Docket No: 6824-19 
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 15 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 13 May 2019 advisory opinion (AO) furnished by the Marine Corps Performance Evaluation Review Board (PERB).  The AO was provided to you on 13 May 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 remove your fitness report for the reporting period 1 July 2016 to 5 May 2017.  If approved, you request to remove your failures of selection (FOSs) incurred during the Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 and FY 2021 USMC Lieutenant Colonel Promotion Selection Board.  The Board considered your contentions that your evaluation, in relation to other Marines in the same grade was improper and unjust resulting in an artificially low relative value that did not accurately portray your performance.  You also contend that your evaluation was based upon your billet instead of your performance, as evidenced by your section I statement, “RV of this report will be artificially low as MRO is competing with 8 reports written on senior squadron Department Heads during my time. . .”  You claim that the remainder of your section I comments paint a word picture that is not commensurate with your reports’ relative value.  As evidence, you provided correspondence from your reviewing officer (RO) in which he request to modify your contested fitness report by changing section K.2 (Observation) from “Concur” to “Do Not Concur”; remove the section K.4 (RO Comments) statement “Concur with RS’s comments”; and add the statement, “Do not concur; the RS’s word picture does not match the aggregate value of the attribute marks given the MRO’s proficiency.” 
 
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 marking section K.2 (Observation) “Do not concur” and adding the statement, “Do not concur; the RS’s word picture does not match the aggregate value of the attribute marks given the MRO’s proficiency” to section K.4.  The Board also noted that the Marine Corps Performance Evaluation System (PES) Manual provides that, section I comments are also a means for the RS to clarify to the reader when the RS’s profile or marking philosophy creates a disparity that is not readily apparent without proper context.  The Board determined that your RS’s comments are valid and found no evidence that your performance and conduct warranted higher marks than you received and you provided none.   Moreover, there is no scale to match section I comments with relative values.   
 
Concerning your request to remove your FOSs, the Board determined that the modification to your record did not constitute a substantive enough change to justify removal of your FOSs.  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,