From:  Chairman, Board for Correction of Naval Records 
To:       Secretary of the Navy 
 
Subj:    REVIEW OF NAVAL RECORD   
 
Ref:     (a) 10 U.S.C. § 1552 
         (b) MCO P1610.7 
 
Encl:   (1) DD Form 149 w/enclosures 
        (2) Fitness Report for the reporting period 20171123-20171231 
        (3) HQMC memo 1610 MMRP-30 of 10Jan19 
 
1.  Pursuant to reference (a), Petitioner, an enlisted member of the Marine Corps, filed enclosure (1) with the Board for Correction of Naval Records (Board), requesting that his naval record be corrected by removing, or alternatively modifying his fitness report for the reporting period as “Not Observed.” 
 
2.  The Board reviewed Petitioner’s allegations of error and injustice on 30 June 2020 and, pursuant to its regulations, determined that the corrective action indicated below should be taken on the available evidence of record.  Documentary material considered by the Board consisted of the enclosures, relevant portions of Petitioner’s naval records, and applicable statutes, regulations, and policies.   
 
3.  The Board, having reviewed all the facts of record pertaining to Petitioner’s allegations of error and injustice, found as follows: 
 
      a.  Before applying to this Board, Petitioner exhausted all administrative remedies available under existing law and regulation within the Department of the Navy. 
 
      b.  Petitioner contends that enclosure (2), his fitness report for the reporting period 23 November 2017 to 31 December 2017, should have been marked as “Not Observed” because it covered only 19 days of observation, as 20 of the 39 days in the reporting period were holiday breaks, weekends, and a night shift work day without the Reporting Senior (RS).  In addition, Petitioner argues that the RS Section I comments contained information that did not occur during the reporting period and had been mentioned in a previous fitness report.   
 
 c.  Enclosure (3), Headquarters, Marine Corps (MMRP-30), Advisory Opinion (AO) recommended Petitioner’s request be denied, because Petitioner failed to identify which Section I comments did not apply to the reporting period.  The AO also noted that although the reporting period is less than the 90-day threshold required for observed reports pursuant to reference (b), the RS did provide justification for this exception, fulfilling the Performance Evaluation System (PES) Manual requirement.  The Board, however, noted that the RS had a small profile and that the Section I comments in the contested report were repeated almost word for word in the previous fitness report, giving credence to Petitioner’s contention that the RS wrote the report to expand his reporting profile.  The Board further noted that Petitioner’s previous observed fitness report, covering a period of eight months, in which the Petitioner was in the same billet with the same RS, had Petitioner ranked higher in the Performance and Communication Skills blocks.  The contested report generated a relative value of 80.00 and a cumulative relative value of 80.95; consequently, the contested fitness report resulted in a drop in Petitioner’s cumulative relative value.   
  
CONCLUSION 
 
Upon review and consideration of all the evidence of record, the Board determined that Petitioner’s request warrants relief.  The Board found the RS justification for not meeting the minimum observation time insufficient given that RS markings reflected a decline in Petitioner performance based only on 19 days of observation time.  The Board thus concluded that Petitioner’s fitness report at enclosure (2) shall be marked as Not Observed.   
 
RECOMMENDATION 
 
In view of the above, the Board recommends the following corrective action: 
 
Petitioner’s naval record be corrected by making the appropriate modifications to enclosure (2), his fitness report for the reporting period 23 November to 31 December 2017, in order for it to be a “Not Observed” report.  In addition, ensure that the Performance Evaluation System, the database which generates the Master Brief Sheet, be modified appropriately.  
 
4.  Pursuant to Section 6(c) of the revised Procedures of the Board (32 Code of Federal Regulations, Section 723.6(c)), it is certified that a quorum was present at the Board’s review and deliberations, and that the foregoing is a true and complete record of the Board’s proceedings in the above-entitled matter. 
 
5.  The foregoing action of the Board is submitted for your review and action.