DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY
BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF NAVAL RECORDS
2 NAVY ANNEX
WASHINGTON DC 20370-5 00

JRE
Docket No. 06513-06
2 July 2007

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 28 June 2007. 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.

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 in order for a service member to be retired by reason of physical disability, he must be unfit to reasonably perform the duties of his office, grade, rank or rating because of a disability that was incurred in or aggravated by his service. In those cases where the service member has not completed at least twenty years of active service, the disability must be ratable at 30% or higher to warrant disability retirement.

The Board noted that you complained of being anxious, unhappy and depressed on several occasions during your enlistment, which you attributed to your dissatisfaction with being the Navy. You were not diagnosed as suffering from anxiety or depression, and there is no indication in the available records that you suffered from a significant mental disorder. You underwent a pre-separation physical examination on 14 June 1971, and were found fit for release from active duty. You did not complain of anxiety or depression during the course of the examination, and the physician who conducted the examination reported that the results of a clinical psychiatric evaluation of you were normal. You were honorably released from active duty on July 1971.

A report prepared by R. Weinstein, MD, dated 17 May 2006, indicates that you did not have any adjustment problems while serving in the Navy, and that your “first depression” occurred in 1986. On 17 June 2006, the Department of Veterans Affairs granted you service connection and a 50% rating for bipolar disorder with dissociative disorder effective 18 October 2005.

The fact that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) awarded you service connection for a mental disorder more than twenty years after your release from active duty does not demonstrate that you suffered from a diagnosable mental disorder in 1971, or that you were unfit for duty by reason of physical disability. The Board noted that while the VA must rate any condition it considers “service connected”, that is, incurred in, aggravated by, or merely traceable to, a period of military service, the military departments are permitted to assign disability ratings only in those cases where the service member has been found unfit for military service.

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,

								W. DEAN PFEIFFER
								Executive Director