Docket No: 10870-19 
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 7 October 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. 
 
You enlisted in the Navy and began a period of active duty on 29 December 1966.  On 14 June 1967, you received non-judicial punishment (NJP) for an unauthorized absence.  On 22 December 1967, you were convicted by summary court-martial (SCM) of two specifications of unauthorized absence totaling eight days.  On 4 April 1968, you received your second NJP for an unauthorized absence.  On 12 September 1968, you were convicted by special court-martial (SPCM) of an unauthorized absence, hitchhiking and wrongful use of marijuana and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD).  As punishment, you were awarded reduction in rank, confinement, forfeiture of pay and a bad conduct discharge (BCD).  After the BCD was approved at all levels of review, you were discharged on 17 December 1968. 
 
The Board carefully weighed all potentially mitigating factors in your case, including your desire to upgrade your discharge.  The Board considered your assertion that there is no error or injustice.  The Board also considered your contentions that you are a product of your environment, you grew up in the housing projects of the inner city, it was very easy for you to find trouble and you were given an option by a judge, to either join the military or go to jail and chose the Navy.   
 
The Board has no authority to set aside a court-martial conviction and must limit its review to determining whether the sentence should be modified as a matter of clemency.  Your request was fully and carefully considered by the Board in light of the Secretary of Defense’s 25 July 2018 memorandum, “Guidance to Military Discharge Review boards and Boards for Correction of Military/Naval Records Regarding Equity, Injustice, or Clemency Determinations.”  The Board concluded that no clemency is warranted in your case.  In this regard, the Board determined that there was insufficient evidence to warrant clemency given the severity of your misconduct that resulted in a BCD.  The Board, in its review, discerned no impropriety or inequity in the discharge. 
 
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. 
 
Sincerely, 
Microsoft Office Signature Line...