Docket No: 3391-20 
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.     
 
Although you did not file your application in a timely manner, the statute of limitations was waived in accordance with the 25 August 2017 guidance from the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness (Kurta Memo).  A three-member panel of the Board, sitting in executive session, considered your application on 5 April 2021.  The names and votes of the panel members 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, including the Kurta Memo, the 3 September 2014 guidance from the Secretary of Defense regarding discharge upgrade requests by Veterans claiming post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Hagel Memo), and the 25 July 2018 guidance from the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness regarding equity, injustice, or clemency determinations (Wilkie Memo).  The Board also requested and reviewed an 18 March 2021 advisory opinion (AO) from a mental health professional. 
 
You enlisted in the Navy on 18 July 1995.  On 21 February 1997, you received nonjudicial punishment for possessing alcohol in your quarters and for failing to remove candles from your quarters.  In March 1997, you were referred for a psychiatric consultation due to possible auditory hallucinations.  As a result of that consultation, you were hospitalized for two days for expressed homicidal ideation and odd behavior, including breaking a needle repository and holding the used needles in a threatening manner.  You were ultimately diagnosed with an adjustment disorder, with mixed disturbances of emotions and conduct, and a personality disorder not otherwise specified, with narcissistic and immature traits.  On 14 March 1997 you were notified of your proposed administrative separation by reason of convenience of the government on the basis of a personality disorder.  This was evidenced by a medical diagnosis which concluded that your disorder was so severe that your ability to function effectively in the military environment was significantly impaired.  You were not entitled to an administrative board and you were discharged the same day with a general (under honorable conditions) characterization of service.  You previously petitioned this Board, and on 15 December 2019, this Board granted you relief in the form of changing your narrative reason for separation from Personality Disorder to Secretarial Authority and a corresponding change to your reentry code.  In your current petition, you seek to have your characterization of service upgraded, to have full benefits restored, and to be retired as of 1997. 
 
The Board carefully considered all potentially mitigating factors in your recent petition to determine whether the interests of justice warrant relief in your case including in accordance with the Hagel and Wilkie Memos.  These included, but were not limited to, your contentions that you suffered from PTSD as a result of your naval service, which mitigates your misconduct.  You contend, and you have provided documentation from medical providers, that your PTSD was related to your attendance at survival, evasion, resistance, escape (SERE) school, and your misconduct was related to your undiagnosed PTSD and not a personality disorder.  You have also provided a letter from a fellow Sailor who described a marked change in your presentation after SERE training.   
 
In connection with your contentions, the Board sought the 18 March 2021 AO.  The AO reviewed all of your contentions as well as the evidence that you provided in support.  The AO concluded that based on the available evidence, “there is sufficient evidence Petitioner’s personality diagnosis was in error, he exhibited behaviors associated with PTSD during his military service, and his misconduct may be mitigated by PTSD.” 
 
Based upon its review, the Board concluded the potentially mitigating factors you raised were insufficient to warrant relief.  After consideration of the materials that you provided, as well as the conclusion of the AO, the Board determined that you were not processed for discharge based on your alleged misconduct.  Rather, you were processed for convenience of the government based on the medical diagnosis at the time that your ability to function effectively in the military environment was significantly impaired.  Under the applicable personnel rules, you were processed using notification procedures and did not have the right to an administrative discharge board.  Under those rules, the lowest discharge characterization that you were eligible for was general (under honorable conditions), as opposed to an other than honorable discharge.  Thus, inasmuch as you were not processed for misconduct, whether your misconduct is mitigated by your PTSD would have no bearing on your characterization of service.  The Board employs a presumption of regularity in military records, and the assignment of a general (under honorable conditions) to your service was based on a review of your service record and circumstances at the time of your discharge.  Given the totality of the circumstances, the Board determined that your request does not merit relief. 
 
You are entitled to have the Board reconsider its decision upon the 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,