Docket No: 7116-19 
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 the entire record, the Board for Correction of Naval Records (Board) found the evidence submitted was insufficient to establish the existence of probable material error or injustice.  Consequently, your application has been denied.   
 
Although your application was not filed in a timely manner, the Board found it in the interest of justice to waive the statute of limitations and consider your application on its merits.  A three-member panel of the Board sitting in executive session, considered your application on 9 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. 
 
You enlisted in the Navy on 26 November 1969.  According to the available information in the record, on 6 August 1971, you were counseled on not being recommended for reenlistment due to unsuitability, and you were discharged with an honorable characterization of service and a narrative reason for separation as “unsuitability.”  Your record is incomplete in that it does not contain all the documents pertaining to your administrative counseling or the circumstances surrounding your unsuitably.  The Board relies on a presumption of regularity to support the official actions of public officers, and in the absence of substantial evidence to rebut the presumption, to include evidence submitted by the Petitioner, the Board presumes that you were properly discharged from the Navy.   
 
The Board carefully weighed all potentially mitigating factors, such as your desire to change your narrative reason for separation and contentions that you were extremely young when you enlisted and since discharge you lived an exemplary life, and you were recognized for your charitable work, and listed in “Who’s Who in America.”  However, the Board ultimately concluded that these factors were not sufficient to warrant relief given you were discharged for unsuitability. 
 
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,