Opinion ID: 800991
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The QMP Separation

Text: On March 24, 2000, after urinalysis showed that Appellant tested positive for marijuana, he was found guilty of wrongful use of marijuana pursuant to the nonjudicial punishment proceedings of Article 15 of the UCMJ. On October 25 and 26 of that year, Coburn appeared before an ASB that was convened to determine whether to separate Appellant from the service for the commission of a serious offense in violation of Army Regulation 635-200, Chapter 14, Section III, Paragraph 14-12c. Mem. for Major Willie Chandler (Sept. 1, 2000), reprinted in J.A. 130. The ASB found that the allegation that Coburn had wrongfully used marijuana . . . [was] not. . . supported by a preponderance of the evidence and recommended that he be retained in the service. Findings and Recommendations, Administrative Board, J.A. 131. However, the ASB did not mention the Article 15 action. Coburn then pursued various avenues of appeal in an effort to have the Article 15 action expunged from his record or moved to a restricted fiche data file; but his petitions for relief were rejected at every turn. On August 25, 2000, Coburn received an unfavorable NCOER for the rating period of August 1999 to July 2000. See NCO Evaluation Report, Aug. 25, 2000, J.A. 223-24. The evaluation stated that Coburn needed much improvement in leadership; noted that he had failed a urinalysis test; indicated that he uses poor judgment and that his leadership [was] marred by actions unbecoming a noncommissioned officer; and concluded that his [o]verall potential for promotion and/or service in positions of greater responsibility was only fair. Id., J.A. 224. On April 20, 2001, pursuant to the QMP, Coburn was selected for separation from service and barred from reenlistment by a Master Sergeant Promotion Board. The Promotion Board considered Coburn's record of service, including performance and future potential for retention in the Army. The grounds for Coburn's separation were (1) his poor NCOER for the rating period of August 1999 through July 2000 and (2) the Article 15 action. See Mem. for Sergeant First Class Trent M. Coburn (Apr. 20, 2001), J.A. 142. Coburn subsequently submitted several applications to the ABCMR, to which a soldier may appeal when he believes his record contains an error or injustice. See 10 U.S.C. § 1552(a)(1) (2006); Army Reg. 15-185 ¶ 2-1 0(c) (2006). In the first of these applications, Coburn requested that the ABCMR remove the Article 15 action and the NCOER from his personnel file. He asserted that both negative records resulted from the erroneous [c]onclusion that [he] wrongfully used marijuana; he also pointed out that he had been vindicated by the ASB. ABCMR Appl., Aug. 24, 2001, J.A. 126. On March 28, 2002, the ABCMR rejected Coburn's August 21, 2001 application, finding that he presented no evidence . . . that the Article 15 was in error or unjust. The Board thus declined to expunge the reference to the Article 15 action from Appellant's personnel file or to move the reference to a restricted fiche data file. ABCMR Mem. of Consideration (Mar. 28, 2002) (2002 Decision) at 7, J.A. 122. The Board also found that there was no basis to remove or amend the contested NCOER. Id.