Docket No: 4093-19/ 
           5019-15 
Ref:  Signature Date 
                           
MR 

Dear Mr. : 
  
This letter is in reference to your reconsideration request received on 15 April 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 21 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 20 July 2020, which was 
previously provided to you. 
 
You presented as new evidence a series of Ability to Work Evaluations from your mental health provider, copies of Outpatient Progress Notes, and post-discharge medical records.  Additionally, you stated that were told your other than honorable discharge would be changed to a general discharge six months after your discharge, and that is how they “conned” you out of your benefits.  You also note that you have been diagnosed with PTSD due to your service.  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 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 PTSD during your service.  As detailed in the AO, based on the available evidence, the mental health professional opined that there is insufficient evidence that you experienced PTSD attributable to your military service, or that your in-service misconduct could be attributed to PTSD or other mental health condition.  The Board agreed with this opinion.  Further, you are advised that there is no provision of law or in Navy regulations that allows for recharacterization of a discharge automatically after six months or due solely to the passage of time. 
 
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,