1. Applicant's Name: a. Application Date: 27 September 2022 b. Date Received: 3 October 2022 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, a narrative reason change, a separation code change, and a reentry eligibility change. The applicant seeks relief contending, in effect, the applicant was suffering from undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The applicant does not desire to admit it, but the applicant was self-medicating with drugs and alcohol and failed a urinalysis test which led to the discharge. After the discharge, the applicant was with PTSD and was granted a 70 percent disability rating. The applicant's characterization of service is preventing the applicant from obtaining certain employment opportunities. The applicant does not care to make excuses. The applicant's actions were inexcusable and wrong, but the applicant has become better by surrounding oneself with good people and support, maintained steady employment, and obtained a college education. b. Board Type and Decision: In a records review conducted on 11 September 2023, and by a 5-0 vote, the Board determined the discharge is inequitable based on the applicant's length and quality of service, to include combat service, and the applicant's Post Traumatic Stress Disorder mitigating the applicant's offenses of drug abuse, failures to report, disobeying a lawful order, and violating a general order. 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. The Board determined the reentry code is proper and equitable and voted not to change it. Please see Section 10 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 (Drug Abuse) / AR 635-200, Paragraph 14-12c (2) / JKK / RE-4 / General (Under Honorable Conditions) b. Date of Discharge: 8 August 2008 c. Separation Facts: (1) Date of Notification of Intent to Separate: 16 June 2008 (2) Basis for Separation: The applicant was informed under the provisions of AR 635-200, Chapter 14, paragraph 14-12c (Commission of a Serious Offense) of the following reasons: The applicant wrongfully used cocaine and multiple other disciplinary problems. (3) Recommended Characterization: General (Under Honorable Conditions) (4) Legal Consultation Date: NIF (5) Administrative Separation Board: NA (6) Separation Decision Date / Characterization: 22 July 2008 / General (Under Honorable Conditions) / The separation authority approved the separation under the provisions of AR 635-200, Chapter 14, paragraph 14-12c (Commission of a Serious Offense). 4. SERVICE DETAILS: a. Date / Period of Enlistment: 1 August 2006 / 5 years, 21 weeks b. Age at Enlistment / Education / GT Score: 17 / HS Graduate / 106 c. Highest Grade Achieved / MOS / Total Service: E-2 / 11B10, Infantryman / 2 years, 8 days d. Prior Service / Characterizations: None e. Overseas Service / Combat Service: SWA / Iraq (14 February 2007 - 1 November2007) f. Awards and Decorations: ICM, NDSM, GWOTSM, ASR, OSR g. Performance Ratings: NA h. Disciplinary Action(s) / Evidentiary Record: Company Grade Article 15, dated 10 May 2007, for, at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Brasfield-Mora, Iraq, while receiving special pay under 37 U.S.C. 310, being on post as a sentinel at LRAS tower and Battalion Position 9 was found sleeping upon the post (27 and 28 April 2007). The punishment consisted of a reduction to E-1; forfeiture of $326 pay; and extra duty for 14 days. Company Grade Article 15, dated 28 August 2007, for, at FOB Brassfield-Mora, Iraq, while receiving special pay under 37 U.S.C. 310, being on post as a sentinel at LRAS tower was found sleeping upon the post (13 July 2007) and with the intent to deceive, make to Sergeant First Class E. R. and Sergeant. P. W., false official statements. The punishment consisted of forfeiture of $303 pay and extra duty for 14 days. Company Grade Article 15, dated 1 October 2007, for, at FOB Brassfield-Mora, Iraq, willfully disobeying a lawful order from Staff Sergeant R. Z., a noncommissioned officer (NCO), to not listen to any musical devices while on guard duty at the LRAS tower (13 September 2007). The punishment consisted of forfeiture of $303 pay and extra duty for 14 days. Company Grade Article 15, dated 28 April 2008, for, failing to go at the time prescribed to the appointed place of duty (25 and 26 March 2008) and violating a lawful general regulation, by traveling outside of a 100-mile radius of Fort Bragg without an approved mileage pass. The punishment consisted of forfeiture of $314 pay (suspended), and extra duty and restriction for 14 days. Report of Mental Status Evaluation, dated 31 March 2008, reflects 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's Global Assessment of Functioning was 75. Electronic Copy of DD Form 2624, dated 9 May 2008, reflects the applicant tested positive for COC 175 (cocaine), during an Inspection Random (IR) urinalysis testing, conducted on 30 April 2008. Field Grade Article 15, dated 15 May 2008, for wrongfully using cocaine (between 15 and 30 April 2008). The punishment consisted of forfeiture of $673 pay per month for two months (suspended), and extra duty and restriction for 45 days. Numerous Developmental Counseling Forms, for, but not limited to: Failure to report, Outside pass radius of 100 miles without approval, Failure to obey an order from an NCO, Sleep on guard duty, and Lying to an NCO. i. Lost Time / Mode of Return: None j. Behavioral Health Condition(s): (1) Applicant provided: Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Rating Decision, dated 30 May 2018, reflecting the VA granted the applicant 70 percent service-connected disability for PTSD. (2) AMHRR Listed: None 5. APPLICANT-PROVIDED EVIDENCE: DD Form 214; DD Form 293; VA Rating Decision; and two VA letters. 6. POST SERVICE ACCOMPLISHMENTS: The applicant has become a better person by surrounding oneself with good people and support, maintaining steady employment, and obtaining a college education. 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 14-12c(2) terms abuse of illegal drugs as serious misconduct. It continues; however, by recognizing relevant facts may mitigate the nature of the offense. Therefore, a single drug abuse offense may be combined with one or more minor disciplinary infractions or incidents of other misconduct and processed for separation under paragraph 14- 12a or 14-12b as appropriate. 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 "JKK" as the appropriate code to assign enlisted Soldiers who are discharged under the provisions of Army Regulation 635-200, Chapter 14, misconduct (drug abuse). 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 an upgrade to honorable, a narrative reason change, a separation code change, and a reentry eligibility change. The applicant's Army Military Human Resources Record (AMHRR), the issues, and documents submitted with the application were carefully reviewed. The applicant requests a reentry eligibility (RE) code change. Soldiers processed for separation are assigned reentry codes based on their service records or the reason for discharge. Based on Army Regulation 601-210, the applicant was appropriately assigned an RE code of "4." An RE code of "4" cannot be waived, and the applicant is no longer eligible for reenlistment. The applicant contends undiagnosed PTSD affected behavior which led to the discharge and the VA granted the applicant 70 percent disability for PTSD. The applicant provided medical documents indicating the VA granted the applicant 70 percent service-connected disability for PTSD. The AMHRR shows the applicant underwent a mental status evaluation (MSE) on 31 March 2008, which indicates the applicant was mentally responsible and recognized right from wrong. The MSE did not indicate a diagnosis other than a GAF of 75. The MSE was considered by the separation authority. The applicant contends becoming a better person by being surrounded with good people and support, maintaining steady employment, and obtaining a college education. 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. The Board reviews each discharge on a case-by-case basis to determine if post-service accomplishments help demonstrate previous in-service misconduct was an aberration and not indicative of the member's overall character. 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. (2) Did the condition exist or experience occur during military service? The Board's Medical Advisor found VA service connection of PTSD establishes it began and/or occurred during military service. (3) Does the condition or experience actually excuse or mitigate the discharge? Partially. The Board's Medical Advisor applied liberal consideration and opined that the applicant has a BH condition, PTSD, which mitigates some of the misconduct. As there is an association between PTSD, self-medication with illicit drugs, avoidance behaviors and difficulty with authority figures, there is a nexus between his diagnosis of PTSD and the wrongful use of cocaine, the FTRs and the disobeying of a lawful order and violating a general order. PTSD also mitigates the offenses of sleeping on duty given the effects it has on sleep quantity and quality. PTSD does not mitigate making false official statements, as the condition (PTSD) does not affect one's ability to distinguish right from wrong and act in accordance with the right. (4) Does the condition or experience outweigh the discharge? No. After applying liberal consideration to the evidence, including the Board Medical Advisor opine, the Board determined that the available evidence did not support a conclusion that the applicant's Post Traumatic Stress Disorder outweighed the applicant's medically unmitigated offense of making false official statements. b. Response to Contention(s): (1) The applicant contends undiagnosed PTSD affected behavior which led to the discharge and the VA granted the applicant 70 percent disability for PTSD. The Board liberally considered this contention and determined that the available evidence did not support a conclusion that the applicant's Post Traumatic Stress Disorder outweighed the applicant's medically unmitigated offense of making false official statements. However, the Board found that the applicant's PTSD did mitigate much of the applicant's misconduct. This mitigation, combined with the applicant's length and quality of service, warranted a discharge upgrade. (2) The applicant contends becoming a better person by being surrounded with good people and support, maintaining steady employment, and obtaining a college education. The Board considered the applicant's post-service accomplishments during proceedings but ultimately did not address this contention due to an upgrade being granted as discussed above in 9b(1). c. The Board determined the discharge is inequitable based on the applicant's length and quality of service, to include combat service, and the applicant's Post Traumatic Stress Disorder mitigating the applicant's offenses of drug abuse, failures to report, disobeying a lawful order, and violating a general order. 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. The Board determined the reentry code is proper and equitable and voted not to change it. d. Rationale for Decision: (1) The Board voted to change the applicant's characterization of service to Honorable because the applicant's PTSD mitigated much of the applicant's misconduct and the applicant's service record mitigated the applicant's offenses of wrongful use of cocaine, FTRs, and the disobeying of a lawful order and violating a general order. 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: 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 AR20230001799 1