Docket No: 4152-19  
Date: Ref Signature 
 

Dear  :  
 
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 that the evidence submitted was insufficient to establish the existence of probable material error or injustice.  Consequently, your application has been denied. 
 
Although your application was not filed in a timely manner, the Board found it in the interest of justice to waive the statute of limitations and consider your application on its merits.  A three-member panel of the Board for Correction of Naval Records, sitting in executive session, considered your application on 1 July 2020.  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 26 September 1972.  You received nonjudicial punishment on two occasions for unauthorized absence from your appointed place of duty, and breaking restriction.  On 15 March 1974 you received a general discharged under honorable conditions by reason of physical disability with entitlement to severance pay (Marine Corps Separation and Retirement Manual 273).   
 
After careful consideration of your contentions, the Board did not find evidence of an error or injustice that warrants adjustment to your naval record.  The Board carefully weighed all potentially mitigating factors, such as your desire to change your Special Program Number (SPN) code.  In your petition, you assert that your SPN code is “257” which “translates to unfitness, homosexual acts,” and request that the code be expunged, deleted or changed, and you further request that your discharge be upgraded to an honorable.  Although you are correct in that an SPN code 257 is the separation code for unfitness due to homosexual acts, your Report of Separation from Active Duty (DD Form 214), does not reflect 257 as your SPN code.  Rather, Block 9(f) for the DD Form 214, Type of certificate issued, appropriately reflects “DD 257 MC,” which is a General Discharge (Under Honorable Conditions) certificate.  Your DD Form 214 does not list an SPN code. 
 
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,