From: Chairman, Board for Correction of Naval Records 

To: Secretary of the Navy  

Subj: REVIEW OF NAVAL RECORD ICO 
 
Ref: (a) Title 10 U.S.C. 1552  

Encl: (1) DD Form 149 
 

1. Pursuant to the provisions of reference (a) Subject, hereinafter referred to as Petitioner, filed enclosure (1) with this Board requesting, in effect, that the applicable naval record be corrected to place him on the disability retirement list with a characterization of service of Honorable. 

2. The Board, consisting of reviewed Petitioner's 
allegations of error and injustice on 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 enclosures, relevant portions of 
the 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. Petitioner entered active duty with the Marine Corps in He injured his 
lower back while in basic training but was able to complete his initial phase of training. While 
assigned to the he was notified of administrative separation processing for 
condition not a disability on after it was determine his back condition interfered 
with his ability to complete further training. However, he was placed on limited duty on 
for his lower back pain which interrupted his administrative separation processing. 
Subsequently, Petitioner waived his disability processing rights on and was again 
recommended for administrative separation for condition not a disability based on his back 
condition. On Petitioner was discharged for condition not a disability and 
issued an uncharacterized entry level separation with a RE-4 reentry code. Post-discharge, the 
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) rated Petitioner for chronic lumbosacral strain at 0% but 
subsequently increased it to 10% effective the day after his discharge. On the VA 
increased his chronic lumbosacral strain rating to 20% 

 c. Petitioner argues that he was treated unfairly by the Marine Corps and convinced to waive 
his disability rights by his chain of command. He argues that he should be placed on the 
disability retirement list based on his current VA rating of 30%. 

 

CONCLUSION  

Upon review and consideration of all the evidence of record, the Board finds the existence of an 
injustice warranting partial relief. Specifically, the Board determined that Petitioner was 
suffering from a disability condition to his lower back that would have resulted in a finding of 
unfitness, the issuance of a different reentry code, and an honorable characterization of service 
had he not voluntarily waived his disability rights. In light of the fact Petitioner served 
honorably for more than 180 days at the time he was discharge, the Board felt it was reasonable 
to grant relief in his case based on his honorable service and post-discharge VA rating which 
indicates his lower back condition was chronic and, therefore, likely unfitting. So despite the 
lack of an error in Petitioner’s record, the Board found a change to his record was merited to 
change his narrative reason for separation to disability with appropriate changes to his reentry 
and separation codes. Despite this finding, the Board did not find sufficient evidence to place 
Petitioner on the disability retirement list. The VA rated Petitioner’s back condition at 10% 
effective the date of his discharge. Based on this rating, the Board concluded an appropriate 
rating is 10% for his unfitting back condition.  

RECOMMENDATION  

In view of the above, the Board directs the following corrective action. 

Petitioner’s naval record be corrected by changing Petitioner’s record to show he was unfit for 
continued naval service due to Chronic Lumbosacral Strain, VASRD Code 5237, with a 
disability rating of 10% effective the date of his discharge. Petitioner shall be issued a DD Form 
214 or 215 that reflects his narrative reason for separation is “Disability” and a characterization of service as “Honorable” with a reentry code of “RE-3P” and appropriate separation code based on the change to his narrative reason for separation. A copy of this decision shall be placed in 
Petitioner’s record.  

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.  

5. Pursuant to the delegation of authority set out in Section 6(e) of the revised Procedures of the 
Board for Correction of Naval Records (32 Code of Federal Regulation, Section 723.6(e)) and 

having assured compliance with its provisions, it is hereby announced that the foregoing 
corrective action, taken under the authority of reference (a), has been approved by the Board on 
behalf of the Secretary of the Navy.