Docket No: 6336-19/10857-14 
Ref: Signature Date 
 
 
  
Dear : 
 
This letter is in reference to your reconsideration request dated 17 June 2019.  You previously petitioned the Board for Correction of Naval Records (Board) and were advised that your application had been disapproved.  Your case was reconsidered in accordance with Board procedures that conform to Lipsman v. Sec’y of the Army, 335 F. Supp. 2d 48 (D.D.C. 2004).  After careful and conscientious consideration of the entire record, the Board found the evidence submitted was insufficient to establish the existence of probable material error or injustice.  Consequently, your application has been denied.      
 
Because your application was submitted with new evidence not previously considered, the Board found it in the interest of justice to review your application. Your current request has been carefully examined by a three-member panel of the Board for Correction of Naval Records, sitting in executive session on 29 July 2020.  The names and votes of the members of the panel will be furnished upon request.  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 carefully weighed all potentially mitigating factors in your case, including your desire to upgrade your discharge.  The Board considered your statement to include your contention that when you arrived to your new duty station, the first day your Lieutenant got up on a table and pulled his sword out.  He proceeded in a manner as if he was going to cut your head off and that frightened you; you did not know what to do or who to tell.  Because of those actions, you could not go back there with that “crazy man with the sword” and in your mind, you knew he was going to kill you, so you went AWOL; you felt at the time you had no choice.  After careful consideration, the Board concluded that your misconduct, which resulted in your request for an other than honorable (OTH) discharge to avoid trial by court-martial, outweighed your desire to upgrade your discharge under the totality of the circumstances.  Accordingly, the Board discerned no probable material error or injustice in the discharge. 
 
It is regretted that the circumstances of your reconsideration petition 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 the absence of new matters for reconsideration, the decision of the Board is final, and your only recourse would be to seek relief, at no cost to the Board, from a court of appropriate jurisdiction. 
 
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,