[YOUR NAME]
[YOUR ADDRESS]
[DATE]
THE U.S. ARMY,
DISCHARGE REVIEW BOARD,
[ENTER ADDRESS]
SUBJECT: Request for Discharge Upgrade.
This letter serves as my request for Discharge Upgrade. First, I want to apologize to the Army, members of the board and my family for the situation I got myself in. I made a bad choice, which I have had to pay for dearly for over a decade now.
I have always looked forward to help explain my side of the story. However, I lack the financial ability to retain a lawyer to help me appreciate and bring out the legal implications of my case. Accordingly, I visited the VA office for guidance, who only told me to try to upgrade my DD Form 214. It is worth noting that I have received many such rejections in the past years, in my quest to help change the situation.
The events leading to the subject matter herein began back in 2004-2008, when I was an Army recruiter at Lakeland station in Florida. I was far away from any Army installation. I recall with clarity how recruiting duty was hard. My station commander was asking for more applicants (numbers) daily to fulfill the Army mission during the Iraq and Afghanistan war. I was not only working for our monthly mission but also had to cover for the numbers of other stations on the north and west of the Nation prior of the economic crisis in 2007. Notably, the economy prior to 2007 was booming and we worked long hours from 0800-2000 from Monday till Friday. Our recruiting office was inside a mall in Lake Wales FL. That meant that we did not close our office until the mall closed.
Our station consisted of four active duty recruiters, one reserve recruiter and a station commander for a large station. We had different missions every month and a plan to follow weekly. In the event I failed to meet those requirements I was punished with more work hours. My daily work schedule began with a PT in the morning. I would then arrive at the office at 0800 until 0930 to brief my station commander on my daily plan. After that I drove to different locations to visit schools, college, stores or shopping malls and try to sell the Army. By 1500hrs, we had to be back at the office with appointments made and brief our station commander. At 1600hrs we made phone calls following a list of seniors from the school system for the last four years. We had to call and talk to them and try to see if they were thinking about joining the Army. We were dismissed around 2000 hrs.
I was so engage with my duties that I had problems with my wife and got separated and later divorced. And it is at that time when my troubles began. I could not talk to my chain of command about my personal situation because all our focus was on selling the Army. I was drinking a lot to cope with the situation. Besides, my personality changed and I kept all my personal problems to myself. I visited a counselor for advice but my chain of command did not know about it. As Sargent, I developed an ego, which prevented me from seeking help with my command. Also, I did not want my peers or superiors to know about my personal problems. I considered that as weakness, so I had to deal with my issues on my own.
Whenever I got in trouble, which was commonplace for my workmates, I was subjected to the available disciplinary mechanisms. For instance, sometimes we got letters of reprimand, Article 15s, or were sent back to the Army. Specifically, when I made the mistake which is the genesis of my bad experiences all these years, I got recommended for the Court Martial and later downgraded to an OTH.
I remember that I got into a verbal altercation with the officer in charge of the investigation. He was an O-4 and he said, “I will kick you out of the ARMY”. I acknowledge that my actions were wrong. I highly regret that confrontation. It was my biggest mistake.
After the confrontation, I was not authorized to visit the recruiting station and my peers were forbidden to talk to me. No leave was authorized during that time; I was in my house for around seven to eight months. During that time, my chain of command did a Permanent Change of Station. Accordingly, the Battalion Commander, CSM, My commander, 1st SGT and a new station commander arrived. That means that I became a stranger to my whole chain of command. My new station commander used to call me once a week to tell me that I should not worry and that everything would be all right. After months in my house, I got a call from a lawyer from the Army. He told me that he will be representing me on my case and gave me a date and a place to meet. We met at a library in Kissimmee FL about 45 minutes away.
When I met my Army counselor, he was in civilian clothes, which I found very strange because I was expecting an officer in uniform. He introduced himself and straight up told me that my best option was a Chapter 10/OTH. It occurred to me that they were trying to set an example with me for other recruiters. If I did not accept, the deal USAREC would send me to a court martial which would implicate jail time. I was scared and did not know what to do. Besides, I did not have anyone to ask for help. I just had my counselor who was pushing for a decision right there. He had some papers for me to sign, showing that he was ready for my OTH. I recall he mentioned criminal charges, bad record and jail time. Interestingly, he told me that I had to sign the papers because they had to be sent before they changed their mind.
It is worth noting that during that time, I was suffering from anxiety and high depression. The Army did not know about it. Notably, I was under medication. I could not sleep or think right. In addition, I was not financially stable to hire a civilian lawyer. Therefore, I had no option but to consider what the counselor suggested.
After my departure from the Army, I went to the VA hospital to no avail. After several attempts to get assistance, they did not offer me any help because of my negative Discharge records. However, after attending therapy on the civilian sector, I learned that my actions might have happened as a result of depression and mental conditions that I did not know how to handle. I did not seek help from my chain of command, something that I regret years later. Notably, my chain of command did not know about my depression. I did not want to talk about it due to my rank. I did not want them to consider me as weak, broken, and a failure. I acknowledge that I was wrong and that I should have asked for help. However, my pride was all over me and I was fighting with personal (family) issues, our mission and my depression.
About a month after my discharge, I got a job as contractor for the Army. I have been working around soldiers and have earned their trust once again. Right now, I have a supervisor position as a contractor. I must state that when I see soldiers under pressure I do recommend them to seek help before they could make a mistake and get in trouble.
I acknowledge that this Board has a mandate to upgrade discharges on grounds of equity or propriety. And that you may upgrade a discharge on grounds of propriety because of an error of fact, law, procedure, or discretion, and the error was prejudicial to the veteran during the discharge process. On the other hand, your equitable considerations may take into account mitigating circumstances surrounding any offenses that led to an unfavorable discharge. In that regard, it is evident that there was a mistake of fact that surrounded my discharge. Besides, there were mitigating circumstances that influenced the offense that caused my discharge.
In light of the foregoing, I request this Board consider my request herein and upgrade my discharge.
Sincerely,
____________________
Enter Name
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