DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF NAVAL RECORDS 701 S. COURTHOUSE ROAD, SUITE 1001 ARLINGTON, VA 22204-2490 Docket No: 1563-18 From: Chairman, Board for Correction of Naval Records To: Secretary of the Navy Subj: REVIEW OF NAVAL RECORD OF FORMER Ref: (a) 10 U.S.C. § 1552 (b) SECDEF memo of 3 Sep 14, “Supplemental Guidance to Military Boards for Correction of Military/Naval Records Considering Discharge Upgrade Requests by Veterans Claiming PTSD” (c) PDUSD memo of 24 Feb 16, “Consideration of Discharge Upgrade Requests Pursuant to Supplemental Guidance to Military Boards for Correction of Military/Naval Records by Veterans Claiming PTSD or TBI” (d) PDUSD memo of 25 Aug 17, “Clarifying Guidance to Military Discharge Review Boards and Boards for Correction of Military/Naval Records Considering Requests by Veterans for Modification of their Discharge Due to Mental Health Conditions, Sexual Assault, or Sexual Harassment” (e) USD memo of 25 Jul 18, “Guidance to Military Discharge Review Boards and Boards for Correction of Military/Naval Records Regarding Equity, Injustice, or Clemency Determinations” Encl: (1) DD Form 149 (NR20180001563) (2) Advisory Opinion of 1. Pursuant to the provisions of reference (a), Petitioner, a former enlisted member of the Marine Corps, filed the enclosure with this Board, requesting correction to his Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty (DD Form 214) to reflect an upgrade to his characterization of service and a change to his narrative reason for separation. 2. The Board, consisting of, reviewed Petitioner’s allegations of error and injustice on, and, pursuant to its regulations and references (b) through (e), determined that the partial corrective action indicated below should be taken on the available evidence of record. Documentary material considered by the Board consisted of enclosure (1), relevant portions of Petitioner’s naval service records, as well as applicable statutes, regulations, and policies, and the 11 July 2018 Advisory Opinion (AO), enclosure (2), which was previously furnished to Petitioner, who provided no response. 3. The Board, having reviewed all the facts of record pertaining to Petitioner’s allegations of error and injustice finds as follows: a. Before applying to this Board, Petitioner exhausted all administrative remedies available under existing law and regulations within the Department of the Navy. b. Although enclosure (1) was not filed in a timely manner, it is in the interest of justice to review the application on its merits. c. Petitioner enlisted in the Marine Corps and began a period of active duty on d. On , Petitioner was diagnosed with adjustment disorder by the Medical Officer of , who recommended administrative separation. e. On , Petitioner was notified of administrative separation proceedings against him on the basis of convenience of the government due to personality disorder. Given Petitioner’s length of duty, Petitioner was not entitled to appear before an administrative separation board. f. On, the directed that Petitioner be discharged with an uncharacterized separation, on the basis of personality disorder. Petitioner was discharged that day and received a reentry (RE) code of RE-3P. g. Petitioner requests a “Good Conduct Discharge” of either honorable or general, and asks that his narrative separation reason be changed to remove a reference to “Personality Disorder” on his DD Form 214. He states that the reference to personality disorder is incorrect. Petitioner states that he has suffered from anxiety and depression from the time he was in service. h. As part of the review process, a licensed clinical psychologist reviewed Petitioner’s available records and his contentions, and issued an AO that states that Petitioner’s in-service mental health condition of adjustment disorder can be attributed to military service, however the diagnosis is temporary during that period of service. The AO does not find evidence of anxiety or depression during Petitioner’s service. The AO was provided to Petitioner, and he was given 30 days in which to submit a response. When Petitioner did not provide a response within the 30-day timeframe, his case was submitted to the Board for consideration. CONCLUSION: The Board, in its review of Petitioner’s entire record and application, carefully weighed all potentially mitigating factors including Petitioner’s contentions, as well as the conclusions of the AO. The Board determined that although Petitioner appears to have been diagnosed in-service with a mental health condition, as a matter of justice, his DD Form 214 should not reflect mental health information. The Board considered Petitioner’s request with regard to his characterization of service but found that Petitioner was notified of administrative separation proceedings on, which was within 180-days from the start of his active duty enlistment. The Board found that since Petitioner was notified within 180-days, the entry level characterization of service was not erroneous or unjust, and did not merit corrective action. The Board concluded that Petitioner is entitled to a change to his narrative separation reason, as well as associated changes to his SPD code and separation authority. In view of the above, the Board directs the following corrective action. RECOMMENDATION: That Petitioner be issued a new DD Form 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty with a narrative reason for separation of “Secretarial Authority,” an SPD code of “JFF,” and the separation authority of “MARCORSEPMAN PAR 6421.” That a copy of this report of proceedings be filed in Petitioner’s naval record. That, upon request, the Department of Veterans Affairs be informed that Petitioner’s application was received by the Board on 4. It is certified that a quorum was present at the Board’s review and deliberations, and that the foregoing is a true and complete record of the Board’s proceedings in the above entitled matter. 5. Pursuant to the delegation of authority set out in Section 6(e) of the revised Procedures of the Board for Correction of Naval Records (32 Code of Federal Regulation, Section 723.6(e)) and having assured compliance with its provisions, it is hereby announced that the foregoing corrective action, taken under the authority of reference (a), has been approved by the Board on behalf of the Secretary of the Navy.