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, sitting in executive session, considered your application on 23 June 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 02 May 2019 advisory opinion (AO) furnished by the Marine Corps Performance Evaluation Review Board (PERB), as well as your 14 June 2019 rebuttal. 
 
The Board carefully considered your request to remove your fitness report for the reporting period 19 May 2018 to 17 June 2018 or to change the observation of your reporting senior (RS) to non-observed and your request to remove all of your failures of selection (FOSs) to the grade of lieutenant colonel.  The Board considered your contention that the reporting period only covered eight days of observation time and your RS failed to make directed comments in Section I justifying the exception to policy required for reports covering a period of 89 days of less.  The Board also considered your contentions that you were unjustly relieved of duty, improperly given an adverse fitness report, and were not appropriately counseled from your RS prior to the report.  In your rebuttal, you assert that it was unjust for the RS to write an adverse fitness report because you were not fairly observed during this reporting period and you claim that the report has negatively impacted your competitiveness for promotion. 
 
    The Board noted that the PERB, after identifying correctable errors in the contested report, modified the RS portions of the fitness report to “not observed” and changed the reporting occasion from CMC Directed (DC) to Change of Duty (CD).  The Board concurred with the AO that the reporting chain sufficiently justified the decision to relieve you from duty based on your performance and their belief that you were unable to successfully lead an operational planning team.  The Board noted the Reviewing Officer (RO), who was the Regimental Commander, concurred with the RS comments as well as the Third Officer Sighter, who was the Division Commanding General.  The Board noted that pursuant to the Performance Evaluation System (PES) Manual, there is no minimum observation requirements for a report based on relief for cause.  The Board determined while there were administrative errors in the fitness report, those errors did not invalidate the report.  The Board concurred with the PERB that the contested report, as modified, is now administratively correct, and concluded that the modified report shall remain in your official military personnel file. 
 
     With regard to your request to remove your FOSs to the grade of lieutenant colonel, the Board noted that the contested report is one of the six fitness reports in-grade that were available for consideration by the Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 USMC Reserve Lieutenant Colonel Promotion Board when you first failed selection.  The Board further noted that the RO observation has your future potential assessed as below average when compared against your peers.  Given that the contested report is valid, you were relieved for cause due to substandard performance, and you were marked not recommended for promotion, the Board concluded that removal of your FOSs is not warranted. 
 
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. 
 
 Sincerely,