Docket No: 7173-19 
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.  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. 

A three-member panel of the Board, sitting in executive session, considered your application on 9 June 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, as well as applicable statutes, regulations, and policies.  The Board also considered the enclosed 16 July 2019 advisory opinion (AO) furnished by the Marine Corps Performance Evaluation Review Board (PERB), and the enclosed 29 July 2019 AO furnished by Headquarters Marine Corps (MMRP-50), both of which were previously provided to you.  Although you were afforded an opportunity to respond, you did not do so. 

The Board carefully considered your request to remove your fitness report for the reporting period 22 October 2005 to 18 December 2005 or to change the observation of your reporting senior (RS) to “not observed,” and your request to remove your failures of selection (FOSs) to the grade of lieutenant colonel.  The Board considered your contention that the reporting period only covers 58 days of observation time and your RS failed to make directed comments in Section I justifying the exception to policy required for reports covering a period of 89 days or less.  The Board also considered your implicit contention that this report negatively impacted your competitiveness for promotion. 

The Board noted that the PERB, after identifying a correctable error in the contested report, modified the RS portions of the fitness report to “not observed.”  The Board concurred with the PERB that the contested report, as modified, is now administratively correct, and concluded 
that the modified report shall remain in your official military personnel file. 

With regard to your request to remove your FOSs to the grade of lieutenant colonel, the Board concurred with MMRP-50’s recommendation that your request to remove your FY 2020 FOS be denied. MMRP-50 noted that the correction of a fitness report while you were a second lieutenant had marginal impact on your relative value percentages in-grade as a second lieutenant or in-total throughout your career.  MMRP-50 opined that the fitness report 
correction was not a factor in the lieutenant colonel promotion board’s assessments. 

MMRP-50 further noted that your reviewing officer (RO) assessments did not change due to the correction and that overall, the RO observation has your future potential assessed as below average when compared against your peers.  Finally, MMRP-50 opined that failure to complete in-grade professional military education at the time you were screened for promotion was likely the primary reason why you failed to select for promotion for FY 2020. Accordingly, the Board determined that the contested report was not a material error that  caused either your FY 2020 or FY 2021 FOSs.  The Board thus concluded that removal of your FY 2020 and FY 2021 FOSs is not warranted. 

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.