DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF NAVAL RECORDS 701 S. COURTHOUSE ROAD, SUITE 1001 ARLINGTON, VA 22204-2490 Docket No: 7784-18 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Naval Records To: Secretary of the Navy Subj: REVIEW OF NAVAL RECORD OF Ref: (a) 10 U.S.C. § 1552 (b) 10 U.S.C. §654 (repealed) (c) USD memo of 20 Sep 11 (Correction of Military Records Following Repeal of 10 U.S.C. §654) Encl: (1) DD Form 149 1. Pursuant to the provisions of reference (a), Petitioner filed the enclosure with this Board requesting that characterization of service be changed. He also impliedly requested that the separation reason, separation authority, and reentry code be changed. Additionally, that his dates of service be accurately annotated on his Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge (DD Form 214). 2. The Board, consisting of , reviewed Petitioner’s allegations of error and injustice on 30 September 2019, 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, 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 Marine Corps and began a period of active duty on 27 April 1969. On 28 January 1970, he was convicted by summary court-martial (SCM) of two specifications of unauthorized absence (UA) totaling 14 days. Petitioner was the subject of a Navy Inspector General (NIS) investigation, in which he admitted to participating in homosexual acts on numerous occasions with a civilian. Subsequently, administrative discharge action was initiated to discharge him from the Marine Corps for unfitness due to homosexual acts. Petitioner’s official military personnel file was incomplete and did not contain all of the documentations pertaining to his separation from the Marine Corps. Absent such evidence, the Board relied upon the presumption of regularity and presumed that the officials acted in good faith according to governing law and policy. It appears that after he was afforded his procedural rights, his case was forwarded to the separation authority on 20 February 1970. On 18 March 1970, he received a second NJP for period of UA and lasted less than 24 hours. The separation authority directed that Petitioner be discharge due to unfitness. He received an other than honorable discharge on 14 April 1970. At that time, he was assigned an RE-4 (not recommended for reenlistment) reentry code. c. 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. Although Petitioner was administratively process for homosexuality and misconduct, the separation authority directed that he be discharged due to 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 relief. The Board concludes that based upon his record of service to include his SCM conviction and NJP, and current Department of the Navy policy as established in reference (b) and (c), that relief in the form of his characterization service be changed to General (under honorable conditions. Characterization of service is based in part on conduct marks assigned on a periodic basis. Petitioner conduct average was 2.9. At the time of his service, a conduct average of 4.0 was required to be considered for a fully honorable characterization of service. Additional relief is that the narrative reason for separation be changed to “Secretarial Authority,” the separation authority to “MARCORSEPMAN par 6214,” and reentry code to RE-1J. In view of the foregoing, the Board finds the existence of an injustice warranting the following corrective action. RECOMMENDATION Petitioner’s naval record be corrected to show that on 14 April 1970, he received a General (under honorable conditions) discharge. Petitioner’s narrative reason for discharge be changed to “Secretarial Authority.” Petitioner’s naval record be corrected to show that on 14 April 1970, the separation authority was “MARCORSEPMAN par 6214.” Petitioner’s reenlistment code be changed to “RE-1J.” Petitioner be issued a new Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty (DD Form 214). 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 2 July 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. 10/22/2019