DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY 
BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF NAVAL RECORDS 
701 S COURTHOUSE ROAD SUITE 1001 
ARLINGTON VA 22204-2490

Docket No: 7107-19      
Ref: Signature Date 

This letter is in reference to your application for correction of your naval record pursuant to Title 10, United States Code, Section 1552. 

Your application was not filed in a timely manner.  A three-member panel of the Board for Correction of Naval Records (Board), sitting in executive session, considered your application on 7 February 2020. After careful and conscientious consideration of the entire record, the Board determined that it would not be in the interest of justice to excuse your failure to submit your application in timely manner.  The names and votes of the Board members will be furnished upon request. 

You were discharged on 11 December 1996, with an other than honorable characterization of service.  According to your application, you discovered the alleged error or injustice in your record during the same year.  You did not file your application with this Board, however, until 2019, more than 20 years later. 

You contend that the Board should find it in the interest of justice to excuse your failure (20+years) to submit your application in timely manner because you were informed during Captain’s Mast that your discharge could be upgraded to honorable.  The Board determined that this was insufficient reason to find it in the interest of justice to excuse your failure to submit your application in a timely manner due to the length of time since your discharge and lack of evidence to support your contention of injustice.
 
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 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 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, 

4/8/2020