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 16 December 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 Navy and began a period of active duty on 26 June 1998.  On 30 July 1998, the Chaplain referred you for a mental health evaluation due to depression, feeling hopeless, sleeping problems, and inability to adapt to military training.  You denied any history of abuse, disclosed your family was stable, and claimed to have no significant problems.  Additionally, you denied drug or alcohol abuse and homicidal or suicidal thoughts.  You were diagnosed with “Adjustment Disorder with Depressed Mood.”  At that time, you stated that you joined the Navy to escape a “dead end job” at home and because you had no money for college.  Subsequently, administrative action was initiated to separate you from the naval service for the convenience of the Government due to diagnosed adjustment disorder.  After being afforded all of your procedural rights, you waived them, and your case was forwarded to the separation authority for review, with a recommendation that you be discharged with an entry-level separation (ELS) and an uncharacterized characterization of service.  The separation authority agreed and, on 7 August 1998, you were discharged with an uncharacterized ELS and assigned a reentry (RE) code of RE-4. 
 
You request that the Board change your RE code.  You assert that you were discharged during boot camp due to a major crisis affecting your family which caused your distress.  You claimed at boot camp that you did as you were told and “did [not] give anyone a hard time.”  You state that a close relative died, and your sister was hospitalized for several days.  You further state that you were “23 and could [not] think clearly.  Now [you] have a family, [you] work at the local jail as a Chaplain, and [you] found out the Army National Guard takes Chaplain candidates [un]till age 47.” 
 
The Board carefully weighed all potentially mitigating factors, such as your record of service and contentions, and concluded that these factors were insufficient to warrant a change to your RE code as the Board found no error in the records.  The Board noted that you provided no evidence to support your contentions, and that your contentions contradict the information in your records.  Absent of supporting evidence to the contrary, the Board relied upon the presumption of regularity and presumed that the officials acted in accordance with governing law/policy and in good faith.  Accordingly, in its review the Board discerned no probable material error or injustice in the discharge. 
 
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.