§70.8. Discharge review procedures. — Inbound Citations

(D) With respect to decisional documents issued on or after the effective date of the amendments to § 70.8, any change in wording of an applicant's issue which is effected in violation of the principles set forth in § 70.8(a)(5)(iii) constitutes an error requiring corrective action. With respect to a decisional document issued before that date, corrective action will be taken only when there has been a complaint by the applicant or counsel with respect to the applicant's own decisional document and it is determined that the wording was changed or the issue was omitted without the applicant's consent.

(a) A former member of the Armed Forces who has been discharged or dismissed administratively in accordance with Military Department regulations or by sentence of a court-martial (other than a general court-martial) and under statutory regulatory provisions whose application is accepted by the DRB concerned or whose case is heard on the DRB's own motion. If the former member is deceased or incompetent, the term “applicant” includes the surviving spouse, next-of-kin, or legal representative who is acting on behalf of the former member. When the term “applicant” is used in §§ 70.8 through 70.10, it includes the applicant's counsel or representative, except that the counsel or representative may not submit an application for review, waive the applicant's right to be present at a hearing, or terminate a review without providing the DRB an appropriate power of attorney or other written consent of the applicant.

(a) Discharge review procedures are prescribed in § 70.8.

(D) With respect to decisional documents issued on or after the effective date of the amendments to § 70.8, any change in wording of an applicant's issue which is effected in violation of the principles set forth in § 70.8(a)(5)(iii) constitutes an error requiring corrective action. With respect to a decisional document issued before that date, corrective action will be taken only when there has been a complaint by the applicant or counsel with respect to the applicant's own decisional document and it is determined that the wording was changed or the issue was omitted without the applicant's consent.

(C) For all decisional documents issued before November 27, 1982, failure to respond to an issue raised by an applicant constitutes error unless it reasonably may be inferred from the record that the DRB response relied on one of the exceptions listed in § 70.8(d)(3)(ii); (e)(3)(ii)(C) (3) through (4) and (e)(6)(ii)(C) (3) through (4). If the decisional document supports a basis for not addressing an issue raised by the applicant (for example, if it is apparent that resolving the issue in the applicant's favor would not warrant an upgrade), there is no requirement in the Stipulation of Dismissal that the decisional document explain why the DRB did not address the issue. With respect to decisional documents issued on or after November 27, 1982, a response shall be prepared in accordance with the decisional document principles set forth in § 70.8.

(F) The requirements of § 70.8(e)(3) (ii)(B)(2) and (e)(6) (ii)(B)(2) with respect to explaining use of the presumption of regularity apply only to decisional documents issued on or after November 27, 1982. When a complaint concerning a decisional document issued before that date addresses the adequacy of the DRB's use of the presumption of regularity, or words having a similar import, corrective action will be required only if a reasonable person familiar with the discharge review process can not understand the basis for relying on the presumption.

(G) When the DRB balances mitigating factors against aggravating factors as the reason for a conclusion, the Stipulation of Dismissal does not require the statement of reasons to set forth the specific factors that were balanced if such factors are otherwise apparent on the fact of the decisional document. The foregoing applies to decisional documents prepared before November 27, 1982. With respect to decisional documents prepared after that date, the statements addressing decisional issues in such a case will list or refer to the factors supporting the conclusion in accordance with § 70.8(e)(6)(ii).

(1) The reporting requirement prescribed in § 70.8(n) is assigned Report Control Symbol DD-M(SA)1489.