DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY 
BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF NAVAL RECORDS 
701 S. COURTHOUSE ROAD, SUITE 1001 
ARLINGTON, VA 22204-2490
             
Docket No: 10654-18                                                         
Ref: Signature Date  

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

Subj:   REVIEW OF NAVAL RECORD OF 

Ref:     (a)  10 U.S.C. § 1552            
         (b)  10 U.S.C. §654 (repealed)           
         (c) UNSECDEF memo of 20 Sep 11 (Correction of Military Records Following Repeal of 10 U.S.C. §654)  

Encl:    (1) DD Form 149 w/enls             
         (2) BCNR decision ltr of 19 Mar 84            
         (3) Reissued DD 214 of 27 Apr 84  

1.  Pursuant to the provisions of reference (a), Petitioner filed enclosure (1) with this Board requesting that characterization of service be changed to honorable.  He also impliedly requested that the separation authority, separation code and narrative reason for separation be changed.  

2.  The Board, consisting of                                                    , reviewed Petitioner’s allegations of error and injustice on 7 April 2020, 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 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.  Petitioner enlisted in the Navy and began a period of active 10 February 1961.  On 13 January 1964, he admitted to participating in homosexual conduct.  His case was forwarded to the separation authority with the recommendation that Petitioner receive an undesirable discharge for unfitness.  On 31 January 1964, he was discharged from the Navy with an other than honorable (OTH) characterization of service for unfitness.  He was not the subject of any disciplinary infractions. 

     c.  On 13 March 1984, a panel of the Board for Correction of Naval Records reviewed Petitioner’s characterization of service, and voted to change it Honorable.  

     d.  On 27 April 1984, Petitioner’s Certificate of Release of Discharge from Active Duty (DD Form 214) was administratively reissued by the Naval Military Personnel Command. 

     e.  Reference (c) sets forth the Department of the Defense’s current policies, standards and procedures for correction of military records following the “don’t ask, don’t tell” (DADT) repeal of 10 U.S.C. §654.  It provides service Discharge Review Boards with guidance to grant requests to change the narrative reason for discharge to “secretarial authority,” SPD code to “JFF,” re-characterize the discharge to honorable, and reentry code to “RE-1J,” when the original discharge was based solely on DADT or a similar policy in place prior to enactment, and there are no aggravating factors in the record, such as misconduct. 

CONCLUSION 

Upon review and consideration of all the evidence of record, the Board concludes that Petitioner’s request warrants favorable action in the form of additional relief. 

The Board concludes that based upon his record of service, it appears that Petitioner believes he still has an OTH characterization of service, when in fact, he has an honorable characterization of service. It also appears he never received the Board’s decisional document dated 19 March 1984 or his administratively reissued DD Form 214 that was corrected and issued on 27 April 984.  Based on current Department of the Navy policy as established in reference (b) and (c), and in light of enclosures (2) and (3), additional relief is granted, specifically that the separation authority be changed to read “MILPERSMAN 1910-164,” the separation code be changed to “JFF,” and narrative reason for separation be changed to read “Secretarial Authority.”
 
RECOMMENDATION 

In view of the foregoing, the Board finds the existence of an injustice warranting the following corrective action: 

Petitioner be issued a new Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty (DD Form 214) reflecting that the separation authority is “MILPERSMAN 1910-164,” separation code is “JFF,” and narrative reason for discharge is “Secretarial Authority.” 

That no further action be granted. 

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 5 November 2018.