Docket No:  6653-19 
Ref: Signature Date 

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 relevant portions of your naval record and your application, the Board for Correction of Naval Records (Board) found the evidence submitted insufficient to establish the existence of probable material error or injustice.  Consequently, your application has been denied.     
  
Although you did not file your application in a timely manner, the statute of limitation was waived in accordance with the 25 August 2017 guidance from the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness (Kurta Memo).  A three-member panel of the Board, sitting in executive session, considered your application on 7 December 2020.  The names and votes of the panel members 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, to include the Kurta Memo, the 3 September 2014 guidance from the Secretary of Defense regarding discharge upgrade requests by Veterans claiming post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Hagel Memo), and the 25 July 2018 guidance from the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness regarding equity, injustice, or clemency determinations (Wilkie Memo).  In addition, the Board considered the advisory opinion (AO) furnished by a qualified mental health professional dated 26 October 2020, which was previously provided to you. 
 
You enlisted in the Marine Corps and began a period of active duty on 10 September 1990.  On 16 January 1991, you received nonjudicial punishment (NJP) for being absent from your appointed place of duty.  On 19 March 1992 and 15 June 1992, you were counseled concerning writing bad checks and financial responsibility.  You were warned that failure to take corrective action could result in administrative discharge action.  On 5 March 1993, you received NJP for uttering a bad check.  On 10 March 1993, you were counseled concerning unauthorized absence (UA) and uttering bad checks.  On 6 May 1993, a Report of Mental Status Evaluation found you unsuitable for the Marine Corps due to a severe personality disorder, low motivation, poor performance and a high potential for self-harm and harm to others.  You were considered a have a long-term and impulsive condition that was unlikely to change quickly, despite treatment.  

On 13 May 1993, you received NJP for 11 days of UA.  On 14 May 1993, your commanding officer submitted a written request for your involuntary separation from the Marine Corps due to misconduct, specifically your repeated minor disciplinary infractions.  On 10 June 1993, a request for Veterans Administration treatment in conjunction with your discharge was authorized.  On 18 June 1993, you were counseled concerning your diagnosed personality disorder with suicidal ideations, and unstable medical disposition, in which you were a risk to harm yourself and others.  On 24 June 1993, you were notified of administrative discharge action due to a pattern of misconduct.  After being afforded your procedural rights, you elected to waive your right to request to have your case heard by an administrative discharge board.  Your case was forwarded to the separation authority with a recommendation that you receive an other than honorable (OTH) discharge due to a pattern of misconduct.  On 16 July 1993, the separation authority directed that you receive an OTH discharge due to a pattern of misconduct.  On 11 August 1993, you were discharged from the Marine Corps with an OTH characterization of service.  
 
A qualified mental health professional reviewed your request for correction to your record and provided the Board with an AO regarding your assertion that you was suffering from a mental health condition during your service.  The AO noted that based on the available evidence, the preponderance of available evidence failed to establish you suffered from PTSD at the time of your military service, or your in-service misconduct could be attributed to PTSD or other mental health conditions.   
 
The Board considered your assertions of PTSD and unfair treatment in your unit.  In your statement to the Veterans Administration in support of your claim for service connection for PTSD, you stated that you were sleeping one night in the barracks, when you were pulled out of your bed by three soldiers from your platoon and held down on the floor mercilessly.  You further assert that your reported the incident to your platoon sergeant the next day, but nothing was done.  A few months from returning from deployment, your grandmother passed and you requested leave, but the leave was not allowed.  Feeling as if your world was ending, you attempted suicide.  Further, you stated that you suffered from depression from your best friend passing a week before your deployment to , and being jumped by three people while in .  You felt as if no one was there to help, and during this period, you drank more to try to ease the pain.  The Board concluded these factors and assertions were not sufficient to warrant changing your characterization of service given your misconduct, which resulted in three NJPs, and being counseled and warned on more than one occasion of the consequences of further misconduct.  Further, the Board concurred with the AO’s statement that based on the available evidence, the preponderance of available evidence failed to establish you suffered from PTSD at the time of your military service, or your in-service misconduct could be attributed to PTSD or other mental health conditions.   
 
The Board also carefully considered all potentially mitigating factors to determine whether the interests of justice warrant relief in your case in accordance with the Wilkie Memo.  These included, but were not limited to, your desire to upgrade your discharge and your contributions to the Marine Corps.  Based upon this review, the Board concluded these potentially mitigating factors were insufficient to warrant relief.  Specifically, the Board determined that your repeated misconduct, outweighed these mitigating factors.  Accordingly, given the totality of the circumstances, the Board determined that your request does not merit relief.  

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, 
1/13/2021
Executive Director