DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF NAVAL RECORDS 701 S. COURTHOUSE ROAD, SUITE 1001 ARLINGTON, VA 22204-2490 Docket No: 8256-18 Ref: Signature Date Dear This letter is in reference to your application for correction of your naval record pursuant to Title 10, United States Code, Section 1552. After careful and conscientious consideration of the entire record, the Board for Correction of Naval Records (Board) found that the evidence submitted was insufficient to establish the existence of probable material error or injustice. Consequently, your application has been denied. Although your application was not filed in a timely manner, the Board found it in the interest of justice to waive the statute of limitations and consider your application on its merits. A three-member panel of the Board, sitting in executive session, considered your application on 25 September 2019. The names and votes of the members of the panel will be furnished upon request. Your allegations of error and injustice were reviewed in accordance with administrative regulations and procedures applicable to the proceedings of this Board. Documentary material considered by the Board consisted of your application, together with all material submitted in support thereof, relevant portions of your naval record, as well as applicable statutes, regulations, and policies. You enlisted in the Marine Corps and began a period of active duty on 4 August 1972. During the period from 19 January 1973 to 14 December 1973, you received four non-judicial punishments (NJP) for disrespect towards a commissioned officer, five specifications of disobeying a lawful order, being absent from your appointed place of duty (guard duty), and unauthorized absence on two occasions. On 14 February 1974, you were convicted by special court-martial (SPCM) of an unauthorized absence totaling 89 days, willfully disobeying a lawful order, damaging military property and driving a passenger vehicle in a reckless manner at a speed in excess of 50 MPH and did thereby cause said vehicle to strike military vehicle and to force an oncoming vehicle off the road. You were awarded as punishment, forfeitures of pay, confinement, and to be discharged from the naval service with a bad conduct discharge (BCD). After the BCD was approved at all levels of review, you were discharged on 13 August 1975. The Board carefully weighed all potentially mitigating factors in your case, including your desire to upgrade your discharge, and your contention that the military member you were riding with when the car broke down called in and said his car had broken down, did not tell anyone about you and another person being in the car, that you were one of the riders were declared “absent without leave”, that you were held responsible for marijuana butts in the ashtray of the car you were riding in, and that there was no blood test administered. The Board has no authority to set aside a court-martial conviction and must limit its review to determining whether the sentence should be modified as a matter of clemency. Your request was fully and carefully considered by the Board in light of the Secretary of Defense’s 25 July 2018 memorandum, “Guidance to Military Discharge Review boards and Boards for Correction of Military/Naval Records Regarding Equity, Injustice, or Clemency Determinations.” The Board determined that no clemency is warranted in your case. In this regard, the Board concluded that there was insufficient evidence to warrant clemency given the severity of your misconduct, which resulted in four NJPs, a SPCM conviction, and a subsequent BCD. In view of the forgoing, the Board in its review discerned no probable material error or injustice in your discharge, nor did it find that clemency was warranted. It is regretted that the circumstances of your case 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 this regard, 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.