Docket No: 3604-20 Ref: Signature Date Dear : This letter is in reference to your reconsideration request. You previously petitioned the Board for Correction of Naval Records (Board) and were advised that your application had been denied. Your case was reconsidered in accordance with Board procedures that conform to Lipsman v. Sec’y of the Army, 335 F. Supp. 2d 48 (D.D.C. 2004). After careful and conscientious consideration of relevant portions of your naval record and your application, the Board found the evidence submitted was insufficient to establish the existence of probable material error or injustice. Consequently, your application has been denied. A three-member panel of the Board for Correction of Naval Records, sitting in executive session, considered your application on 13 July 2020. 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. You enlisted in the Navy and began a period of active duty on 5 August 1974. On 26 February 1975, you were admitted to Naval Medical Center Portsmouth for complaints of depression. You were diagnosed with adjustment disorder and passive aggressive personality disorder. Your record indicates a period of unauthorized absence (UA) from 3 to 29 March 1975, with a second period of UA from 2 April to 16 July 1975. On 31 July 1975, you were convicted at Summary Court Martial proceedings for two periods of UA. You were notified of administrative separation proceedings against you by reason of unsuitability. On 22 August 1975, you were discharged from the Navy with a general characterization of service and received a reentry (RE) code of RE-4. In your previous petition to the Board, NR20180004911, you requested an upgrade to your discharge characterization. An Advisory Opinion dated 22 August 2018 was obtained to assist the Board with the consideration of your contention that you were diagnosed with neurosis and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) prior to your misconduct. The Advisory Opinion noted that you did not provide sufficient evidence to support a determination that you suffered from PTSD but early onset psychosis during your service that has likely progressed over the years could have mitigated your extensive UA. The previous Board noted the Advisory Opinion’s determination that you were likely suffering from the early stages of a psychotic disorder but concluded that the Navy’s decision to separate you with a general characterization of service already took into account the mitigating factor of your disorder. The previous Board determined that even under the liberal consideration standard, your case did not merit relief given your periods of UA in your one-year period of service. In your application for reconsideration, you ask for a change to your discharge to reflect an honorable medical discharge, an RE-3P, and that the periods of UA be expunged. In addition to submitting your original application for reconsideration, you also provided new material which was received by the Board on 28 May 2020, 4 June 2020, 11 June 2020, and 16 June 2020. You assert that you are entitled to a medical discharge and request that the “Chuck Hagel Memorandum of 3 September 2014 be applied.” Your application notes that you are a Era veteran. You provide a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) letter from the mid-1990s in which the VA determined that your “nervous condition” was entitled to an increase in compensation from a 50% rating to a 100% disability rating; your “hernia” rating remained at 10%. Furthermore, as of a VA examination dated 19 February 1996, you were rated at 50% disabled due to generalized anxiety reaction, with major depression. You contend throughout your application for reconsideration that you suffer from service-connected PTSD, as well as additional mental health conditions. Your request was fully and carefully considered by the Board in light of the Secretary of Defense’s Memorandum, “Supplemental Guidance to Military Boards for Correction of Military/Naval Records Considering Discharge Upgrade Requested by Veterans Claiming Post Traumatic Stress Disorder” of 3 September 2014, and the “Clarifying Guidance to Military Discharge Review Board 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” memorandum of 25 August 2017. The Board also reviewed your petition in light of the Under Secretary of Defense’s memorandum, “Guidance to Military Discharge Review Boards and Boards for Correction of Military/Naval Records Regarding Equity, Injustice, or Clemency Determinations” of 25 July 2018. The Board, in its review of your entire record, application, and previous Board decision, carefully weighed all potentially mitigating factors, including your contention that you should have been medically discharged with an RE-3P due to a service-connected mental condition, to include PTSD. The current Board again applied liberal consideration and concurred with the reasoning and decision of the previous Board in its finding that your general characterization of service accounts for your in-service mental health conditions. With respect to your request for a medical discharge and change to the RE-4 code, the Board noted that processing for administrative discharge for misconduct take precedence over processing for disability. Even in consideration of your assertion of suffering from a medical condition or disability during your time in the Navy, the Board found that your misconduct as evidenced by your SCM conviction was an appropriate basis for your administrative discharge which resulted in the general characterization of service and RE-4. Furthermore, the Board noted your VA rating increased to 100% disability in the mid-1990s, but found that your receipt of substantial disability compensation from the VA is not probative of the existence of error or injustice in your naval record because the VA awarded that compensation without regard to the issue of your fitness for military duty at the time of your separation in 1975. The Board concluded that you did not establish that you were unfit to reasonably perform your duties at that time of your military service. The Board also determined that in light of the misconduct reflected in your military record, you do not appear to have met the qualifications for a medical/disability discharge rather than a general discharge initiated on the basis of unsuitability. The Board noted that you served from 1974 to 1975, and that you ask that your military contributions during the Era be taken into account. The Board found that although your record does not reflect an overseas deployment, your service did overlap with the final months of the Vietnam War. The Board determined, however, that the timing of your service was insufficient to establish an injustice to your general discharge on the basis of unsuitability. It is regretted that the circumstances of your reconsideration petition are such that favorable action cannot be taken. 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 the absence of new matters for reconsideration, the decision of the Board is final, and your only recourse would be to seek relief, at no cost to the Board, from a court of appropriate jurisdiction. 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.