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


Docket No:  9815-19 
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 you did not file your application in a timely manner, the statute of limitation was waived in accordance with the 25 August 2017 guidance from the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness (Kurta Memo).  A three-member panel of the Board, sitting in executive session, considered your application on 1 March 2021.  The names and votes of the panel members 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, to include the Kurta Memo, the 3 September 2014 guidance from the Secretary of Defense regarding discharge upgrade requests by Veterans claiming post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Hagel Memo), and the 25 July 2018 guidance from the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness regarding equity, injustice, or clemency determinations (Wilkie Memo).  In addition, the Board considered the advisory opinion (AO) furnished by a qualified mental health professional dated 5 January 2021, which was previously provided to you, and your rebuttal to the AO received 4 February 2021. 
 
You enlisted in the Marine Corps and began a period of active duty on 1 July 1985.  On 28 April 1986, you were convicted by special court-martial (SPCM) of wrongful appropriation of property, larceny, and attempting to utter a check from the account of another Marine.  You were sentenced to confinement, a forfeiture of pay, a reduction in paygrade, and a bad conduct discharge (BCD).  On 15 May 1987, you received your BCD. 
 
A qualified mental health professional reviewed your request for correction to your record and provided the Board with an AO regarding your assertion that you were suffering from PTSD during your service.  The AO noted that there is insufficient evidence of a mental health 
condition at the time of your enlistment attributable to your military service that may have mitigated your misconduct.  In response to your rebuttal statement, the Board’s mental health professional further opined that it remains the medical opinion that there is insufficient evidence to attribute your misconduct to a mental health condition suffered during your military service. 

The Board carefully considered all potentially mitigating factors to determine whether the interests of justice warrant relief in your case in accordance with the Wilkie Memo.  These included, but were not limited to, your assertion that after arriving in     your began to suffer from depression, you turned to alcohol as a way of coping with your depression and loneliness, and you believe that you were suffering from a mental disease, and medication was the answer, not a bad conduct discharge.  However, based upon this review, the Board concluded these potentially mitigating factors were insufficient to warrant relief.  Specifically, the Board determined that your misconduct, as evidenced by your SPCM conviction for serious offenses outweighed these mitigating factors.  Accordingly, given the totality of the circumstances, the Board determined that your request does not merit relief.   

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, 
Executive Director