DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF NAVAL RECORDS 701 S. COURTHOUSE ROAD, SUITE 1001 ARLINGTON, VA 22204-2490 Docket No: 9954-19 Ref: Signature Date This is in reference to your application for correction of your naval record pursuant to Section 1552 of Title 10, United States Code. After careful and conscientious consideration of relevant portions of your naval record and your application, the Board for Correction of Naval Records (Board) found the evidence submitted 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 5 February 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). The Board also considered an advisory opinion (AO) from a qualified mental health professional dated 21 December 2020. You enlisted in the Navy on 17 July 2008. On 20 August 2010, you received nonjudicial punishment for wrongful use of a controlled substance. Your record is incomplete in that it does not contain the documents pertaining to your administrative separation processing but a review of your Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty indicates the discharge authority directed discharge with a general, under honorable conditions, characterization of service by reason of misconduct due to drug abuse. On 21 April 2011, you were discharged. As part of the Board’s review, a qualified mental health professional reviewed your request and provided the Board with an AO on 21 December 2020. The AO states your in-service records do not contain evidence of a diagnosed mental health condition or psychological symptoms/behavioral changes that would indicate a mental health condition. Though you contend you were diagnosed with PTSD post-discharge and are rated with a 70% disability for PTSD, you did not submit objective evidence of a post-discharge clinical diagnosis or any mental health conditions as rendered by a mental health practitioner, or the granting of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) disability rating. Based on the available evidence, the AO concluded there is insufficientobjective evidence you incurred PTSD as a result of military service that may have mitigated your misconduct. The AO was provided to you on 22 December 2020 and you were given 30 days to respond. When you did not respond within 30 days, your case was submitted to the Board for review. The Board carefully reviewed your application, weighed all potentially mitigating factors, and considered your contention that you made a “poor decision” to wrongfully use a controlled substance while you were under medication because you believed “I was dying anyway” from Hepatitis C. Specifically, you contend you contracted Hepatitis C while serving on USNS during a 2010 deployment to . You contend that, after returning from deployment, you underwent “extensive medical procedures” and the “harsh medication for the disease was affecting my thought process” and “led me to feeling hopeless which in turn caused me to try to escape from the issues of the deployment as well as the side effects of liver disease.” The Board also considered the advocacy letter from your mother and your statement “after getting help for my disease as well as medication and counseling for PTSD, I have become a good citizen of our great country,” graduated from college, and started “giving back to our country the best way I believe I can, helping veterans with their GI Bill” at the VA’s Education Office. Unfortunately, even under the liberal consideration standard, the Board discerned no procedural defect, impropriety, or inequity in your discharge and determined your service was appropriately characterized as general, under honorable conditions. The Board, relying on the AO, concluded there was insufficient evidence of an error or injustice that warrants upgrading your characterization of service or changing your narrative reason for separation. 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 contentions discussed above and your desire to upgrade your discharge and “get the drug abuse off” your DD Form 214. Based upon this review, the Board concluded these potentially mitigating factors were insufficient to warrant relief. Specifically, the Board determined your misconduct outweighed these mitigating factors. Accordingly, given the totality of the circumstances, the Board determined 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, 2/18/2021 Executive Director Signed by: