Got ABCMR decision but I am confused

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emarkose3

New Member
Registered Member
I got my decision from the ABCMR, and here is what it says:

"The Army Board of Military Correction of Military Records rendered a decision on your application to correct your military records. The Board members recommended denial of your request. Enclosed is a copy of the Record of Proceedings of the Board for your information. However, after reviewing the findings, conclusions, and Board member recommendations, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of The Army (Review Boards) found sufficient evidence to grant relief.

The approved Record of Proceedings has been forwarded to the Army Review Boards Agency Case Management Division. They will take action to correct your records and provide you with official notification as soon as the directed correction has been made. However, due to the large number of cases in process, please be advised that it may be several months before corrects are completed."

In my head, this sounds like good news, but I've never seen the board deny an application and the Deputy Secretary of The Army decided to grant partial relief. I do not want to make any assumptions and find out later that I was wrong. Can anyone else verify what this means?

Thank you in advance.
 
emarkose3 said:
I got my decision from the ABCMR, and here is what it says:

"The Army Board of Military Correction of Military Records rendered a decision on your application to correct your military records. The Board members recommended denial of your request. Enclosed is a copy of the Record of Proceedings of the Board for your information. However, after reviewing the findings, conclusions, and Board member recommendations, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of The Army (Review Boards) found sufficient evidence to grant relief.

The approved Record of Proceedings has been forwarded to the Army Review Boards Agency Case Management Division. They will take action to correct your records and provide you with official notification as soon as the directed correction has been made. However, due to the large number of cases in process, please be advised that it may be several months before corrects are completed."

In my head, this sounds like good news, but I've never seen the board deny an application and the Deputy Secretary of The Army decided to grant partial relief. I do not want to make any assumptions and find out later that I was wrong. Can anyone else verify what this means?

Thank you in advance.
Click to expand...
It sounds positive! The Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army (Review Boards) granted you relief! Congratulations!

Its a rollercoaster because it starts off good and then says board denied but then states the board was overruled by the Deputy Assistant Secretary.
 
emarkose3 said:
I got my decision from the ABCMR, and here is what it says:

"The Army Board of Military Correction of Military Records rendered a decision on your application to correct your military records. The Board members recommended denial of your request. Enclosed is a copy of the Record of Proceedings of the Board for your information. However, after reviewing the findings, conclusions, and Board member recommendations, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of The Army (Review Boards) found sufficient evidence to grant relief.

The approved Record of Proceedings has been forwarded to the Army Review Boards Agency Case Management Division. They will take action to correct your records and provide you with official notification as soon as the directed correction has been made. However, due to the large number of cases in process, please be advised that it may be several months before corrects are completed."

In my head, this sounds like good news, but I've never seen the board deny an application and the Deputy Secretary of The Army decided to grant partial relief. I do not want to make any assumptions and find out later that I was wrong. Can anyone else verify what this means?

Thank you in advance.
Click to expand...
Just curious... What was the relief that you were seeking?
 
It sounds like you were granted relief. Congratulations to you.
 
Consider yourself very fortunate. In the vast majority of cases, when the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Review Boards (DASA-RB) declines to follow the Board’s recommendation, it is to deny relief that the Board has recommended. In most cases, the ABCMR action is final without review by the DASA-RB. 32 C.F.R. § 581.3(g)(2). The DASA-RB (who acts on behalf of the Secretary of the Army through a delegation of authority) may review a correction board’s decision and may approve or disapprove it in whole or in part, but must provide a written rationale. 32 C.F.R. § 581.3(g)(3). The DASA-RB may reject the recommendation of the Board—even one supported by the administrative record—so long as the DASA’s rejection decision is not arbitrary or capricious, unsupported by substantial evidence, or otherwise contrary to the law. See Strand v. United States, 951 F.3d 1347, 1354 (Fed. Cir. 2020); Thornton v. Wormuth, 2025 WL 27351 (D.D.C. Jan. 3, 2025) (Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army’s decision rejecting ABCMR’s recommended relief was arbitrary and capricious as it provided no explanation other than stating he “reviewed the evidence presented, findings, conclusions, and Board member recommendations” and found “sufficient evidence to grant partial relief,” which the Court found to be “boilerplate statements” that did “not allow the Court to determine whether he ‘examine[d] the relevant data’ or whether there is ‘a rational connection between the facts found and the choice made.’”); Villarreal-Dancy v. U.S. Dept. of the Air Force, 633 F.Supp.3d 19, 31-35 (D.D.C. 2022) (acknowledging authority of Secretary of Air Force to reverse the decision of the AFBCMR, but finding that the reversal was arbitrary and capricious because it lacked any reasoned justification).
 
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