Opinion ID: 760940
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Failure to complete graduate flight training. ...

Text: 56 Taken together, these Army regulations create a mandatory right to an FEB hearing whenever an aviator's continued professional qualification to fly is questioned. Jones's pleadings can be read to allege that his dismissal from the CDAP was caused by his failure to complete instrumental qualification training, thus triggering his right to have the FEB review his record. 3 Flynn's failure to convene a FEB hearing would thus constitute a failure of the military to follow its own mandatory regulations. 57 The defendants make several arguments in response. First, they argue that Jones's removal from the CDAP did not constitute removal from the aviation service, and that AR 600-105 therefore does not apply. Second, they maintain that AR 600-105 does not apply to the instant circumstances because Jones was not disqualified for professional reasons. Third, the defendants argue that review would be inappropriate because Jones has failed to exhaust available internal administrative remedies. Because we agree with this third argument and affirm the district court's denial of leave to amend the complaint on that basis, we do not reach the first two arguments. 58 New York law provides Guard members an opportunity to file a complaint of wrongs when they are aggrieved by the decision of a superior officer. N.Y. Mil. Law § 131.4 provides an elaborate mechanism for administrative relief. Its salient features are that a service member who believes himself wronged by his commanding officer, and who has been refused redress by such officer, must file a written complaint with the officer's superior. See id.; DMNA Reg. 27-7(8)(June 3, 1994). The complaint must state that it is made in accordance with N.Y. Mil. Law § 131.4, set forth all material facts relating to the incident, and indicate all supporting documents or other written evidence concerning the complaint. See DMNA Reg. 27-7(6), (8). The superior officer must then forward the complaint to the Adjutant General, who must examine the matter and take appropriate corrective action. See DMNA Reg. 27-7(6). If the Adjutant General refuses redress, the member who initiated the complaint may appeal to the Governor of New York. See id. 59 Jones did not avail himself of these procedures. When General Flynn denied Jones's appeal, a New York State Assembly member wrote a letter to Governor Cuomo on Jones's behalf. Although the letter raised general allegations of misconduct, such as theft of military property, improper promotions, and nepotism, it did not identify itself as a complaint of wrongs made pursuant to N.Y. Mil. Law § 131.4. Nor did it request the specific redress denied Jones--convention of an FEB hearing or readmission to the CDAP. See id. The letter further failed to include a statement of all material facts relating to Jones's removal from the CDAP and Flynn's refusal to address that wrong. See id. Thus, by failing to appeal to the Governor in the manner outlined in DMNA Reg. 27-7, Jones neglected to exhaust the internal administrative remedies provided by the NYANG. 60 It has been an open question in this circuit whether a member of a state National Guard must exhaust administrative remedies before seeking equitable relief from a civilian court under § 1983 based on the Guard's failure to follow its own regulations. Several of our sister circuits have imposed an exhaustion requirement on members of state National Guard units seeking equitable relief pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. See, e.g., Watson, 886 F.2d at 1008 (Eighth); Crawford v. Texas Army Nat'l Guard, 794 F.2d at 1036 (Fifth); Thornton v. Coffey, 618 F.2d 686, 691-92 (10th Cir.1980). We have required exhaustion by members of the United States military. For example, in requiring that a United States Navy reservist exhaust administrative remedies before challenging the Navy's decision to discharge him in Guitard v. Secretary of Navy, 967 F.2d 737, 740 (2d Cir.1992), we relied both on the general principle that a party may not seek federal judicial review of an adverse administrative determination until the party has first sought all possible relief within the agency itself, id., and on the particular need to minimize judicial interference with military discipline, see id. at 740-41. See also Able v. United States, 88 F.3d 1280, 1288 (2d Cir.1996) (subject to exceptions, members of United States armed forces may not seek judicial review of military action prior to exhaustion of agency remedies); Diederich v. Department of Army, 878 F.2d 646, 647 (2d Cir.1989) (exhaustion rule applies to most claims against the military). 61 Consistent with our view that civilian courts must avoid unnecessary interference with state militias as well as the United States military, we hold that NYANG members must exhaust administrative remedies before bringing a federal challenge based on the NYANG's failure to follow its own regulations. We believe that it would interfere unnecessarily with Guard operations were service members allowed to complain of procedural irregularities to the courts without first appealing the error up through the chain of command. By failing to specify to the Governor the harm Jones allegedly suffered, Jones deprived the Governor of an opportunity to order the convention of an FEB hearing, which in turn might have obviated any need for judicial interference in military affairs. Cf. McCarthy v. Madigan, 503 U.S. 140, 145, 112 S.Ct. 1081, 117 L.Ed.2d 291 (1992) (The exhaustion doctrine ... acknowledges the commonsense notion ... that an agency ought to have an opportunity to correct its own mistakes ... before it is haled into federal court.). An exhaustion requirement, except in cases of inadequate administrative remedy, irreparable injury, futility, or certain substantial constitutional question[s], Able, 88 F.3d at 1288, none of which have been claimed here, is the fairest and wisest way to balance the need for non-interference in matters of the NYANG's legitimate discretion with the rights of service members to seek redress in the federal courts. 62 As Jones correctly argues, absent Congressional direction to the contrary, the exhaustion of administrative remedies is not a prerequisite to bringing an action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. See Patsy v. Board of Regents, 457 U.S. 496, 516, 102 S.Ct. 2557, 73 L.Ed.2d 172 (1982). The Supreme Court has cautioned that the absence of an exhaustion requirement in § 1983 has been explicitly recognized by Congress, see id. at 508, 102 S.Ct. 2557, and that policy considerations alone cannot justify judicially imposed exhaustion unless exhaustion is consistent with congressional intent, id. at 513, 102 S.Ct. 2557. For a federal court to impose an exhaustion requirement on its own therefore would be inconsistent with [congressional intent] ... and would usurp policy judgments that Congress has reserved for itself.... Id. at 508, 102 S.Ct. 2557. See also Felder v. Casey, 487 U.S. 131, 148-49, 108 S.Ct. 2302, 101 L.Ed.2d 123 (1988) (same). 63 In requiring Jones to exhaust the NYANG's internal remedies before challenging Flynn's failure to convene a FEB hearing, however, we are not crafting an exception to the general rule that § 1983 does not have an exhaustion requirement. But cf. Penagaricano v. Llenza, 747 F.2d 55, 61 (1st Cir.1984) (acknowledging general rule that military personnel must exhaust administrative remedies, but questioning whether rule applies in § 1983 actions by National Guard members after Patsy ), overruled on other grounds, Wright, 5 F.3d at 590-91. The general rule is that NYANG members may not bring a § 1983 action to challenge purely discretionary decisions by military officials which are within their valid jurisdiction. Kurlan, 510 F.2d at 280; see also Knutson, 995 F.2d at 771; Crawford v. Texas Army Nat'l Guard, 794 F.2d at 1036. The ability of service members to challenge the NYANG's failure to follow its own regulations is an exception to this rule of non-justiciability. The exhaustion requirement is contained in the very regulations that plaintiff seeks to have enforced. In upholding this exhaustion requirement, therefore, we do not carve out a new exception to the non-exhaustion requirement of § 1983. Instead, we simply clarify the contours of the regulations exception to the well established rule that § 1983 does not generally afford a remedy to military personnel challenging discretionary military decisions. 64 In sum, because Jones failed to appeal Flynn's actions to the Governor of New York pursuant to DMNA Reg. 27-7, and because Jones may not seek damages based on injuries suffered incident to service in the Guard, Jones's proposed amended complaint would be subject to immediate dismissal. As such, the proposed amendment was futile. We hold, therefore, that the district did not abuse its discretion in denying leave to amend the complaint pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 15(a).