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

From: Chairman, Board for Correction of Naval Records 
To: Secretary of the Navy 

Subj: REVIEW OF NAVAL RECORD OF FORMER MEMBER

Ref: (a) 10 U.S.C. § 1552 

Encl: (1) DD Form 149 with attachments 

1. Pursuant to the reference, Petitioner, a former enlisted sailor, filed the enclosure with the Board for Correction of Naval Records (Board) requesting that his Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty (DD Form 214) be changed to reflect an upgrade to his characterization of service. 

2. The Board, consisting of    ,    ,      and    reviewed Petitioner’s allegations of error and injustice on and pursuant to its regulations, determined that the corrective action indicated below should be taken on the available evidence of record. Documentary material considered by the Board consisted of the enclosures, relevant portions of Petitioner’s naval service records, and applicable statutes, regulations, policies.

3. The Board, having reviewed all the facts of record pertaining to Petitioner’s allegations of error and injustice, finds as follows: 

 a. Before applying to this Board, Petitioner exhausted all administrative remedies available under existing law and regulations within the Department of the Navy. 

 b. Although the enclosure was not filed in a timely manner, it is in the interest of justice to review the application on its merits. 

 c. Petitioner entered active service in the Navy on 30 July 1990. On 1 July 1994, he reenlisted for six years. Petitioner served without disciplinary incident until 31 December 1995 when he failed to report to his new duty station and remained in an unauthorized absence status until 22 September 2000.  His record is incomplete in that it does not contain all of the documents pertaining to his administrative discharge. Based on his DD Form 214, it appears he submitted a written request for discharge for the good of the service to avoid trial by court-martial. Prior to submitting this request, Petitioner would have been required to confer with qualified military counsel, at which time he would have been advised of his rights and warned of the probable adverse consequences of accepting such a discharge. Petitioner’s request was granted and his Commanding Officer was directed to issue an other than honorable (OTH) discharge for the good of the service. He was so discharged on 20 December 2000.

 d. Petitioner contends he was “under a lot of stress” at the time of his discharge and “made a poor decision by walking away.” He also requested that the Board consider his deployment in support of       .

 e. Petitioner’s DD Form 214 does not contain a Block 18 statement regarding his continuous honorable active service during his first enlistment. 

CONCLUSION: 

Upon review and consideration of all the evidence of record, the Board determined Petitioner’s request warrants partial relief. 

Based on his continuous honorable service, the Board concluded Petitioner’s DD Form 214 should be corrected to reflect honorable service from 30 July 1990 until 30 June 1994.

The Board concluded that there was insufficient evidence of an error or injustice warranting upgrade to Petitioner’s characterization of service. 

RECOMMENDATION: 

In view of the above, the Board directs the following corrective action: 

That Petitioner be issued a Correction to DD Form 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty (DD Form 215) to indicate the addition of the following language to Block 18: CONTINUOUS HONORABLE ACTIVE SERVICE FROM 30 JULY 1990 UNTIL 30 JUNE 1994.

No further changes be made to Petitioner’s record. 

A copy of this report of proceedings be filed in Petitioner’s naval record. 

Upon request, the Department of Veterans Affairs be informed that Petitioner’s application was received by the Board on 16 October 2018.

4. It is certified that a quorum was present at the Board’s review and deliberations, and that the foregoing is a true and complete record of the Board’s proceedings in the above-entitled matter. 

5. Pursuant to the delegation of authority set out in Section 6(e) of the revised Procedures of the Board for Correction of Naval Records (32 Code of Federal Regulation, Section 723.6(e)), and having assured compliance with its provisions, it is hereby announced that the foregoing corrective action, taken under the authority of reference (a), has been approved by the Board on behalf of the Secretary of the Navy. 

8/30/2019
Executive Director