Docket No: 2582-19 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 23 June 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, and applicable statutes, regulations, and policies, and the applicable Advisory Opinion (AO) dated 31 March 2020. You enlisted in the Marine Corps and began a period of active duty on 3 February 1976. In February 1977, you received nonjudicial punishment (NJP) for violation of Article 109 (misuse of a fire extinguisher), Article 117 (provoking speeches and gestures), and Article 134 (drunk and disorderly). In May 1977, you received a second NJP for unauthorized absence (UA) from your appointed place of duty. Shortly after your second NJP, on 20 July 1977, you requested a hardship discharge from your duty station in to provide live-in care for your stepfather at your home of record in . Your chain of command recommended approval of the hardship discharge. Your hardship discharge was not approved; however, you received a humanitarian transfer to the . On 16 March 1978, you received NJP for UA and disobeying a lawful order. On 29 March 1978, you received a fourth NJP for disobeying a lawful order, destroying government property by smashing a window, failure to go to your working party at the appointed time, and chasing a PFC out of the squadron. On 14 April 1978, you were discharged from the Marine Corps on the basis of convenience of the government, and received a general discharge characterization. In 1990, the Naval Discharge Review Board (NDRB) determined that your discharge was proper as issued, and that no change was warranted. In your request to the Board, you ask for an upgrade to your discharge characterization to honorable, reinstatement to the rank of Lance Corporal, and grant of secondary military occupational specialty (MOS), US Marine Security Guard. You state that you have been too ill to apply to the Board for corrective action, but are now applying in the interest of justice. You provide a copy of your Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty (DD Form 214), a copy of a Meritorious Mast received on active duty, proof of a permanent post-discharge disability, information regarding various degrees and certifications, letters of support, and a personal statement dated 8 August 2019. You contend that your current discharge is unjust because a Board of Veterans Appeals Decision dated 2 June 1987 is evidence that you became mentally ill while you were in the Marine Corps, and you were awarded 100% service connected disability. You ask for reinstatement to the rank of lance corporal and assert that when you were demoted from lance corporal to private, you were so nervous you could not perform your duties as a Marine. Furthermore, you state your MOS was 0341, Mortarman, but you were sent to as a Security Guard where you were stationed at Marine Barracks. Your duties included participation in two rescue missions. You ask that the Board grant you a secondary MOS because of your duties in from July 1976 through October 1977. You also ask that the Board consider that you have been married for over 22 years, have a beautiful daughter, and have earned several online correspondence degrees and certificates while living at home with a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia. You are an active member of the DAV, honorary member of the Paralyzed Veterans of America, and a Gold Circle Member of the VFW. You note in your application that you were extremely anxious and depressed while in the Marine Corps which resulted in your early discharge, and provide information about missing out on events and gatherings over the years because of your disability. The Board noted that you raise issues of mental health as a mitigating factor to be taken into consideration as part of your request. 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.” As part of the review process, a Physician Advisor reviewed your request, and issued an AO dated 31 March 2020. The AO concluded that there is sufficient evidence that it is as likely as not that you incurred a mental health condition as a result of your military service. However, the AO determined that there is insufficient evidence to attribute your extensive in-service misconduct to a mental health condition. The AO was provided to you, and you were given 30 days in which to submit a response. When you did not provide a response within the 30-day timeframe, your case was submitted to the Board for consideration. The Board, in its review of your entire record and application, carefully weighed all potentially mitigating factors, including your 100% disability rating from Veteran Affairs (VA) with a determination of total disability effective 8 February 1991, your in-service hardship discharge request, and your post-service achievements and challenges. With regard to your characterization of service, the Board substantively concurred with the findings of the AO. The Board concluded that in light of the AO’s determination and taking into account the numerous NJPs for various infractions in your record, the general characterization of service was issued without error or injustice. The Board also noted that a general discharge is not an unfavorable characterization of service, and appears to account for the personal challenges that you faced during your time in the Marine Corps, to include mental health concerns and family stressors related to being far away from your ailing stepfather. With respect to your request for reinstatement of rank, the Board found that you were properly demoted to the rank of private through NJP proceedings, which appear to have been executed without error or injustice. Even in consideration of mental health concerns and personal stressors, the Board found that your rank at the time of discharge was neither erroneous nor unjust. The Board considered your request for a secondary MOS of Security Guard but determined that even in consideration of your personal statement pertaining to the scope of your duties in Guam and the information in your available record, there was insufficient evidence to establish that at the time of your service from February 1976 to April 1978, you met the criteria for the MOS of . 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.