Docket No:  2693-19 
 
Ref: Signature Date 
 
 
Dear : 
 
This letter is in reference to your reconsideration request received on 28 February 2019.  You previously petitioned the Board for Correction of Naval Records (Board) and were advised that your application had been disapproved.  Your case was reconsidered in accordance with Board procedures that conform to Lipsman v. Sec’y of the Army, 335 F. Supp. 2d 48 (D.D.C. 2004).  After careful and conscientious consideration of the entire record, the Board found the evidence submitted was insufficient to establish the existence of probable material error or injustice.  Consequently, your application has been denied.      
  
Regarding your request for a personal appearance, the Board determined that a personal appearance with or without counsel will not materially add to their understanding of the issue(s) involved.  Therefore, the Board determined that a personal appearance was not necessary and considered your case based on the evidence of record. 
 
Because your application was submitted with new evidence not previously considered, the Board found it in the interest of justice to review your application. Your current request has been carefully examined by a three-member panel of the Board, sitting in executive session on 20 July 2020.  The names and votes of the members of the panel will be furnished upon request.  Documentary material considered by the Board consisted of your application and all material submitted in support of your application.  In addition, the Board considered the advisory opinion (AO) furnished by a qualified mental health professional, dated 9 April 2020, which was previously provided to you. 
  
You presented as new evidence, letters of support, certificates of completion, transcripts, and an Associate of Arts degree certificate. You also provided medical records, a Treatment Plan containing diagnoses of an unspecified Bipolar and Related Disorders and an Alcohol Use Disorder, Moderate, a Chemical Dependency Evaluation, and evidence of a mental health condition diagnosed three years after your discharge.  Further, you state that you were found to have lifetime psychological disorders aggravated by military service, including Bipolar Disorder I, General Anxiety Disorder, and PTSD aggravated by military service that escalated to Substance Abuse Disorders as well. 
 
After careful and conscientious consideration of the entire record, the Board determined that your statement and evidence you provided, even though not previously considered by the Board, was insufficient to establish the existence of probable material error or injustice and thus not material.  
  
You request an upgrade of your characterization of service on the basis that you suffered from a mental health condition during your military service.  Your request was fully and carefully considered by the Board in light of the Secretary of Defense’s Memorandum, “Supplemental Guidance to Military Boards for Correction of Military/Naval Records Considering Discharge Upgrade Requested by Veterans Claiming Post Traumatic Stress Disorder” of 3 September 2014 and the "Clarifying Guidance to Military Discharge Review Board 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" memorandum of 25 August 2017. 
  
A qualified mental health professional further reviewed your request for correction to your record and provided the Board with an AO regarding your assertion that you were suffering from a mental health condition.  The AO noted that in your personal statement, you stated that the pressures of your training schools and relationship with your wife led to increasing alcohol abuse and anxiety symptoms.  You described suffering social isolation and estrangement, confusion, alternating periods of debilitating depression and “extreme energy and activity,” irritability, trouble concentrating, insomnia, decreased energy, and feeling as if “something in my head snapped or was broken,” all of which you described as being exacerbated by recurrent shift work changes.  You added that after your discharge from the Marine Corps, these symptoms continued to worsen resulting in several incarcerations.  You additionally stated that in 2003, you were ordered by the court into substance abuse rehabilitation, and were diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder Type I, PTSD, and General Anxiety Disorder.   
 
A review of available service records revealed an enlistment physical examination in which you stated you were in “excellent” health and denied any history of substance abuse or mental health conditions. There was a mention of ensuring you had information for Alcohol Rehabilitation through the Veterans Administration Healthcare System prior to your discharge. There were no other in-service medical records available.   
 
In-service, you described mental health symptoms that are consistent with early manifestations of your future diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder.  You also described significant alcohol abuse, which appeared more directly contributory to most of your misconduct.  Additional evidence, such as personnel or medical records documenting your mental state or associated behaviors and linking them to your military misconduct is required to be able to attribute your actions to a mental health disorder vice simply alcohol abuse. Should you choose to submit additional clinical information, it will be reviewed in the context of your claims.  Therefore, there is sufficient evidence that you more likely than not experienced the early stages of a mental health condition during your military service.  However, the evidence is insufficient to attribute your in-service misconduct to a mental health disorder, other than Alcohol Abuse. 
  
It is regretted that the circumstances of your reconsideration petition 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 the absence of new matters for reconsideration, the decision of the Board is final, and your only recourse would be to seek relief, at no cost to the Board, from a court of appropriate jurisdiction. 
 
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,