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. 
 
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 case on its merits.  A three-member panel of the Board for Correction of Naval Records, sitting in executive session, considered your application on 5 September 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 that you entered active duty with the Navy in May 1996.  On 8 February 1998, you were arrested for driving without a license and running a red light.  Non-judicial punishment was imposed on you for unauthorized absence and an orders violation on 16 March 1998.  On 28 April 1998, non-judicial punishment was again imposed on you for three specifications of unauthorized absence.  Based on your misconduct, you were notified of administrative separation processing for pattern of misconduct, and discharged on 8 May 1998, with a General characterization of service.  Post-discharge, you assert that the Department of Veterans Affairs has issued you a combined 100% disability rating for service connected disability conditions including depression, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia. 
 
The Board carefully considered your arguments that you deserve a change to your narrative reason for separation to disability and an upgrade to your characterization of service.  You assert the Navy failed to consider your medical conditions and their impact on your performance.  Unfortunately, the Board disagreed with your rationale for relief.  First, the Board found that you were properly discharged for pattern of misconduct based on your two non-judicial punishments.  There was no evidence in your record or application that you were not mentally responsible for your misconduct.  Second, since you were processed for administrative separation for misconduct, the Board found that you were ineligible for disability processing since disability regulations direct misconduct processing to supersede disability processing.  Therefore, despite the existence of any disability conditions at the time of your discharge, you were not eligible for disability benefits based on your misconduct separation.  Third, the Board determined your current characterization of service remains appropriate.  You committed multiple offenses punishable under the Uniform Code of Military Justice in less than two years of active service.  These offenses led resulted in one arrest and two non-judicial punishments.  Based on your history of misconduct during your brief career, the Board concluded that significant negative aspects of your conduct outweighed the positive aspects of your military record.  The Board also considered your disability conditions when deliberating whether an upgrade was appropriate.  In the end, they determined your claimed disability conditions did not have a sufficient nexus to your misconduct or offer sufficient mitigation to the seriousness of the offenses you committed to merit an upgrade to your characterization of service.  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.