Docket No: 432-20 
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 February 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 7 January 2020 advisory opinion (AO) furnished by the Marine Corps Performance Evaluation Review Board (PERB).  The AO was provided to you on 7 January 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 modify your fitness report for the reporting period 2 July 2004 to 7 November 2004 by changing your report to be not observed.  The Board considered your contentions that your fitness report was a ‘welcome aboard’ report and your reporting senior (RS) did not objectively consider your efforts.  You also contend that your RS rated your performance against more experienced Chief Warrant Officer-3s (CWO-3) and your reviewing officer’s (RO’s) evaluation contradicts your section I comments and relative value.  You claim that you were filling a CWO-3 billet, your RO understood the steep technical demands of the billet and correctly rated you with your peers.  
 
Although your application was not filed in a timely manner, the Board found it in the interest of justice to waive the statute of limitations and consider your case on its merits.  The Board substantially concurred with the AO that your fitness report is valid and should be retained as filed.  In this regard, the Board noted that the Marine Corps Performance Evaluation System (PES) Manual does not require RS and RO evaluations to match.  The Board found no evidence that your fitness report was a ‘welcome aboard’ report, nor was there any evidence that your RS compared or graded your performance against CWO-3s he may have previously observed and you provided none.  The Board determined that your fitness report was processed according to PES Manual guidance.  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,