Docket No: 6135-19 
Ref: Signature date 
 
  
Dear : 
 
This letter is in reference to your application for correction of your naval record, filed 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 with respect to your request to upgrade your characterization of service 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 the application on its merits.  A three-member panel of the Board, sitting in executive session, considered the application on 26 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 the application, together with all material submitted in support thereof, relevant portions of your naval record, as well as applicable statutes, regulations, and policies. 
 
You enlisted in the Navy on 26 September 1978.  On 6 June and 14 June, 1979, you received nonjudicial punishment for two separate periods of unauthorized absence.  On 9 July 1979, you received nonjudicial punishment for failing to go to your appointed place of duty.  On 3 August 1979, you received nonjudicial punishment for another period of unauthorized absence.  On 11 October 1979, you received nonjudicial punishment for another period of unauthorized absence.  In 1980, you received another nonjudicial punishment, for disrespect.  In 1981, you received nonjudicial punishment on three occasions for offenses ranging from absence from your appointed place of duty, to failing to obey lawful orders, to communicating a threat.  After your final nonjudicial punishment, for unauthorized absence and failing to obey the Officer of the Deck, you were issued a notification that you were being administratively separated from the naval service, and that notice included certain rights.  Importantly, you waived your right to an administrative discharge board.  On 11 March 1982, you were discharged with an other than honorable characterization of service. 
 
The Board carefully weighed all of your contentions as well as all potentially mitigating factors.  In your petition, you state that you were wrong and that you wish you could “take it all back.”  You explain that now you are suffering from Parkinson’s, mania, depression, and hypertension, and that you are unemployed and you depend on food stamps and your family.  The Board was sympathetic to your position, but your application did not provide material on which the Board could make a determination based on clemency, which could include, for example, evidence of your post-service activities or more relevant medical records or the like.  In the absence of any supporting evidence, the Board determined that, in light of your numerous punishments during your active duty period, it did not find evidence of any error or injustice that warrants upgrading your characterization of service. 
 
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.   
 
Sincerely,