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 Ref: (a) 10 U.S.C. § 1552 Encl: (1) DD Form 149 w/attachments (2) Subject's naval record Docket No: 7622-18 Ref: Signature Date 1. Pursuant to the provisions of the reference, Subject, hereinafter referred to as Petitioner, filed enclosure (1) with this Board requesting, in effect, that the applicable naval record be corrected to show that he suffered from mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) as a result of an improvised explosive device (IED) explosion on 14 September 2006, he was not fit for duty until 21 September 2006 due to mild TBI, and a personnel casualty report was created showing he suffered from mild TBI. 2. The Board, consisting of , reviewed Petitioner' s allegations of error and injustice on 21 March 2019 and, pursuant to its regulatio ns, determined that the corrective action indicated below should be taken on the available evidence of record. Documentary material con sidered by the Board consisted of the enclosures, relev ant po11ions of Petitioner's naval records, and applicable statutes, regulations, and 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 entered service with the Marine Corps in July 2002 and deployed to Iraq in March 2006 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. On 14 September 2006, Petitioner was returning to his Forward Operating Base (FOB) in a vehicle when it was hit with an IED. Petitioner was within the blast radius but did not exhibit any physical injuries at the time and participated in a search for the IED trigger man. However, upon returning to the FOB, Petitioner complained of headaches, dizziness, and blurry vision to another Marine and the Corpsman assigned to his unit. Despite his symptoms, there is no evidence Petitioner sought medical treatment. Petitioner completed his deployment and returned to CONUS in October 2006. He did not seek medical treatment in order to volunteer for another deployment to Iraq in February 2008. He has since transitioned to the Marine Corps Reserve and unsuccessfully sought to qualify for a Purple Heart based on the 14 September 2006 IED incident. c. By a split vote of 2 to 1, the Board concluded that an injustice exists in Petitioner's record that requires partial relief. Specifically, based on the statements provided by Petitioner and the medical opinion of 21 August 2017, the majority of the Board concluded that the preponderance of the evidence supports a finding that Petitioner suffered from mild TBI as a result of the 14 September 2006 IED blast, was incapacitated for duty for greater than 48 hours from the time of the IED blast, and that his TBI symptoms were serious enough that a medical provider would have found him "not fit for full duty" during his period of incapacity for duty. The fact Petitioner chose not to seek treatment in order to continue the mission, in the opinion of the majority, created the injustice that the majority of the Board seeks to remedy. They concluded that relief can be provided by having the Marine Corps place a memorandum in Petitioner's record reflecting their findings related to his mild TBI. d. The minority of the Board found that insufficient evidence exists to support relief in Petitioner's case based on the Inspector-Instructor letter of 1 Dec 17 that indicates Petitioner did not notice any immediate physical injuries after the IED blast, did not seek medical attention at the time, and only experienced TBI symptoms after returning to CONUS. MAJORITY CONCLUSION Upon review and consideration of all the evidence of record, the majority of the Board finds the existence of an injustice warranting the following partial corrective action. MAJORITY RECOMMENDATION That Petitioner's naval record be corrected, where appropriate, to show that: A memorandum is placed in Petitioner's record reflecting he suffered from mild TBI as a result of an IED explosion on 14 September 2006 and that he was "unfit for full duty" for greater than 48 hours after his exposure to the IED explosion. Additionally, had a medical officer been available, Petitioner's TBI symptoms would have required treatment by a medical officer. A copy of this Report of Proceedings will be filed in Petitioner's naval record. MINORITY CONCLUSION Upon review and consideration of all the evidence of record, the minority of the Board finds no error or injustice with Petitioner's record. MINORITY RECOMMENDATION No relief be granted. 4. 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 Regulations, Section 723.6(e)), and having assured compliance with its provisions, 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. It is hereby announced that the foregoing corrective action, taken under the authority of the reference has been approved by the Board on behalf of the Secretary of the Navy. 5. The foregoing action of the Board is submitted for your review and action. 4/2/2019 Executive Director Reviewed and approved the Majority Recommendation. ACTING ASSISTANT GENERAL COUNSEL