Docket No: 6787-19 
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 that 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 1 September 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, as well as the 28 June 2019 advisory opinion (AO) furnished by the Marine Corps Performance Evaluation Review Board (PERB).  The AO was provided to you on 28 June 2019, and you were given 30 days in which to submit a response.  When you did not provide a response, your case was submitted to the Board for consideration.   
 
The Board carefully considered your request to modify your fitness report for the reporting period 8 December 2017 to 31 January 2018 by changing your report to “not-observed”.  The Board considered your contentions that the minimum observed time of 31 days for the reporting period was not met due to annual leave and holiday liberty.  You also contend that you were not placed in the billet you were evaluation on (Platoon Commander) until 16 January 2018 and your reporting officials’ judgment was unjustified based on their comments recommending you for career designation, when you were already career designated.  You claim that your subsequent fitness report from the same RS demonstrates the lack of sufficient time to evaluate your performance during the contested reporting period because you went from his lowest to his highest observed lieutenant.   
 
The Board, however, substantially concurred with the AO that your fitness report is valid and should be retained as modified.  In this regard, the Board noted that the PERB approved corrections to your fitness report by removing the term “career designation and” from section I and removing the term “and career designation” from section K.  The Board also noted that your contested report is a semi-annual (SA) report and that the Marine Corps Order (MCO) 1610.7A, the Marine Corps Performance Evaluation System (PES) Manual provides that RSs must submit observed reports for periods covering 31 days or longer for SA reports.  The Board noted, too, that periods of 30 or more combined consecutive days when the Marine and/or the RS was not available to perform his/her duties at the command constitute non-availability and does not count when determining minimum observation time.  The Board determined that your fitness report period was 55 days, which is more than the minimum observation time for a SA report.  Moreover, the Board found no evidence of consecutive absences for 30 or more days and you provided none.  The Board also determined that that timing of your billet assignment had no bearing on the validity of your report and each reporting period is entirely separate from other evaluative periods, thus your RS’s evaluation of your performance during your subsequent reporting period does not invalidate contested report.  The Board thus concluded that there is no probable material error or injustice warranting further corrective action.  
 
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,