1. Applicant’s Name: a. Application Date: 17 August 2020 b. Date Received: 21 August 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. The applicant seeks relief contending, in effect, when the applicant moved to TX there was no unit available to transfer to so the applicant went to the Individual Ready Reserve. The applicant moved back to TN a year later and reached out to the then current first sergeant with all of the applicant’s updated contact information and was never reached out to for an upcoming annual inactive muster. The applicant sent multiple emails requesting when to come and making sure that the applicant’s information was received with no response. b. Board Type and Decision: In a records review conducted on 16 August 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: Failure to Report for Annual Inactive National Guard Muster / NGR 600-200, Paragraph 6-36l / NA / RE-3 / General (Under Honorable Conditions) b. Date of Discharge: 30 September 2016 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: NA (6) Separation Decision Date / Characterization: NIF 4. SERVICE DETAILS: a. Date / Period of Enlistment: 1 December 2011 / NIF b. Age at Enlistment / Education / GT Score: 17 / High School Graduate / NIF c. Highest Grade Achieved / MOS / Total Service: E-4 / 91E10, Machinist / 4 years, 10 months d. Prior Service / Characterizations: AD, 6 February 2012 - 7 September 2012 / HD (Concurrent Service) e. Overseas Service / Combat Service: None f. Awards and Decorations: NDSM, ASR, ARCAM g. Performance Ratings: NA h. Disciplinary Action(s) / Evidentiary Record: Personnel Action form, dated 13 August 2015, reflects the applicant changed the applicant’s home address to TX which was verified by the admin noncommissioned officer. Orders 084-919, dated 24 March 2016, reflects the applicant was released from Allied Trades Specialist, 777th Maintenance Company, Volunteer Training Site, Smyrna, TN and transferred to Allied Trades Specialist Inactive Army National Guard (ING) of 777th Maintenance Company, Volunteer Training Site, Smyrna, TN effective 7 December 2015 because the applicant requested to be transferred to the ING for personal reasons. Orders 251-1052, dated 7 September 2016, reflects the applicant was released from Allied Trades Specialist ING of 777th Maintenance Company, Volunteer Training Site, Smyrna, TN and transferred to Allied Trades Specialist, 777th Maintenance Company, Volunteer Training Site, Smyrna, TN effective 1 September 2016 for a period from 1-30 September 2016 to attend muster day. The applicant was returned from ING to perform Annual Training (AT). The applicant’s NGB Form 22 (National Guard Report of Separation and Record of Service), reflects the applicant had not completed the first full term of service. The applicant was discharged under the authority of National Guard Regulation (NGR) 600-200, paragraph 6-36l, with a narrative reason of Failure to Report for Annual Inactive National Guard Muster. The NGB Form 22 was not authenticated with the applicant’s signature. i. Lost Time / Mode of Return: None j. Behavioral Health Condition(s): (1) Applicant provided: None (2) AMHRR Listed: None 5. APPLICANT-PROVIDED EVIDENCE: DD Form 293. 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 a mental health condition, including PTSD; TBI; or sexual assault/harassment existed at the time of discharge might have mitigated the misconduct 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 135-178 prescribes the policies, standards, and procedures to ensure the readiness and competency of the U.S. Army while providing for the orderly administrative separation of Army National Guard of the United States (ARNGUS) and U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) enlisted Soldiers for a variety of reasons. Readiness is promoted by maintaining high standards of conduct and performance. (1) Paragraph 2-9a prescribes an honorable characterization 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 any other characterization would be clearly inappropriate. (2) Paragraph 2-9b, prescribes if a Soldier’s service has been honest and faithful, it is appropriate to characterize service as general (under honorable conditions). Characterization of service as general (under honorable conditions) is warranted when significant negative aspects of the Soldier’s conduct or performance of duty outweigh positive aspects of the Soldier’s military record. e. NGR 600-200, establishes standards, policies, and procedures for the management of the ARNG and the ARNGUS enlisted Soldiers in the functional areas of: Classification and Reclassification; Personnel Management; Assignment and Transfer, including interstate transfer; Special Duty Assignment Pay; Enlisted Separations; and Command Sergeant Major Program. (1) Chapter 6 sets the policies, standards, and procedures for the separation of enlisted Soldiers from the ARNG/ARNGUS. (2) Paragraph 6-8a, prescribes an honorable characterization 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 6-8b, prescribes if a Soldier’s service has been honest and faithful, it is appropriate to characterize that service as under honorable conditions. Characterization of service as general (under honorable conditions) is warranted when significant negative aspect of the Soldier’s conduct or performance of duty outweighs positive aspects of the Soldier’s military record. (4) Paragraph 6-25, prescribes the discharge of Soldiers on active duty, (Title 10, USC) in AGR, IET, ADT, and ADOS status, as well as those ordered to active duty for contingency operations or under mobilization conditions, is governed by AR 635-200. All Outside Continental United States (OCONUS) training, including AT is conducted in Title 10 ADT status. Refer to AR 135-178 when considering enlisted Soldiers not on active duty and those on full-time National Guard duty (FTNGD) under Title 32 USC for discharge from the ARNG and as a Reserve of the Army. (5) Paragraph 6-34, states reentry eligibility codes is determined at separation. They provide information concerning the Soldier’s service in the ARNG, which will be considered upon future enlistment. If a Soldier will receive a discharge under other than honorable conditions, and the reason for discharge is non-waivable for enlistment, the RE code will be RE-4. If the reason for separation is waivable, the RE code will be RE-3. If a Soldier receives a bad conduct or dishonorable discharge, the RE code is RE 4. Table 6-1, defines reentry eligibility (RE) codes: RE-3 Code: Not fully qualified for reentry or continuous service at time of separation, but this disqualification is waivable. (6) Paragraph 6-36 (State ARNG Separations), this paragraph lists reasons for separation from the State ARNG not listed in paragraph 6-35 or AR 135-178. All involuntary administrative separations require commanders to notify Soldiers concerning intent to initiate separation procedures per paragraph 6-32. All Soldiers being involuntarily separated will be afforded a reasonable opportunity to provide a written response for consideration by the separation authority. Characterization of service be per applicable State codes. Paragraph 6-36l, failure to report for annual ING muster per NGR 614-1. RE 1 or RE 3 as appropriate. (7) NGR 614-1, paragraph 2-11, all units which have ING Soldiers assigned will conduct an Annual Muster concurrently with a regularly scheduled unit training assembly. The Annual Muster may also be conducted in conjunction with a unit’s AT. States are authorized to conduct a centralized Annual Muster provided a representative from each unit to which participating ING Soldiers are assigned attends and all other administrative requirements outlined in this paragraph are followed. Attendance of all ING Soldiers is mandatory except as follows: ING Soldiers who are out of State or country due to temporary employment, residency, missionary work, or other valid reason may request an exemption from Annual Muster. The request must include the Soldier’s scheduled departure date, address (if known), and estimated date of return. Notification is required when the ING Soldier returns from their temporary employment, residency, or missionary work. 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), 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 National Guard. The applicant’s record does contain a properly constituted NGB Form 22 (National Guard Report of Separation and Record of Service), which was not authenticated with the applicant’s electronic signature. The NGB Form 22, indicates the applicant was discharged under the provisions of NGR 600-200, Paragraph 6- 36l, by reason of Failure to Report for Annual Inactive National Guard Muster, with a characterization of service of General (Under Honorable Conditions). The applicant contends, in effect, when the applicant moved to TX there was no unit available to transfer to so the applicant went to the Individual Ready Reserve. The AMHRR contains a personnel action form, dated 13 August 2015, reflecting the applicant changed the applicant’s home address to TX which was verified by the admin noncommissioned officer. Orders 084- 919, dated 24 March 2016, reflects the applicant was released from Allied Trades Specialist, 777th Maintenance Company, Volunteer Training Site, Smyrna, TN and transferred to Allied Trades Specialist ING of 777th Maintenance Company, Volunteer Training Site, Smyrna, TN effective 7 December 2015 for personal reasons. The applicant contends, in effect, when the applicant moved back to TN a year later and reached out to the then current first sergeant with all of the applicant’s updated contact information and was never reached out to for an upcoming annual inactive muster. The AMHRR contains Orders 251-1052, dated 7 September 2016, reflecting the applicant was released from Allied Trades Specialist ING of 777th Maintenance Company, Volunteer Training Site, Smyrna, TN and transferred back to Allied Trades Specialist, 777th Maintenance Company, Volunteer Training Site, Smyrna, TN effective 1 September 2016 for a period from 1-30 September 2016 to attend muster day and to perform AT. A NGB Form 22 reflects the applicant was discharged on 30 September 2016. Analyst notes Orders 251-1052 was produced after the report date of 1 September 2016. 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? 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. (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): (1) The applicant contends, in effect, when the applicant moved to TX there was no unit available to transfer to so the applicant went to the Individual Ready Reserve. The Board considered this contention however, the file was absent of information to support the claims. (2) The applicant contends, in effect, when the applicant moved back to TN a year later and reached out to the then current first sergeant with all of the applicant’s updated contact information and was never reached out to for an upcoming annual inactive muster. The Board considered this contention however, the file was absent of information to support the claims. 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 applicant’s characterization of service because, despite applying liberal consideration of all the evidence before the Board, 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 General discharge was proper and equitable as the applicant’s misconduct fell below that level of meritorious service warranted for an upgrade to Honorable discharge. (2) The Board voted not to change the applicant’s reason for discharge or accompanying SPD code under the same pretexts, and 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 AR20210009276 1