1. Applicant's Name: a. Application Date: 22 October 2020 b. Date Received: 2 November 2020 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 along with a separation program designator (SPD) code and narrative reason change. The applicant seeks relief contending, in effect, the applicant was suffering from mental health issues during the commission of the serious offense. The applicant had a mental breakdown and attempted suicide on more than one occasion. The applicant states there was honorable service prior to the deployment. b. Board Type and Decision: In a records review conducted on 15 December 2023, and by a 5-0 vote, the Board determined the discharge is inequitable based on the applicant's combat service and the circumstances surrounding the discharge (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). Therefore, the Board voted to grant relief in the form of an upgrade of the characterization of service to Honorable and changed to the separation authority to AR 635-200, paragraph 14-12a, the narrative reason for separation to Misconduct (Minor Infractions), with a corresponding separation code of JKN, and the reentry eligibility (RE) code will remain RE-3. 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 (Serious Offense) / AR 635-200 / Chapter 14-12c / JKQ / RE-3 / General (Under Honorable Conditions) b. Date of Discharge: 3 January 2012 c. Separation Facts: (1) Date of Notification of Intent to Separate: 12 November 2011 (2) Basis for Separation: The applicant was informed of the following reasons: On or about 2 July 2011, the applicant failed to report to the appointed place of duty and between on or about 15 August 2011 and 12 September 2011, without authority, was absent from the unit in Afghanistan without authority. (3) Recommended Characterization: General (Under Honorable Conditions) (4) Legal Consultation Date: 15 November 2011 (5) Administrative Separation Board: NA (6) Separation Decision Date / Characterization: NIF / General (Under Honorable Conditions) 4. SERVICE DETAILS: a. Date / Period of Enlistment: 6 October 2009 / 4 years and 17 weeks b. Age at Enlistment / Education / GT Score: 18 / HS Graduate / 101 c. Highest Grade Achieved / MOS / Total Service: E-3 / 13B10, Cannon Crewmember / 2 years, 2 months, 1 day d. Prior Service / Characterizations: None e. Overseas Service / Combat Service: SWA / Afghanistan (17 April 2011 -17 November 2011) f. Awards and Decorations: NDSM, ACM-CS-2, GWOTSM, ASR, OSR, NATO MDL g. Performance Ratings: NA h. Disciplinary Action(s) / Evidentiary Record: (1) FG Article 15, 17 October 2011, reflects the applicant failed to go at the prescribed time to the appointed place of duty on or about 2 July 2011 and was absent without authority from on or about 15 August 2011 to on or about 12 September 2011. The punishment consisted of reduction to private/E-1; forfeiture of $733 pay per month for two months; and extra duty for 45 days. (2) Mental Status Evaluation (MSE), 6 December 2011, reflects the applicant could understand and participate in administrative proceedings. The applicant had a positive screen for PTSD. i. Lost Time / Mode of Return: AWOL X 28 days (15 August 2011 - 11 September 2011) / Returned j. Behavioral Health Condition(s): (1) Applicant provided: The applicant provides a Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) Rating Decision, 18 March 2014, which reflects, in part, the applicant was granted service connection for anxiety disorder (claimed as post-traumatic stress disorder PTSD) with an evaluation of 30 percent. The applicant also provides VA Rating Decision, 14 December 2021, which reflects the applicant was granted an evaluation of PTSD with alcohol use disorder, severe, in early remission (previously rated as anxiety disorder) was increased from 30 percent to 100 percent. The applicant further provides in-service medical records pertaining to mental health issues. (2) AMHRR Listed: See MSE as Described in item 4h(2). 5. APPLICANT-PROVIDED EVIDENCE: DD Form 293, personal statement, document from separation packet, DA Form 31, DA Forms 4187-2, DA Forms 4856-4, VA Form 21-0781, medical records, VA Rating Decision, Documents pertaining to high school achievement, Certificate of Completion, Certificate of Training-2, Letter from Office of the Mayor, Letter from Wayne County Commissioner, VA Rating Decision, 14 December 2021. 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) 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 14-12c, states a Soldier is subject to action per this section for commission of a serious military or civilian offense, if the specific circumstances of the offense warrant separation and a punitive discharge is, or would be, authorized for the same or a closely related offense under the Manual for Courts-Martial. 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 "JKQ" as the appropriate code to assign enlisted Soldiers who are discharged under the provisions of Army Regulation 635-200, Chapter 14, paragraph 12c, misconduct (serious offense). 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 along with an SPD code and narrative reason change. The applicant's Army Military Human Resources Record (AMHRR), the issues, and documents submitted with the application were carefully reviewed. The applicant requests the narrative reason and SPD code be changed. The applicant was separated under the provisions of AR 635-200, Chapter 14-12c, with a general (under honorable conditions) discharge. The narrative reason specified by Army Regulations for a discharge under this chapter is "Misconduct (Serious Offense)" and the separation code is "JKQ." Army Regulation 635-8, Separation Documents governs the 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 or SPD code to be entered under this regulation The applicant contends, in effect, the applicant was suffering from mental health issues during the commission of the serious offense. The applicant had a mental breakdown and attempted suicide on more than one occasion. The applicant provides in-service medical records pertaining to mental health issues. The applicant's AMHRR reflects the applicant underwent a MSE on 6 December 2011, which reflects the applicant could understand and participate in administrative proceedings. The applicant had a positive screen for PTSD. The applicant further provides a VA Rating Decision,18 March 2014, which reflects, in part, the applicant was granted service connection for anxiety disorder (claimed as PTSD) with an evaluation of 30 percent and VA Rating Decision, 14 December 2021, which reflects the applicant was granted an evaluation of PTSD with alcohol use disorder, severe, in early remission (previously rated as anxiety disorder) was increased from 30 percent to 100 percent. The applicant states there was honorable service prior to the deployment. The Board will consider the applicant service accomplishments and the quality of service according to the DODI 1332.28. 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: the applicant was diagnosed in-service with Anxiety Disorder NOS and Depression. Post-service connected for combat related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. . (2) Did the condition exist or experience occur during military service? Yes. The applicant was diagnosed in-service with Anxiety Disorder Not Otherwise Specified and Depression. (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 trauma and avoidance, the basis is mitigated. (4) Does the condition or experience outweigh the discharge? Yes. After applying liberal consideration to the evidence, including the Board Medical Advisor opine, the Board determined that the applicant's Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder outweighed the Failure to Report and Absent Without Leave basis for separation for the aforementioned reasons. Response to Contention(s): The applicant contends the applicant was suffering from mental health issues during the commission of the serious offense. The applicant had a mental breakdown and attempted suicide on more than one occasion. The Board considered this contention during proceedings, but ultimately did not address the contention due to an upgrade being granted based on the applicant's Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder fully outweighing the applicant's Failure to Report and Absent Without Leave basis for separation. b. The Board determined the discharge is inequitable based on the applicant's combat service and the circumstances surrounding the discharge (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). Therefore, the Board voted to grant relief in the form of an upgrade of the characterization of service to Honorable and changed to the separation authority to AR 635-200, paragraph 14- 12a, the narrative reason for separation to Misconduct (Minor Infractions), with a corresponding separation code of JKN, and the reentry eligibility (RE) code will remain RE-3. c. Rationale for Decision: (1) The Board voted to change the applicant's characterization of service to Honorable because the applicant's Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder mitigated the applicant's misconduct of Failure to Report and Absent Without Leave. Thus, the prior characterization is no longer appropriate. (2) The Board voted to change the reason for discharge to Misconduct (Minor Infractions) under the same pretexts, thus the reason for discharge is no longer appropriate. The SPD code associated with the new reason for discharge is JKN. (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: Yes b. Change Characterization to: Honorable c. Change Reason / SPD code to: Misconduct (Minor Infractions)/JKN d. Change RE Code to: No Change e. Change Authority to: AR 635-200 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 AR20210008236 1