Docket No: 2442-18 6677-09 Ref: Signature Date Dear This is in reference to your reconsideration request of Docket No: 6677-09. You previously petitioned the Board for Correction of Naval Records (Board) and were advised that your application had been denied. Your case was reconsidered in accordance with the BCNR procedures, which conform to Lipsman v. Secretary of the Army, 335 F. Supp. 2d 48 (D.D.C. 2004). After careful and conscientious consideration of the entire record, the Board found the evidence submitted was insufficient to establish the existence of probable material error or injustice. Consequently, your reconsideration request has been denied. Because your application was submitted with new evidence not previously considered, the Board found it in the interest of justice to review your application. Your current request has been carefully examined by a three-member panel of the Board, sitting in executive session on 8 July 2019. The names and votes of the members of the panel will be furnished upon request. Documentary material considered by the Board consisted of your application and all material submitted in support of your application, relevant portions of your naval record, and applicable statutes, regulations, and policies. In addition, the Board considered the advisory opinion (AO) furnished by a qualified Navy mental health professional, dated 8 May 2019, which was previously provided to you and is enclosed. You presented as new evidence personal statements, a letter from dated 17 October 2017, Department of Veterans Affairs letter address to you dated 27 December 2017, and an undated letter from The Board determined that the materials you provided, even though not previously considered by the Board, were insufficient to establish the existence of probable material error or injustice. You request an upgrade of your characterization of service on the basis that you suffered from a mental health condition during your military service. Your request was fully and carefully considered by the Board in light of the Secretary of Defense’s memorandum, “Supplemental Guidance to Military Boards for Correction of Military/Naval Records Considering Discharge Upgrade Requested by Veterans Claiming Post Traumatic Stress Disorder” of 3 September 2014 and the “Clarifying Guidance to Military Discharge Review Board and Boards for Correction of Military/Naval Records Considering Requests by Veterans for Modification of their Discharge Due to Mental Health Conditions, Sexual Assault, or Sexual Harassment” memorandum of 25 August 2017. A qualified Navy mental health professional reviewed your request and provided the Board with an AO regarding your assertion you were suffering from a mental health condition during your service. The AO noted, in part, you provided no medical records to support your claim of a mental health condition incurred as a result of military service. Your service record indicates that your discharge was related to repeated misconduct, which could have a number of factors contributing to it. Additional records, including medical records describing your mental health condition and its specific link to his in-service misconduct are required to render an alternate opinion. At this time, based on the available evidence, there is insufficient evidence that you incurred a mental health condition during your military service or that your misconduct should be attributed to a mental health concern. The Board carefully weighed all potentially mitigating factors, such as your record of service and desire to upgrade your discharge. The Board also considered your assertions that “I was constantly bulled, and tormented, jumped and beat up by black Marines, racial attacks, young and dumb,” that you were brutally attacked by two other Marines due to racial discrimination, and the harassment and injuries were directly connected to PTSD, and your early discharge from the Marines. The Board concurred with the AO’s statement that there is insufficient evidence that you incurred a mental health condition during your military service or that your misconduct should be attributed to a mental health concern. It is regretted that the circumstances of your reconsideration petition are such that favorable action cannot be taken. You are entitled to have the Board reconsider its decision upon the 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 the absence of new matters for reconsideration, the decision of the Board is final, and your only recourse would be to seek relief, at no cost to the Board, from a court of appropriate jurisdiction. 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.