DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY 
BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF NAVAL RECORDS 
701 S. COURTHOUSE ROAD, SUITE 1001 
ARLINGTON, VA 22204-2490 

Docket No. 7200-18 
Ref: Signature Date 

From: Chairman, Board for Correction of Naval Records 
To: Secretary of the Navy 

Ref: (a) 10 U.S.C. § 1552 
(b) MCO Pl610.7F 
Encl: (1) DD Fonn 149 

(2) Fitness Report for the reporting period 2 Nov 13 to 31 May 14 

(3) HQMC memo 1610 MMRP-13/PERB of9 Aug 18 


1. Pursuant to the provisions ofreference (a), Petitioner, a commissioned officer of the Marine Corps, filed enclosure (1) with the Board for Correction of Naval Records (Board), requesting that his naval record be corrected by redacting a portion of his fitness report for the reporting period 2 November 2013 to 31 May 2014. 

2. The Board, consisting of , reviewed Petitioner's allegations of error and injustice on 22 October 2019 and, pursuant to its regulations, detennined that the corrective action indicated below should be taken on the available evidence of record. Documentary material considered by the Board consisted of the enclosures, relevant portions of Petitioner's naval records, and applicable statutes, regulations, and policies. 

3. The Board, having reviewed all the facts of record pertaining to Petitioner's allegations of error and injustice, found as follows: 

a. Before applying to this Board, Petitioner exhausted all administrative remedies available under existing law and regulation within the Department of the Navy. 

b. Petitioner was issued enclosure (2), a fitness report for the reporting period 2 November 2013 to 31 May 2014. Petitioner contends that the Section I Reporting Senior comment "Selected to fill Executive Officer billet at MWSS due to vacancy" could be perceived as negative, and could lead to an assumption that he was not selected based on merit. 

c. The Marine Corps Perfonnance Evaluation Review Board (PERB) recommends Petitioner's request be denied. Specifically, the PERB detennined that the comment was not negative and did not imply that he was only assigned to the billet because of vacancy rather than his own merit. Additionally, the PERB opined that being selected to fill an executive officer billet, regardless of command, was a positive action and in no way implies negativity or constitutes a "velvet dagger." Enclosure (3). 


CONCLUSION 

Upon review and consideration of all the evidence of record, the Board concluded that Petitioner's request warrants partial relief. In this regard, the Board concurred with the PERB that being selected to fill an executive officer billet, regardless of command, was a positive action, and that the entire sentence shall not be removed· from the report. However, the Board noted that the verbiage "due to vacancy" is unnecessary and detracts from the fact that Petitioner was selected for the billet. The Board concluded that "due to vacancy" shall be redacted from the Section I comments in the contested report. 

RECOMMENDATION 

In view of the above, the Board recommends the following corrective action. 
Petitioner's naval record be corrected by redacting "due to vacancy" from the Section I comments for the fitness report at enclosure (2). 
No further relief be granted. 

4. It is certified that 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 Regulations, 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.