Docket No: 8503-20 
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.     
 
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 application on its merits.  A three-member panel of the Board for Correction of Naval Records, sitting in executive session, considered your application on 4 January 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. 
  
You enlisted in the Marine Corps and began a period of active duty on 26 August 1996.   Prior to your enlistment, on 22 April 1996, you signed the USMC policy on drug abuse.  On 23 December 1999, you signed a pretrial agreement (PTA) in which you agreed to plead guilty at a Summary Court-Martial (SCM) to Wrongful Use of Methamphetamine in exchange for withdrawal and dismissal of charges at a Special Court-Martial (SPCM) and waiver of an administrative board.  On 26 January 2000, you pled guilty to Wrongful Use of Methamphetamine at a SCM.  Subsequently, administrative separation action by reason of Misconduct - Drug Abuse, was initiated against you.  On 7 March 2000, you waived counsel and an administrative board.  On 17 April 2000, your Commanding Officer (CO) recommended you be administratively separated with an Under Other than Honorable Conditions (OTH) discharge.   On 2 May 2000, you were served a second Letter of Notification, due to an administrative error.  
That same day, you again waived counsel and an administrative board.  On 9 May 2000, the Staff Judge Advocate to the Convening Authority found the PTA and SCM legally sufficient and recommended administrative separation with an OTH.  On 11 May 2000, the Convening Authority directed administrative separation with an OTH.  On 9 September 2000, you were discharged with an OTH. 
 
You have requested an upgrade of your discharge characterization to Honorable.  In your application, you asserted that you were highly praised by your chain of command for work at a level beyond your peers.  You also admitted you used methamphetamine and signed a PTA to plead guilty at a SCM and waive an administrative board in exchange for not going to an SPCM.  You were convicted at a SCM and later recommended for administrative separation with an OTH.  You contended that the chain of command erred by discharging you with an OTH as your use of drugs was an anomaly from your performance as a Marine.  You quoted a CO who wrote, after finding out about the positive urinalysis, that if he “were to deploy to a combat arena with this or any other unit, he would want this Marine with [him]...”  You also asserted that you were a single mother living on post and single parenthood is a struggle, especially for an active duty Marine.  Later, you also asserted that you don’t know how you ingested methamphetamine.  Finally, you asserted you were improperly stigmatized and harmed by the OTH throughout your life, in spite of your outstanding post-service conduct and educational achievements.   
 
The Board concluded that these assertions and contentions were not sufficient to warrant a change to your discharge characterization, given your admission of methamphetamine use, which resulted in an SCM conviction, pursuant to an approved PTA.  The Board noted that you waived your rights with regard to discharge proceedings.  By doing so, you waived your first, and best, opportunity to advocate for retention, or a more favorable characterization of discharge. 
 
In reviewing the circumstances of your separation and characterization of service, the Board considered the totality of the circumstances to determine whether relief is appropriate today in the interests of justice in accordance with guidance provided by the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness (Wilkie Memo of 25 July 2018).  Accordingly, the Board considered and acknowledged your positive contributions to the Marine Corps, the length of your active duty service to our nation, and your post-discharge achievements.  Even considering these potentially mitigating factors in accordance with the above referenced guidance, the Board did not find that relief was in the interest of justice.  The Board concluded that your OTH discharge characterization was issued without error or injustice, and that corrective action is not warranted. 
  
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, 
 
Executive Director