Expert: Aaron Shifferly - 4/25/2010

Question
Sir,

Six months ago me and one other person in the Army was arrested for Article 121: Larceny and later charged with that and an Article 81: Conspiracy.

A little background, this happened in Afghanistan where I currently am deployed. When I was caught I waived my rights for a lawyer and wrote a sworn statement stating what happened. This was mainly to clear my roommates who they though were co-conspirators. Because of that, I lost certain privileges and gained new duties. Since then, I was have been a "squared-away" soldier, to a point where my company has come to rely on me in certain areas. In the 12 months since Pre-MOB, I've had extremely positive counselings with no more than a handful of negatives, one being a PT Failure (missed the run by a few seconds and had just gotten out of an Air Splint), forgetting to shave once, and being late for work by 15 minutes, once. I had also willingly paid complete restitution. Another fact I find important is that through everything happening I was still able to retain my Security Clearance.

After ~4 months of waiting, I eventually got handed my charge sheet, which was giving me a Special Court martial with an intended BCD and 3 months confinement. However after speaking to a TDS Lawyer, he informed me that I could attempt to take an Chapter 10 in lieu of going to court, and considering what I was facing, it seemed like a pretty solid idea.

As of right now the Chapter 10 waiver has been approved at my Company, Battalion, and Brigade level and all I am waiting for is it to pass through a high level JAG officer.

With this information I was hoping you would be able to answer a few questions:

With my commander, and NCOIC writing me a letter stating my performance in a positive manner, how well would that shine when attempting for an upgrade.

How many times can I got before the Army Board of Correction of Military Records?

I'm sure it could be hard to answer this one unless you were on the board, but with 3 years of service with no negative counseling statements other than the above mentioned and 11 months of Deployment time, along with everything previously mentioned, how likely is the chance of getting my discharge upgraded due to "inequity"

My final question, and the only one based on facts rather than opinion. If I get my OTH upgraded to a General under Honorable or higher, will I gain all my lost benefits such as 9/11 GI Bill, 20k SLRP, and Veteran Status.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Regards,

Christopher

Answer
Wow.. ok. I'm giving you a link first that will guide you through the upgrade request process..

http://www.carson.army.mil/LEGAL/TDS/Jag/Chapters.htm


Follow that and it will give you step by step process to applying for a discharge upgrade. Remember that according to AR 635-200, you may still be given a General rather than an OTH discharge if the separating commander feels it warranted. I would have your letters of recommendation applied toward that end.

I've never been on one of those boards and I cannot even begin to tell you the criteria that they use for a characterizatoin upgrade. Any and all positive comments that you can garner from leaders at all levels can only help your cause.

As for your final question, refer to the link I included and you should see that it is not automatic to regain your benefits and you should apply thorugh the given agency to regain those if you are successful at getting an upgrade.

Hope this helps answer your questions.