DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY
BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF NAVAL RECORDS
					2 NAVY ANNEX
                                                                                WASHINGTON DC 20370-5100 
	
										JRE
						Docket No. 01599-03 
						25 August 2003

This is in reference to your application for correction of your naval record pursuant to the provisions of title 10 of the United States Code, section 1552.

A three-member panel of the Board for Correction of Naval Records, sitting in executive session, considered your application on 21 August 2003. Your allegations of error and injustice were reviewed in accordance with administrative regulations and procedures applicable to the proceedings of this Board. Documentary material considered by the Board consisted of your application, together with all material submitted in support thereof, your naval record and applicable statutes, regulations and policies. It also considered the comments provided by your counsel.

After careful and conscientious consideration of the entire record, the Board found that the evidence submitted was insufficient to establish the existence of probable material error or injustice.

The Board noted that you were discharged from the Navy on 31 May 1983 by reason of a personality disorder. The discharge was based, in part, on the results of a psychiatric evaluation you underwent on 25 February 1983 while stationed in the Philippine Islands. The report of that evaluation indicates that you faced stresses related to legal difficulties your husband was experiencing with civil authorities. You reacted to the stresses with extreme anger and homicidal threats. The psychiatrist noted that your insight was poor, and your judgment was considered impulsive and immature. There was no evidence of psychosis, suicidal ideation or organic impairment. The psychiatrist gave you diagnosis of Situational Disturbance, and Mixed Personality Disorder. He recommended that your command consider you for separation as unsuitable, especially if your maladaptive behavior and job deterioration continued. Your command initiated separation processing after you indicated that you felt that your lifestyle and that of your husband were incompatible with a career in the Navy, and that you wanted to be discharged at any cost so that you could rejoin your husband in the continental United States.

The Board was not persuaded that you were suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder at the time of your discharge, or that you were unfit for duty by reason of physical disability. It noted that although your record contains references to instances of sexual harassment, there is no indication in available records that you were sexually assaulted by another Sailor, or that you were raped by your husband. In addition, the record does not substantiate that you were suffering from any of the hallmark symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder at that time. The fact that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) awarded you service connection and a substantial disability rating for posttraumatic stress disorder effective 4 August 1995 is not probative of the existence of error in your naval record. In this regard, the Board noted that the military departments assign disability ratings only in those cases where the service member has been found unfit for duty, whereas the VA rates all condition it classifies as “service connected”, i.e., incurred in, aggravated by, or traceable to a period of military service, without regard to the issue of fitness for military service. In addition, the VA may raise, lower, or add ratings throughout a veteran’s lifetime. Rating determinations made by the military departments, however, are fixed as of the date of separation or permanent retirement, and may not be amended without action by this Board.

In view of the foregoing, your application has been denied. The names and votes of the members of the panel will be furnished upon request.

It is regretted that the circumstances of your case are such that favorable action cannot be taken. You are entitled to have the Board reconsider its decision upon submission of new and material evidence or other matter not previously considered by the Board. In this regard, it is important to keep in mind that a presumption of regularity attaches to all official records.

 Consequently, when applying for a correction of an official naval record, the burden is on the    applicant to demonstrate the existence of probable material error or injustice.

Sincerely,