DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY 
BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF NAVAL RECORDS 
701 S. COURTHOUSE ROAD, SUITE 1001 
ARLINGTON, VA 22204-2490 

Docket No: 4651-20 
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 18 May 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 12 June 2020 advisory opinion (AO) furnished by the Marine Corps Performance Evaluation Review Board (PERB). The AO was provided to you on 12 June 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 or modify your fitness report for the reporting period 1 January 2019 to 9 May 2019. The Board considered your contention that according to the Marine Corps Performance Evaluation System (PES) Manual your report is an example of gaming. You claim that your report was marked unjustifiably low when compared to your section I and section K comments. Your further assert that your reviewing officer recommended you for Professional Military Education (PME) which you completed four years prior, demonstrating a clear lack of awareness. 

The Board, however, substantially concurred with the AO that your fitness report is valid and should be retained as filed. In this regard, the Board noted that gaming involves marking a report to cloud the relative value in relation to other reports for Marines of the same grade. In your case, your reporting senior’s profile only contains four reports, of those, two report were written on you. Your contested report is marked higher than your previous report by the same reporting senior (RS), and your report is only 0.04 percent lower than your RS’s average. The Board determined that your marks and the size of your RS’s profile contradict any opportunity to game your report. The Board also determined that the PES Manual does not provide a scale to match attribute marks with section I or section K comments and the perceived competitiveness of your report’s relative value is not a basis to remove your report. 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, 
5/24/2021 

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