Docket No.: 3512-19 
            1361-16 
Ref:  Signature Date 
 
MR 

Dear Mr. : 
  
This letter is in reference to your reconsideration request received on 28 March 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.    
 
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 4 September 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 8 June 2020, which was previously provided to you. 
 
You presented as new evidence a letter from your mother to President Trump, a letter from your treating psychiatrist at  Counseling Services, dated 05 February 2015. After careful and conscientious consideration of the entire record, the Board determined that the statements and evidence you provided, even though not previously considered by the Board, was insufficient to establish the existence of probable material error or injustice.  
 
You have requested an upgrade of your characterization of service on the basis that you suffered from Post-traumatic Stress Disorder 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 Navy mental health professional further reviewed your request for correction to your record and provided the Board with an AO regarding your assertion you were suffering from a mental health conditions during your service.  As detailed in the AO, the mental health professional opined that though you have provided evidence that you are now afflicted with this obsessive-compulsive disorder, you provided no evidence or documentation that you were afflicted with your condition while in the Navy.  The mental health professional noted that there was no clinical history provided clarifying your symptoms, effects on your behavior, or linking your claimed condition to your misconduct in-service, and that additional information, such as personal statements, or personnel or medical records documenting changes in your mental state or associated behaviors and linked to your military misconduct is required to render an alternate opinion.  Should you choose to submit additional clinical information, it will be reviewed in the context of your claims. Therefore, at this time, based on the available evidence, it was opined that there is insufficient evidence that you incurred your mental health condition as a result of military service, or that your misconduct could be attributed to a mental health condition. 
 
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,