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 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, sitting in executive session, 
considered your application on 29 August 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. 

A review of your record shows you entered active duty with the Marine Corps in March 2003 as a Warehouse Clerk and deployed to a combat zone where you were exposed to six Improvised Explosive Device explosions. In February and March 2007, you were medically screened for separation and cleared to be discharged despite complaints of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms and a notation from the medical provider that he could not rule out mild Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). You were eventually discharged on 17 March 2007. Post-discharge, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) rated you for a number of service connected disability conditions including Individual Unemployability (100%), TBI (40%), and PTSD 
(70%). This Board recommended you be placed on the Temporary Disability Retirement (TDRL) list for your PTSD and TBI conditions with ratings consistent with your VA ratings. You were subsequently placed on the TDRL by the Physical Evaluation Board (PEB) with a combined 80% disability rating. On 26 April 2018, a periodic TDRL examination was conducted which showed you remained unemployed but were caring for your grandfather who suffers from Alzheimer’s. In addition, the report documented that you completed 121 college credits with a 1.26 GPA and continued consume alcohol at a high level. Based on the TDRL periodic examination report, the PEB found you unfit for continued naval service due to PTSD and TBI but reduced your combined disability rating to 60%. On 27 February 2019, the Combat Related Special Compensation (CRSC) Board granted your CRSC for eight disability conditions totaling a 90% combined rating. 

The Board carefully considered your arguments that you deserve an increase to your PEB issued disability ratings for your unfitting conditions. You assert that the PEB issued ratings are inconsistent with the VA and CRSC granted ratings. Unfortunately, the Board disagreed with your rationale for relief. First, the Board concluded that the CRSC Board ratings are granted for a different purpose under different regulations and, therefore, not probative on whether the PEB assigned disability ratings are appropriate. The CRSC board adopts the assigned VA disability ratings after determining whether a disability condition meets the criteria for CRSC. In your case, since it was determined eight of your VA rated disability conditions met the CRSC criteria, the CRSC board incorporated the existing VA ratings. Second, contrary to the CRSC Board, the PEB examines the most current medical evidence in determining what disability rating is appropriate after a member is assigned to the TDRL. In your case, a periodic TDRL examination 
was conducted on 26 April 2018 and was the most current medical evidence in your case. The Board reviewed the periodic TDRL examination report and found the PEB assigned ratings reasonable based on the rating criteria contained in 38 Code of Federal Regulations 4.130 and 38 Code of Federal Regulations 4.124a. So despite the existence of a higher VA combined rating for your PTSD and TBI conditions, absent medical evidence that rebuts the TDRL examination report, the Board determined that the PEB assigned ratings are supported by the preponderance of the evidence in your case. Accordingly, the Board found insufficient evidence of error or injustice to warrant a change to your record. 

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.