(s) / Evidentiary Record: It should be noted that although the Performance Rating Report of 8 April 2014 to 8 August 2015, rated the applicant as Fully Capable, the applicant was also rated as needing improving in leadership for failing to adhere to the Army’s SHARP program as a resulting of having committed an act of sexual harassment through social media. It was also noted in the Overall Performance and Potential section that the applicant demonstrated a blatant disregard for the Army’s SHARP program. The applicant’s DD Form 214 under review does not reflect a transfer to the USAR Control Group and he did not have a Reserve Obligation Termination Date. i. Lost Time / Mode of Return: None j. Diagnosed PTSD / TBI / Behavioral Health: NIF 5. APPLICANT-PROVIDED EVIDENCE: DD Form 293; self-authored letter; and documents from his Army Military Human Resource Record (AMHRR) to include (certificate of training / award of the Good Conduct Medal (4th) order, records of emergency data, service school academic evaluation reports, NCO Evaluation Reports, pre-separation counseling checklist, travel orders, separation orders, enlisted record briefs, and DD Form 214 for the period of service under review). 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), 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) Chapter 4 establishes the policies and procedures for separating a Soldier upon expiration of enlistment of fulfillment of service obligation. The periods of military service required of all Army Soldiers will be in accordance with applicable laws. Periods for which enlistment is authorized are in NGR 600–200, AR 140–111, and AR 601–210. Periods for which Soldiers are ordered to AD are prescribed by law. Soldier enlisted or ordered to AD normally will be discharged or released from AD on the date he/she completes the period for which enlisted or ordered to AD. Personnel released from AD and transferred to the USAR upon completion of the term of service for which ordered into active Federal service, or released to their Reserve Component upon completion of AD. These Soldiers will not be discharged until completion of their reserve obligation. (4) Chapter 19 contains policies and procedures for voluntary and involuntary separation, for the convenience of the Government, of RA NCOs and USAR NCOs serving in AGR status, under the QMP. NCOs whose performance, conduct, and/or potential for advancement do not meet Army standards, as determined by the approved recommendations of HQDA centralized selection boards responsible for QMP screening, will be denied continued service. (5) Paragraph 19-1b, states the service of a Soldier separated under this paragraph will be characterized as honorable. 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 “JGH” as the appropriate code to assign enlisted Soldiers who are discharged under the provisions of Army Regulation 635-200, Chapter 19, paragraph 19-12, non-retention on active duty. 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. The applicant’s record of service, the issues and documents submitted with the application were carefully reviewed. The applicant’s AMHRR is void of the specific facts and circumstances concerning the events which led to the discharge from the Army. The applicant seeks relief contending that the current reentry eligibility (RE) code does not represent the person the applicant is, nor does it represent who the applicant was. This code is based on a single lapse of judgment taken under the duress of bullying and previous negative experiences. The applicant regrets that the action hurt others even though they hurt the applicant first. The applicant’s contentions were noted; however, 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 “JGH” as the appropriate code to assign enlisted Soldiers who are discharged under the provisions of Army Regulation 635-200, Chapter 19, paragraph 19-12, non-retention on active duty. The regulation stipulates no deviation is authorized. The Soldier will be assigned an RE Code of “4.” It should be noted that it appears someone in the discharge process erroneously entered on the applicant's DD Form 214, block 25, “AR 635-200, Chapter 4.” Army Regulation 635-5-1 (Separation Program Designator (SPD) Codes) list the separation authority for Non-Retention on Active Duty, under the Qualitative Management Program (QMP). Soldiers involuntarily separated as the result of a QMP board, will be separated under the provisions of Army Regulation 635-200, Chapter 19, paragraph 19-12, non-retention on active duty. The service of the Soldier separated under this paragraph will be characterized as honorable, the DD Form 214 coded with SPD code “JGH” and Reenlistment Eligibility code “RE-4.” However, in the absence of the separation packet, no action on this part can be taken with the evidence provided by the applicant. 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 reviewed DoD and VA medical records and found no mitigating BH diagnoses on the applicant. The applicant provided no documents or testimony of a condition or experience, that, when applying liberal consideration, could have excused or mitigated a discharge. (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): The applicant seeks relief contending that the current narrative reason and RE-code do not represent the person that the applicant is or was, as these two items are based on a single lapse of judgment taken under the duress of bullying and previous negative experiences and was only reciprocal in nature. The Board considered this contention non-persuasive during its deliberations. The Board determined that the Army has many legitimate avenues available to service members requesting assistance with perceived unfair treatment and the applicant’s length of service demonstrated that knowledge. There is no evidence in the official records nor provided by the applicant that such assistance was pursued. The Board concluded that the applicant’s sexual harassment by means of posting someone else’s picture on a public forum is not an acceptable response to dealing with perceived unfair treatment, thus the applicant was properly and equitably discharged. Finally, the Board determined that the applicant’s intentional disregard for the Army’s SHARP policies were indicative of the discharge being proper and equitable. c. The Board determined that the discharge is, at this time, proper and equitable, in light of 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 characterization of service due to it already being Honorable. (2) The Board voted not to change the applicant’s reason for discharge or accompanying SPD code because there were no circumstances presented for the Board’s consideration which might justify the applicant’s sexual harassment charges, as there is clear evidence of it occurring, so 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 AR20210006687 1