DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY
BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF NAVAL RECORDS
2 NAVY ANNEX
WASHINGTON DC 20370-5100
JRE
Docket No. 05642-05
11 September 2006

This is in reference to your- application to 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 8 September 2006. Your allegations of error and injustice were reviewed in accordance with administrative regulations and procedures applicable to the proceedings of t1 is Board. Documentary material considered by the Board consisted of you application, together with all material submitted in support thereof, you naval record and applicable statutes, regulations and policies.

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 found that you served on active duty in the Marine Corps from 6 June 1967 to 29 December 1970, when you were discharged by reason of unsuitability due to a character or behavior disorder. The Veterans Administration (VA) awarded you a 10% rating for brain trauma residual to a shell fragment wound effective 30 December 1970. You underwent VA neuropsychiatric examinations on 7 April 1971 and 1 February 1972, which were negative for any ratable psychiatric disorder. In 1977 you were diagnosed with latent schizophrenia, and submitted a request for service connection for a mental disorder. In a rating decision dated 28 November 1977, the VA granted you service connection and a 50% disability rating for schizophrenia, which was felt to be the “...maturation of passive aggressive personality disorder and residuals of brain trauma.”

	The Board carefully considered the contents of your VA claims folder, but found the records  contained therein to be insufficient to demonstrate that you were unfit for service by reason of physical disability at the time of your discharge. Implicit in the VA rating decision summarized above is the finding that although your present mental disorder is related to your personality disorder and wounds you sustained while on active duty, the disorder did not exist as a ratable entity prior to your discharge or for several years thereafter. The Board noted that although the VA may assign and adjust disability ratings throughout a veteran’s lifetime, the military departments may assign disability ratings only in those cases where a service member has been found unfit to reasonably perform the duties of his office, grade, rank or rating by reason of physical disability. In those cases where disability ratings are assigned, the ratings are fixed as of the date of separation or permanent retirement, and may not be adjusted to reflect changes that occur thereafter. As you have not demonstrated that you were unfit by reason of physical disability at the time of your discharge, the Board was unable to recommend corrective action in your case. Accordingly, 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,

W. DEAN PFIEFFER
Executive Director