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 1 April 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.  Additionally, the Board considered the advisory opinions contained in Senior Medical Advisor letter 1910 CORB: 002 of 31 December 2020 and Director CORB letter 1910 CORB: 001 of 11 January 2021 along with your 24 March 2021 response to the opinions.  A previous Board determined that the evidence in your case did not support a disability rating greater than 10%.  In a 23 January 2020 decision, the Board concluded that your ability to maintain steady employment with minor decreases in work efficiency was consistent with the criteria for a 10% rating under 38 CFR 4.130.  In addition to your work history, the Board also relied on other factors such as your ability to obtain an online graduate degree in 2015.   
 
The Board carefully considered your new arguments that your Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder symptoms fit more closely with a disability rating of 30% vice the 10% assigned to you by the Physical Evaluation Board (PEB).  You provided new evidence that supports your arguments that your mental health conditions impacted your employment to a moderate to severe degree including a recent 15 March 2021 mental health evaluation report.  Unfortunately, the Board did not agree with your arguments for relief.  In making their findings, the Board substantially concurred with the advisory opinions in your case. 
 
38 CFR 4.130 lays out the requirements for specific disability ratings for VASRD Code 9413; the code under which you were determined to be unfit for continued naval service by the PEB. Under 38 CFR 4.130, a 10% rating is deemed appropriate in cases where an occupational and social impairment exists due to mild or transient symptoms which decrease work efficiency and ability to perform occupational tasks only during periods of significant stress, or symptoms controlled by continuous medication.  A 30% rating may be assigned in cases where the evidence shows an occupational and social impairment with occasional decrease in work efficiency and intermittent periods of inability to perform occupational tasks (although generally functioning satisfactorily, with routine behavior, self-care, and conversation normal), due to such symptoms as: depressed mood, anxiety, suspiciousness, panic attacks (weekly or less often), chronic sleep impairment, mild memory loss (such as forgetting names, directions, recent events).  
 
In applying the criteria of 38 CFR 4.130 to the facts of your case, the Board again determined that the PEB assigned 10% rating for your mental health condition was appropriate.  Despite the detailed medical evidence created in 2019 and 2021 that opines that your mental health symptoms were more serious than documented in your Temporary Disability Retirement List periodic examinations in 2016, the Board was not persuaded.  While the Board realizes that you dispute the validity of the medical evidence relied upon by the PEB in reducing your disability rating to 10%, the Board concluded the preponderance of the evidence supports the PEB findings in your case based on the TDRL examination reports.  The 19 July 2016 TDRL examination report documents that you were doing well while working as regional exercise planner and felt safe working there.  You reported some nightmares but denied flashbacks, intrusive mental images of trauma, avoidant symptoms, overtly negative mood states, or anxiety.  You also reported no period of mania, hypomania, or psychosis with no suicidal or homicidal thoughts.  Based on these factors, a medical determination was made that your mental health condition was relatively mild and had stabilized with medication despite the lack of therapy.  The Board found no evidence during these 2016 medical examinations that support a finding that you were unable to intermittently perform occupational tasks due to your mental health condition.  However, the Board considered evidence that you experienced brief periods of disassociation a couple times a month or required time off after being startled by a fire alarm but did not find those examples sufficient to meet the standard of intermittent periods of inability to perform occupational tasks since they were isolated events with minor impact on your ability to perform your occupational tasks.  As a result, the Board disagreed with the opinion from your 2021 mental health examination and concluded that these instances of occupational impairment were more closely aligned with a 10% disability rating since they involved mild or transient symptoms that occurred infrequently with little to no impact on your ability to perform occupational tasks.  In the opinion of the Board, having to take part of the day off once in a while or not involve yourself in a conversation for approximately 30 seconds a couple times of month was not sufficiently impairing to be considered intermittent symptoms that create an inability to work.  Ultimately, the Board found no basis to question the accuracy of the 2016 TDRL examinations that were relied upon by the PEB in making their findings in 2017 and reached the same conclusions as the PEB when evaluating your medical evidence.  Therefore, after considering the new evidence you provided, they determined it was insufficient to overturn the PEB findings in your case.  Accordingly, the Board found insufficient evidence of error or injustice to warrant a change to your record.   
 
The Board determined that your personal appearance, with or without counsel, would not materially add to their understanding of the issues involved.  Therefore, the Board determined that a personal appearance was not necessary and considered your case based on the evidence of record. 
 
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,