Docket No. 5994-19
Ref: Signature Date

Dear  : 
 
This letter 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 11 August 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, and applicable statutes, regulations, and policies.  The Board also considered the 21 May 2019 advisory opinion (AO) furnished by the Marine Corps Performance Evaluation Review Board (PERB), as well as your reporting senior’s (RS’s) advocacy letter submitted in response to the AO.  
 
The Board carefully considered your request to remove your fitness report for the reporting period 1 July 2017 to 3 November 2017.  The Board considered your contentions that the fitness report evaluation contradicts the counseling given by your reporting senior (RS) and an award that was written by your RS.  You assert that your reporting officials changed their assessment of your performance after you departed your duty station, and then they submitted the report in late, after you inquired about the status of the report on multiple occasions. 
 
The Board, however, substantially concurred with the PERB.  With regard to your contention that the report is invalid because your RS’s relative value ranks you “below average,” yet prior counseling and an end of tour award necessarily equates to deserved “above average” relative value, the Board noted that there is no scale to precisely “match” counseling and receipt of a personal award with subsequent and related report relative value.  The Board noted that the laudatory comments imbedded in your award do not signify any specific evaluation metric, and awards are generally slanted to portray the recipient in a most favorable posture.  
 
The Board determined that you are essentially arguing that you should not be ranked below two other first sergeants in your RS’s profile, without any comparative perspective.  Even though your RS indicated that you were “well above average,” he also assessed two other first sergeants higher, as is his prerogative.  Additionally, the Board determined that a report is not considered unjust solely because the relative value and/or comparative assessment mark are rated lower than other reports. The Board determined that it is not uncommon for fitness reports to go through several iterations before final submission to a Marine’s official military personnel file, and although your RS is advocating a change to your report now, he did not provide any information that was not known, or should have been known to him at the time it was submitted.  Lastly, the Board determined that late submission of fitness reports is concerning, but that does not necessarily invalidate a report. 
 
The Board thus concluded that the report was administratively correct, procedurally complete and valid at the time of submission, and remains as such.  The PERB determined, and the Board concurred, that you failed to meet the burden of proof necessary to establish an inaccuracy or injustice warranting removal of the report.  
 
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,