Nota di contenuto |
Intro -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Contents -- About the Authors -- About the Contributors -- Acknowledgments -- Preface -- Introduction -- Glossary of Common Discharge Upgrade Acronyms and Terms -- Part I. Introduction to Military and Discharge Upgrade Legal Structures -- Chapter 1. Introduction to Military Structures and Military Law -- 1.0 Introduction -- 1.1 Scope -- 2.0 Overview of Branches of Service and Organizational Structures -- 2.1 Secretarial Authority for Discharge Upgrades and Records Corrections -- 2.2 Chain of Command and Unit Structure: A Primer -- 3.0 Life Cycle of a Servicemember -- 3.1 Enlisted Servicemembers -- 3.2 Warrant Officers -- 3.3 Commissioned Officers -- 4.0 Military Administrative Discharge System -- 4.1 Overview -- 4.2 Misconduct-Based Administrative Discharges -- 4.2.1 Documentation of the Underlying Misconduct -- 4.2.2 Post-Adjudication Documentation of Misconduct -- 4.3 Unsatisfactory Performance-Based Administrative Discharges -- 4.4 Other Administrative Discharges -- 4.5 The Administrative Separation Process -- 4.5.1 Notice -- 4.5.2 Acknowledgment Documentation -- 4.5.3 Administrative Separation Boards -- 5.0 Discharge in Lieu of Court-Martial -- 5.1 Officers: Resignations for the Good of the Service -- 5.2 Enlisted: Administrative Separations in Lieu of Court-Martial -- 6.0 Courts-Martial -- 6.1 Special Courts-Martial -- 6.2 General Courts-Martial -- 7.0 Discharge Characterizations -- 7.1 Administrative Discharge Characterizations -- 7.1.1 Honorable -- 7.1.2 General (Under Honorable Conditions) -- 7.1.3 Other Than Honorable (OTH) -- 7.2 Punitive Discharges -- 7.2.1 Bad Conduct Discharge (BCD) -- 7.2.2 Dishonorable Discharge/Dismissal -- 8.0 Documentation of Discharges: The Department of Defense Form 214 (DD 214) -- Chapter 2. Law of Discharge Upgrades -- 1.0 Introduction -- 1.1 Scope.
2.0 Overview of Records Correction and Discharge Upgrades -- 2.1 Discharge Upgrades: The Big Picture -- 2.2 Character of Service and Discharge Status -- 2.3 Narrative Reason, Separation Code, and Reentry Code -- 2.4 Caseloads and Backlogs -- 2.5 Who Can Apply for a Discharge Review or Records Correction -- 2.6 Legal Standards -- 2.6.1 Error and Impropriety -- 2.6.2 Injustice and Inequity -- 2.6.3 Clemency -- 2.6.4 Standard of Proof -- 2.6.5 Presumption of Regularity -- 2.6.6 Department of Defense Memoranda -- 2.7 Precedent -- 2.8 Guidance on Framing Requested Relief -- 2.9 Secretarial Review -- 2.10 Article 74(b) Review -- 2.11 Issuance of a New DD 214 -- 2.12 Differences among the Military Review Boards -- 3.0 Discharge Review Boards -- 3.1 Legal Standards -- 3.2 Structure and Composition -- 3.3 Powers -- 3.4 Records and Evidence -- 3.5 Records Review and Personal Appearance Hearings -- 3.6 Relief -- 3.7 Statute of Limitations -- 3.8 Reconsideration -- 3.9 Timeline and Expediting -- 3.10 Success Rates at the Discharge Review Boards -- 4.0 Boards for Correction of Military or Naval Records -- 4.1 Legal Standards -- 4.2 Structure and Composition -- 4.3 Powers -- 4.4 Records and Evidence -- 4.5 Hearings -- 4.6 Relief -- 4.7 Statute of Limitations -- 4.8 Reconsideration -- 4.9 Timeline and Expediting -- 4.10 Success Rates at the Records Correction Boards -- 5.0 Discharge Appeal Review Board -- 6.0 Federal Court Judicial Review -- 6.1 Administrative Procedure Act -- 6.1.1 Legal Standards -- 6.1.2 Jurisdiction, Statute of Limitations, Venue, and Proper Parties -- 6.1.3 Exhaustion -- 6.1.4 Relief -- 6.2 Tucker Act -- 6.2.1 Legal Standards -- 6.2.2 Jurisdiction, Statute of Limitations, Venue, and Proper Parties -- 6.2.3 Exhaustion -- 6.2.4 Relief -- 6.3 Other Federal Causes of Action -- 6.3.1 Privacy Act -- 6.3.2 Declaratory Judgment Act.
6.3.3 Freedom of Information Act -- 6.3.4 United States Constitution -- 7.0 Class Actions -- 7.1 Basic Principles of Class Actions -- 7.1.1 Rule 23 Requirements and Timing for Class Action Certification -- 7.1.2 Rule 23(a) Numerosity, Commonality, Typicality, and Adequacy -- 7.1.3 Rule 23(b) Types of Class Actions -- 7.2 Evolution of Veterans Discharge Upgrade Class Actions -- 8.0 Equal Access to Justice Act and Other Fee-Shifting Statutes -- 8.1 Equal Access to Justice Act -- 8.1.1 Party's Net Worth -- 8.1.2 Prevailing Party Status -- 8.1.3 Government's Position Not Substantially Justified -- 8.1.4 Application for Fees and Costs and Reasonableness Standard -- 8.1.5 Other Considerations -- 8.2 Attorneys' Fees under the Privacy Act and the Freedom of Information Act -- 9.0 The Alternative or Complementary Path of a VA Character of Discharge Determination -- 10.0 Discharge Appeal Review Board -- Appendix A: Applicable Regulations -- Appendix B: Applicable Department of Defense Memoranda -- Part II. Building a Case -- Chapter 3. Intake and Record Development -- 1.0 Introduction -- 1.1 Scope of Chapter -- 2.0 Intake -- 2.1 Explaining the Upgrade Process and Available Remedies -- 2.2 Topics to Cover in the Initial Interview -- 2.3 Possible Sources for Statements -- 2.4 Document Requests -- 3.0 Records Collection -- 3.1 Official Military Personnel File (OMPF) -- 3.1.1 Online OMPF Access -- 3.1.2 National Guard and Reserve Records -- 3.2 Other Service Records -- 3.2.1 Unit Specific and Other Non-OMPF Documents -- 3.2.2 Criminal Investigations -- 3.2.3 Courts-Martial Transcripts -- 3.2.4 Previous Board Decisions -- 3.3 In-Service Medical Records -- 3.3.1 Inpatient Service Treatment Records (STRs) -- 3.3.2 Outpatient STRs -- 3.3.3 Medical Records Requests for Recently Discharged Veterans -- 3.3.4 In-Theater Treatment Records for OIF or OEF Servicemembers.
3.3.5 Records Requests for Substance Abuse Treatment or Psychiatric Records -- 3.4 Post-Service Medical Records -- 3.4.1 VHA Treatment Records Requests -- 3.4.2 Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) Records -- 3.4.3 Non-VA Post-Service Medical Records -- 4.0 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Privacy Act Requests -- 4.1 FOIA -- 4.2 The Privacy Act -- 5.0 Contents of the Official Military Personnel Record -- 5.1 DD 214 -- 5.2 Standard Documents in the OMPF -- 5.3 Service Treatment Records -- 5.4 What to Do When Records Are Missing -- Appendix A: Service Branch Museums and Libraries -- Appendix B: Service Branch Military Investigation Records Contacts -- Appendix C: Service Branch Courts-Martial Transcripts Contacts -- Appendix D: Service Branch FOIA Offices -- Appendix E: Sample Letters, Releases, and Document Requests -- Chapter 4. Supporting Statements and Working with Experts -- 1.0 Introduction -- 1.1 Scope of Chapter -- 2.0 Supporting Statements -- 2.1 Personal Statement -- 2.2 Corroborating Statements -- 2.2.1 Tips for Fellow Veteran or Current Servicemember Statements -- 2.2.2 Tips for Chain of Command/Supervisor Statements -- 2.2.3 Tips for Former Attorney/JAG Statements -- 2.2.4 Tips for Family Statements -- 3.0 Medical Evidence-Working with Experts -- 3.1 Obtaining Health Care and a Mental Health Diagnosis -- 3.2 Medical Statements -- 3.2.1 Finding a Medical Expert -- 3.2.2 Tips for Expert Medical Statements -- 3.3 Working with Congressional Offices -- Appendix A: Information in a Typical Psychological Report -- Appendix B: List of Potential Questions for Experts to Address by Case Type -- Chapter 5. Writing a Persuasive Brief -- 1.0 Introduction -- 1.1 Scope of Chapter -- 2.0 Where to Apply -- 3.0 Structuring the Brief for the DoD Administrative Boards -- 3.1 Separating Contentions -- 3.2 Clearly State All the Remedies Sought.
3.3 Tying Each Contention to All Remedies Sought -- 3.4 Making the Record -- 4.0 Applicable Legal Standards -- 4.1 Presumption of Regularity -- 4.2 Value of Precedent in BCMR Cases -- 4.3 Value of Precedent in DRB Cases -- 4.4 Overview of Standards of Review -- 4.4.1 Propriety -- 4.4.2 Equity -- 5.0 Crafting Contentions -- 5.1 Sample Propriety Contention Template -- 5.1.1 Impropriety Template: Based on an Error Prejudicial to the Discharge -- 5.2 Sample Equity Contention Template -- 5.2.1 Equity Template Based on a Future Policy Change -- Appendix A: Sample Contentions by Case Type -- Appendix B: Sample AFDRB Decisional Template -- Chapter 6. Identifying Contentions -- 1.0 Introduction -- 2.0 Identifying Contentions -- 2.1 First Steps for Identifying Contentions: Military Regulations -- 2.2 Identifying Relevant Regulations -- 2.3 General Checklist for Identifying Both Improprieties and Inequities -- 2.4 Service-Wide Standards for Character of Service -- 2.5 Limits on Characterization -- 3.0 Contentions Based on DoDI 1332.14 Enclosure 3: Reasons for Separation -- 3.1 Expiration End of Service or End Term of Service Reasons for Separation -- 3.1.1 Examples of Recent Board Case Based on EOS/ETS Contentions -- 3.2 Convenience of the Government -- 3.2.1 Dependency or Hardship -- 3.2.2 Pregnancy or Childbirth -- 3.2.3 Parenthood -- 3.2.4 Conscientious Objection -- 3.3 Defective Enlistments and Inductions -- 3.3.1 Defective Enlistment Agreements -- 3.3.2 Fraudulent Entry -- 3.4 Unsatisfactory Performance -- 3.5 Weight Control Failure -- 3.6 Misconduct -- 3.6.1 Minor Disciplinary Infractions -- 3.6.2 A Pattern of Misconduct -- 3.6.3 Commission of a Serious Offense -- 3.6.4 Civilian Conviction -- 3.6.5 Assessing Misconduct-Based Discharges for Errors -- 3.6.6 Common Errors Misconduct-Based Discharges -- 3.7 Separation in Lieu of Trial by Court-Martial.
3.7.1 Common Errors in Separation in Lieu of Courts-Martial Cases.
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