Docket No: 7987-19 
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 the evidence with respect to your request to upgrade your characterization of service 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 22 July 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. 
  
You enlisted in the Marine Corps on 21 April 1970.  Between 28 May 1971 and 1 October 1971, you received nonjudicial punishment on three occasions for unauthorized absences.  In November 1971, you were placed into the Force Troops Drug Exemption and Rehabilitation Program.  On 15 November 1971, you commenced a period of unauthorized absence, returning on or about 17 December 1971.  On 25 January 1972, you submitted a request for an undesirable discharge for the good of the service.  Your request was granted and you were discharged on 25 January 1972, with an other than honorable characterization of service.   
 
The Board carefully weighed your desire to upgrade your discharge, all of your contentions, and all potentially mitigating factors, including that your marriage, children, and faith, have turned your life around, and that you believe that times have changed and you would have been treated differently today.  The Board alse reviewed the letters that you have appended to your application.  After careful review of the mitigation factors, all of your contentions, and the documents that you provided, the Board did not find evidence of an error or injustice that warrants further upgrading your characterization of service. 
  
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,