Docket No: 2701-20 
Ref: Signature Date 

  
 
Dear : 
 
This is in reference to your application for correction of your naval record pursuant to Section 1552 of Title 10, United States Code.  After careful and conscientious consideration of relevant portions of your naval record and your application, the Board for Correction of Naval Records (Board) found the evidence submitted insufficient to establish the existence of probable material error or injustice.  Consequently, your application has been denied.    
 
A three-member panel of the Board, sitting in executive session, considered your application on 16 March 2021.  The names and votes of the members of the panel will be furnished upon request.  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, relevant portions of your naval record, and applicable statutes, regulations, and policies, as well as the 17 March 2020 advisory opinion (AO) furnished by the Marine Corps Performance Evaluation Review Board (PERB).  The AO was provided to you on 17 March 2020, and you were given 30 days in which to submit a response.  When you did not provide a response, your case was submitted to the Board for consideration.  
 
The Board carefully considered your request to remove your fitness report for the reporting period 3 September 2016 to 30 June 2017, to remove your failure of selection (FOS) incurred during the USMC Major Promotion Selection Board, and a Special Selection Board (SSB) for promotion consideration to Major (Maj/O-4).  You also request to remove or modify your fitness report for the reporting period 3 July 2017 to 25 September 2017 by removing section K.  The Board considered your contentions that your fitness report for the reporting period 3 September 2016 to 30 June 2017 is unjust because your section I includes the statement, “Given more availability to fly after his medical issues . . . will have a better opportunity to continue his pilot progression” and the medical issue delaying your flight progression should have resulted in an adverse fitness report.  You also contend that according to the Marine Corps Performance Evaluation System (PES) Manual, comments pertaining to medical issues that do not affect a Marines performance of duties or diminish his/her effectiveness as a leader are unacceptable.  You claim that you were able to meet all flight minimums as stated in your billet accomplishments, your surgery was fresh on the minds of your reporting officials and unjustly affected the overall value of your report.  You also claim that a cumulative relative value of 80.55 percent does not match your section K comment, “Promote with peers.”  Additionally, your reviewing officer (RO) concurred with your reporting senior (RS), allowed the comment to remain, and your RO stated, “Promote with peers”, but marked you a block below other captains he reviewed.   
 
You contend that your fitness report for the reporting period 3 July 2017 to 25 September 2017 was not observed by your RS, but was observed by your RO, the same RO as your previous report and again he stated, “Promote with peers.”  You claim that your RO marked you in the same block as before, which was lower than any captain he had written on to date, and his comparative assessment mark was a holdover from the prior report. 
 
The Board, however, substantially concurred with the AO that your fitness reports are valid and should be retained as filed.  In this regard, the Board noted your contested section I statement and opined that your RS’s statement regarding your “medical issues” was included to clarify why your progression as a pilot was not on par with your peers.  Similarly, the Directed Comment regarding your inability to take the Physical Fitness Test (PFT) also referred to your “required surgery.”  The Board determined that your RS’s statement did not violate the PES Manual.  The Board also determined that the PES Manual does not provide a scale to match relative values or comparative assessments with promotion recommendations.  Moreover, the Board determined that your RO was authorized to observe your fitness report for the reporting period 3 July 2017 to 25 September 2017.  The Board found no evidence that your medical status unjustly affected your reporting official’s fair evaluation of your performance and you provided none.  Based upon the foregoing determinations, the Board found no grounds to remove your FOS or to grant a SSB.  Accordingly, the Board concluded that there is no probable material error, substantive inaccuracy, or injustice warranting corrective action.  
 
You are entitled to have the Board reconsider its decision upon submission of new matters, which will require you to complete and submit a new DD Form 149.  New matters are those not previously presented to or 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,