Docket No: 5006-20 
 
 
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 8 June 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 25 June 2020 decision furnished by the Marine Corps Performance Evaluation Review Board (PERB), and 24 April 2020 advisory opinion (AO) provided to the PERB by the Manpower Management Division Records & Performance Branch (MMRP-30).  The PERB decision and AO were provided to you on 25 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 modify your fitness report for the reporting period 12 September 2015 to 30 November 2015 by changing your comparative assessment mark from block 4 to block 5.  The Board considered your contention that according to the Marine Corps Performance Evaluation System (PES) Manual, “. . . a MRO you are assessing in back-to-back reporting periods, and whose performance remains constant, should receive at least the same mark as you assigned to the prior report.”  You claim that subsequent reports by the same reviewing officer (RO) were lowered and marked in block 4, although your section K comments were similar to your previous reports and your reporting senior (RS) attribute marks showed improvement.  As evidence, you furnished correspondence from your former RO. 
 
The Board, however, substantially concurred with the PERB decision and AO that your fitness report is valid and should be retained as filed.  In this regard, the Board noted that the PERB approved a correction to your fitness report for the reporting period 1 May 2015 to 11 September 2015 by changing your comparative assessment mark from block 4 to block 5.  The Board also noted that your RS for the contested reporting period was not the same as your previous fitness reports and your report’s relative value was below your RS’s average.  The Board noted, too, the correspondence furnished by your RO, however, the Board determined that the justification for correction to your previous fitness report is not sufficient to warrant correction to your contested fitness report.  The Board also determined that the PES Manual does not prohibit RO’s from lowering comparative assessment marks, thus your RO’s assessment of your performance is valid.  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, 
6/19/2021
Executive Director