From: Chairman, Board for Correction of Naval Records To: Secretary of the Navy Subj: REVIEW OF NAVAL RECORD OF FORMER Ref: (a) 10 U.S.C. §1552 (b) 10 U.S.C. § 654 (repealed) (c) UNSECDEF memo, “Correction of Military Records Following Repeal of 10 U.S.C. §654,” of 20 September 2011 Encl: (1) DD Form 149 1. Pursuant to the provisions of reference (a), Petitioner, a former enlisted member of the Marine Corps, filed enclosure (1) with this Board requesting that her record be corrected by upgrading her characterization of service from other than honorable (OTH) and changing her narrative reason for separation. 2. The Board, consisting of reviewed Petitioner's allegations of error and injustice on 25 November 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 enclosure, relevant portions of Petitioner’s naval records, and applicable statutes, regulations, and 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. Although enclosure (1) was not filed in a timely manner, it is in the interest of justice to waive the statute of limitations and review the application on its merits. c. The Petitioner enlisted in the Marine Corps and began a period of active duty on 1 October 1959. On 18 March 1961, a Criminal Investigative Division (CID) report was initiated based on accusations that a female sergeant participated in a homosexual act with an unidentified female. In her statement, the accused sergeant named the Petitioner as the unidentified female. Petitioner denied the accusation in a written statement. d. Subsequently, administrative discharge proceedings were initiated. Petitioner’s Officer-in-Charge enthusiastically recommended retention because Petitioner had no previous disciplinary record and her proficiency and conduct marks were 4.3 and 4.5 respectively. Petitioner’s company and battalion commanders recommended separation. e. On 28 June 1961, an Unfitness and Misconduct Discharge Board voted 2 to 1 that misconduct occurred, and 3 to 0 for a general (under honorable conditions) characterization of service. Petitioner denied the allegation under oath. On 18 July 1961, the base commander concurred with the finding of misconduct, but recommended an undesirable discharge by reason of unsuitability. On 20 July 1961, the separation authority concurred with the base commander. f. On 27 July 1961, Petitioner was discharged with an OTH characterization of service. The separation reason and authority was “389 - Para 13266.2a(2), Marine Corps Personnel Manual & CMC msg 251938Z of Jul61.” g. Reference (c) sets forth the Department of 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 reenlistment 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. CONCLUSION Upon review and consideration of all the evidence of record, especially in light of references (b) and (c), the Board’s concluded that Petitioner’s request warrants favorable action. The Board found that Petitioner’s record supports her contention that she was separated due to her alleged sexual preference, and her conduct marks warranted a fully honorable characterization of service. RECOMMENDATION In view of the above, the Board directs the following corrective action: Issue Petitioner a new Certificate or Release or Discharge from Active Duty (DD Form 214) indicating an honorable characterization of service, MARCORSEPMAN para 6012 separation authority, secretarial authority narrative reason for separation, JFF1 separation code, and RE-1 reenlistment code. That Petitioner be issued an honorable discharge certificate. That no further changes to Petitioner’s record be made. File a copy of this report of proceedings in Petitioner’s naval record. That, upon request, the VA be informed that this Board received Petitioner’s application on 18 November 2019. 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.