Docket No: 4701-19
Ref: Signature Date                        
            
MR
 
Dear Mr.  
  
This letter is in reference to your reconsideration request.  You previously petitioned the Board for Correction of Naval Records (Board) and were advised that your application had been disapproved.  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 5 October 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 together with all material submitted in support thereof, relevant portions of your naval record, and applicable statutes, regulations, and policies, to include the 25 July 2018 guidance from the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness regarding equity, injustice or clemency determinations (Wilkie Memo).  In addition, the Board considered the advisory opinion (AO) furnished by a qualified mental health professional, dated 9 August 2020, which was previously provided to you. 
 
You presented as new evidence, a post-discharge clinical record dated 27 November 2019, from , and three personal statements.  Additionally, you assert that your dishonorable discharge (DD) was inequitable because you suffered from PTSD while on active duty, which led to your penalized maladaptive behaviors resulting in your DD.  You also added that the Marine Corps staff inflicted physical, emotional, and psychological abuse upon you prior to your violations; and the Marine Corps failed to provide you with adequate treatment and preventive resources.  However, 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 also request an upgrade of your characterization of service on the basis that you suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) 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.  The AO noted that the record has no clinical history of what trauma you experienced or when it occurred, and there is no association with your military service or misconduct.  Additionally, there was no objective evidence presented linking your post-service mental health diagnoses and your military service or misconduct.  Therefore, the AO concluded by opining that although there is evidence of a post-discharge mental health diagnosis of PTSD, there is insufficient evidence that this diagnosis can be attributed to your military service.  Additionally, that there was insufficient evidence presented that your in-service misconduct could be attributed to your post-discharge mental health condition. 
 
The Board also reviewed your application under the recent guidance provided in the Under Secretary of Defense’s memorandum dated 25 July 2018 entitled, “Guidance to Military Discharge Review Boards and Boards for Correction of Military/Naval Records Regarding Equity, Injustice, or Clemency Determinations” (USD Memo).  The purpose of the USD Memo is to ease the process for veterans seeking redress and assist Boards for Correction of Military/Naval Records (BCM/NRs) “in determining whether relief is warranted on the basis of equity, injustice, or clemency.”  The USD Memo sets clear standards and principles to guide BCM/NRs in application of their equitable relief authority, and further explains that boards shall consider a number of factors to determine whether to grant relief.  However, even in light of the USD Memo, the Board still concluded given the totality of the circumstances, your request does not merit relief. 
 
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,