DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF NAVAL RECORDS 701 S. COURTHOUSE ROAD, SUITE 1001 ARLINGTON, VA 22204-2490 Docket No: 8959-18 Ref: Signature date Dear This 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 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 10 June 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. Although your application listed several attached documents, including a denial of service letter, a letter from the chaplain, a sailor of the quarter award, a deployment, and a sea cadets citation, none of these were received or considered by the Board. The Board reached out to you for copies and received no response. You reenlisted in the Navy and began a period of active duty on 29 March 2002. You served without disciplinary incident through 2004. On 28 April 2004, at summary court-martial proceedings, you were found guilty of wrongful use of a controlled substance (marijuana). On 28 April 2004, you were notified of administrative separation proceedings against you on the basis of misconduct due to drug abuse. You waived your right to appear before an administrative separation board. Your commanding officer recommended that you receive an other than honorable characterization of service. Your final evaluation for the period ending 28 May 2004 gave you a 2.14 performance mark. You were discharged on 28 May 2004, on the basis of misconduct due to drug abuse, and received an other than honorable characterization of service and a reentry (RE) code of RE-4. The Board, in its review of your entire record and application, carefully weighed all potentially mitigating factors, including your request for an upgrade to your characterization of service as well as contentions that you were struggling with alcoholism for years, you did not know what you were doing the night before your urinalysis, and you should have been offered treatment. The Board relies on a presumption of regularity to support the official actions of public officers and, in the absence of substantial evidence to the contrary, will presume that they have properly discharged their official duties. There is no evidence in your record, and you provided none beyond your application, of a qualified medical practitioner indicating you needed treatment. The Board noted that your record indicates that you wrongfully used marijuana but does not have any documentation of you seeking or requesting treatment for alcohol abuse. The Board found that your summary court-martial for wrongful use of a controlled substance (marijuana) supported the other than honorable characterization of service, and that you did not provide sufficient evidence mitigating the seriousness of your misconduct. The Board concluded that your other than honorable discharge was issued without error or injustice, and that corrective action is not warranted. It is regretted that the circumstances of your case are such that favorable action cannot be taken at this time. 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.