Docket No: 9284-19                                                                                 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. 
 
Your application was not filed in a timely manner.  A three-member panel of the Board, sitting in executive session, considered your application on 29 July 2020.  After careful and conscientious consideration of the entire record, the Board determined it would not be in the interest of justice to excuse your failure to submit your application in a timely manner.   
 
You were discharged in 2001 with a bad conduct discharge.  According to your application, you discovered the alleged error or injustice in your record in the same year.  You did not file your application with this Board, however, until 2019, more than 18 years later.  
 
You contend that the Board should find it in the interest of justice to upgrade your discharge because, while you were waiting to be administratively discharged due to medical conditions, you were subjected to a hostile work environment which caused you to suffer from depression.  You further contend you dealt with it by going UA and found yourself in the company of people who were making bad decisions and you regrettably began to make the same decisions. Additionally, the Board should excuse your failure to submit your application in a timely manner because you have discovered that you were misled to believe that taking the bad conduct discharge was the only course of action.  The Board determined, however, these were insufficient reasons to find it in the interest of justice to excuse your failure to submit your application in a timely manner.  The Board concluded that your request for consideration is denied due to the length of time since your discharge and lack of evidence to support your contentions. 
 
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