DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF NAVAL RECORDS 701 S. COURTHOUSE ROAD, SUITE 1001 ARLINGTON, VA 22204-2490 Docket No: 3485-19 Ref: Signature Date 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. A three-member panel of the Board for Correction of Naval Records (Board), sitting in executive session, considered your application on 9 September 2019. 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. You enlisted in the Navy and began a period of active duty on 24 August 2010. In 2017, a Physical Evaluation Board (PEB) found you unfit to perform your duties due to diabetes and assigned you a 20% disability rating. On 15 March 2017, you accepted the informal PEB’s fitness determination. On 19 June 2017, the Decision Review Officer, Integrated Disability Evaluation System (IDES) Team, Veterans Affairs (VA) reconsidered the proposed IDES rating. The Decision Review Officer determined that the 20% rating is appropriate and the higher evaluation of 40% is not warranted unless there is diabetes requiring insulin, a restricted diet, and a regulation of activities. You were discharged from the Navy on 24 August 2017, on the basis of a disability and received an honorable characterization of service and a re-entry (RE) code of RE-3P. You were separated with severance pay, and in August 2017, the VA determined you had service connected obstructive sleep apnea that merited a 50% rating. On 7 August 2018, the VA issued a decision letter reflecting a monthly entitlement of a combined rating of 70%. In your petition to the Board, you request a medical retirement vice a medical separation and assert that your combined evaluation of 30% or more merits a retirement. The Board carefully reviewed your application, the information you provided in support of your application, and your available service record. The Board noted that the VA has awarded you a combined 70% rating, but noted that 50% of that rating is associated with obstructive sleep apnea, a condition which does not appear to have impacted your fitness for duty. The Board considered that your obstructive sleep apnea was not found to be an unfitting condition by your medical providers or the PEB and that the PEB found you unfit for duty only due to diabetes. The Board noted that eligibility for compensation and pension disability ratings by the VA is tied to the establishment of service connection and is manifestation-based without a requirement that unfitness for military duty be demonstrated. So without additional evidence that your obstructive sleep apnea was unfitting, the Board concluded the VA ratings for obstructive sleep apnea was not probative on the issue of unfitness and the preponderance of the evidence supports the PEB findings in your case. Accordingly, the Board found that your current separation with severance pay was issued without error or injustice. 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 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, 10/8/2019