Docket No: 4224-19 
Ref: Signature Date 

This letter 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. 

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, sitting in executive session, considered your application on 12 May 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, as well as applicable statutes, regulations, and policies.  The Board also considered the enclosed 28 March 2019 advisory opinion (AO) furnished by the Marine Corps Performance Evaluation Review Board (PERB).  Although you were afforded an opportunity to submit a rebuttal, you did not do so. 

The Board carefully considered your request to modify your fitness report for the reporting period 1 August 2003 to  9 October 2003.  The Board considered your contention that the comment “[a]chieved class standing of 26 of 33, GPA 88.2750%” appears to be unjust and arguably not appropriate because the class standing could be viewed as derogatory.  You assert that, for academic reports, Section C can include class standings, but Section I is reserved for making directed and additional comments as appropriate. 

The Board, however, substantially concurred with the PERB decision that no modifications to your report are warranted.  In this regard, the Board noted that the contested report was written for a reporting period of less than three months, when you were a second lieutenant.  The Board determined that inserting comments in Section I, instead of Section C, of the contested report was merely an administrative oversite made by your reporting senior, and that such error is a harmless error that does not justify modification of your report more than 16 years later, especially considering that you have been promoted on four separate occasions since the report was inserted into your official military personnel file.  The Board noted that documenting class standings is authorized by Performance Evaluation System (PES) guidance and is not deemed derogatory.  Furthermore, the Board determined that even if the report was modified, the modification would not change its relative value.  The PERB determined, and the Board concurred, that you failed to meet the burden of proof necessary to establish an inaccuracy or injustice warranting modification of the report. 

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 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 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.