Docket No: 3612-20
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 19 February 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 the 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, to include the 25 July 2018 guidance from the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness regarding equity, injustice or clemency determinations (Wilkie Memo).   
 
On 31 March 2020, the Board initially granted you relief and changed the narrative reason for separation, separation authority, and separation code on your DD Form 214 in accordance with current Department of Defense policy directives.  The Board reviewed your reconsideration request to change the name in your military record to match your current legal name.  You originally enlisted in the Navy on 20 August 1985.  On 19 September 1986 you were discharged with an other than honorable characterization of service.  The Board noted your name was legally changed post-service in  State in 2005 to “.”   
 
The Board determined that your Navy service records and DD Form 214 maintained by the Department of the Navy contain no known errors.  Unfortunately, the Board is only authorized to consider applications for name changes to a Petitioner’s DD Form 214 to correct an error or an injustice.  As your military record now stands, there are no material errors with your legal name as reflected during your Navy service and at discharge.  Because a DD Form 214 is not a “living” document that is updated with subsequent post-service name changes, and given that your name at the time of both your enlistment and discharge from the Navy was “-” the Board did not find evidence of an error or injustice that warrants changing your DD Form 214 to reflect your current post-discharge legal name. 
 
The Board also carefully considered all potentially mitigating factors to determine whether the interests of justice warrant relief in your case in accordance with the Wilkie Memo.  These included, but were not limited to, your legal name change in 2005.  Based upon this review, and even in light of the Wilkie Memo and reviewing the record holistically, the Board still concluded that given the totality of the circumstances your request does not merit relief.   
 
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,