Docket No: 10848-19 
Ref: Signature Date 
 
 
 
Dear : 
 
This is in reference to your application for correction of your naval record pursuant to Section 1552 of Title 10, United States Code.  After careful and conscientious consideration of relevant portions of your naval record and your application, the Board for Correction of Naval Records (Board) found the evidence submitted insufficient to establish the existence of probable material error or injustice.  Consequently, your application has been denied.     
 
Although you did not file your application in a timely manner, the statute of limitation was waived in accordance with the 25 August 2017 guidance from the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness (Kurta Memo).  A three-member panel of the Board, sitting in executive session, considered your application on 24 February 2021.  The names and votes of the panel members 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, and applicable statutes, regulations, and policies, to include the Kurta Memo, the 3 September 2014 guidance from the Secretary of Defense regarding discharge upgrade requests by Veterans claiming post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Hagel Memo), and the 25 July 2018 guidance from the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness regarding equity, injustice, or clemency determinations (Wilkie Memo).  The Board also considered an advisory opinion (AO) from a qualified mental health professional dated 22 January 2021 and your rebuttal statement received 9 February 2021.   
 
You enlisted in the Navy and began a period of active duty on 3 April 2001.  On 31 May 2002, you received non-judicial punishment (NJP) for wrongful use of a controlled substance.  Unfortunately, the documents pertinent to your administrative separation are not in your official military personnel file (OMPF).  However, your OMPF does reflect the separation authority directing your administrative discharge from the naval service with an other than honorable (OTH) characterization of service by reason of misconduct due to drug abuse.   
 
Your Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty (DD Form 214), reveals that you were separated on 22 July 2002 with an OTH characterization of service, your narrative reason for separation is “By Reason of Misconduct Due to Drug Abuse,” your separation code is “HKK,” and your reenlistment code is “RE-4.”  
 
As part of the Board’s review, a qualified mental health professional reviewed your request and provided the Board with an AO on 22 January 2021.  The AO concluded by opining that the available objective evidence fails to establish you were diagnosed with PTSD or suffered from PTSD at the time of your military service, or that your in-service misconduct could be attributed to PTSD or other mental health conditions.      
 
The Board carefully reviewed your application, weighed all potentially mitigating factors, and considered your contentions that: (1) your record is inequitable because of your mental condition of anxiety and bipolar depression, which rendered you incapable of service and contributed to your discharge; (2) you became mentally and physically exhausted from painful injuries for which you were taking Motrin; (3) you feared that the ongoing war and your phobia of water got worse; (4) you were “sleepless,” which caused your mental condition to alter leading to your present diagnosis of anxiety, Bipolar Depression, for which you were not diagnosed/misdiagnosed during your service and time of major depressive disorder episodes; and (5) you reported that you were feeling depressed and had several breakdowns, and although you were assigned a mentor, you feel that if you had been given the proper attention and psychiatric help and medication when you first reported your symptoms of depression, the outcome of your discharge would have been different and more liberal.   
 
Unfortunately, even under the liberal consideration standard, the Board discerned no procedural defect, impropriety, or inequity in your discharge and determined your service was appropriately characterized as other than honorable.  The Board, relying on the AO, concluded there was insufficient evidence of an error or injustice that warrants upgrading your characterization of service or changing your narrative reason for separation. 
 
The Board carefully considered all potentially mitigating factors to determine whether the interests of justice warrant relief in your case in accordance with the Wilkie Memo.  These included, but were not limited to, your contentions as previously discussed and your desire to upgrade your discharge and change your narrative reason for separation.  Based upon this review, the Board concluded these potentially mitigating factors were insufficient to warrant relief.  Specifically, the Board determined your misconduct outweighed these mitigating factors.  Accordingly, given the totality of the circumstances, the Board determined your request does not merit relief.   
 
You are entitled to have the Board reconsider its decision upon 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.   
 
                                                                              
Sincerely,