DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF NAVAL RECORDS 701 S. COURTHOUSE ROAD, SUITE 1001 ARLINGTON, VA 22204-2490 Docket No: 1026-19 Ref: Signature Date 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. A three-member panel of the Board, sitting in executive session, considered your application on 26 May 2020. 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. In addition, the Board considered the 11 December 2019 advisory opinion (AO) furnished by a Navy mental health professional, which was previously provided to you. You enlisted in the Marine Corps and began a period of active duty on 2 August 1993. On 8 September 1995, you received nonjudicial punishment (NJP) for disorderly conduct. On 27 November 1995, you received NJP for an unauthorized absence. A 23 January 1996 drug lab report indicated that you tested positive for marijuana. On 2 February 1996, an evaluation report for substance abuse states that you should be held strictly accountable for your actions, recommended that you be administratively discharged from the Marine Corps, and that you be screened weekly until your discharge. On 26 February 1996, you received nonjudicial punishment (NJP) for wrongful use of marijuana. On 4 March 1996, you were notified of administrative discharge action for misconduct due to drug abuse. After being afforded your procedural rights, you elected to have your case heard before an administrative discharge board (ADB). Your commanding officer forwarded your case to the separation authority with the recommendation that you be discharged from the Marine Corps due to drug abuse with an other than honorable (OTH) characterization of service. On 19 April 1996, an ADB found that you had committed misconduct due to drug abuse and recommended that you receive an OTH discharge. On 23 May 1996, the separation authority directed that you receive an OTH discharge due to drug abuse. On 4 June 1996, you were discharged from the Marine Corps with an OTH characterization of service. 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 3 September 2014 memorandum, “Supplemental Guidance to Military Boards for Correction of Military/Naval Records Considering Discharge Upgrade Requested by Veterans Claiming Post Traumatic Stress Disorder,” the 25 August 2017 memorandum, “Clarifying Guidance to Military Discharge Review Boards 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,” and the 25 July 2018 memorandum, “Guidance to Military Discharge Review Boards and Boards for Correction of Military/Naval Records Regarding Equity, Injustice, or Clemency Determinations.” A Navy mental health professional further reviewed your request for correction to your record and provided the Board with an AO regarding your assertion you were suffering from a mental health condition. The AO concluded that the evidence does not support the request. The AO noted that during your military service, there were no clinical signs or subjective complaints indicating a diagnosable mental health condition. Additionally, you did not indicate you were experiencing any mental health symptoms or conditions on your separation physical or during your administrative separation processing. There is no evidence to attribute your misconduct to any major mental health condition other than illegal substance use. There is no information in your military service record to indicate any additional mental health disorder or condition. Additionally, information provided in your post-service medical records listing your mental health conditions and treatment indicated your mental health symptoms presented in 2017, 21 years after your discharge from the Marine Corps. There was no evidence linking post-service mental health conditions and your military misconduct. At this time, based on the available evidence, there is insufficient evidence of a mental health condition during your military service to which to attribute your misconduct. 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 you sustained a knee injury during physical training, you could not seek any treatment higher than a corpsman, your pain was getting worse, and you were told that they were going to rehab your knee but not repair it. You assert that your knee got worse as you were made to rehab a knee that had not been repaired. Additionally, you claim you had become very depressed and felt lost from dealing with the pain of your knee, back, and feet. You went home on leave when you were at the point of trying anything to make the pain and depression more bearable. You made the mistake of smoking a marijuana cigarette the day before you returned from leave, as you were led to believe it would lessen the depression and anxiety you were dealing with on a constant basis. The Board concluded these factors and assertions were not sufficient to warrant an upgrade in the characterization of your service given your misconduct, which resulted in three NJPs, one of which was for wrongful drug use in violation of the Marine Corps’ zero tolerance drug policy. Further, the Board concurred with the AO that there is insufficient evidence of a mental health condition during your military service to which to attribute your misconduct. 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.