DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY
BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF NAVAL RECORDS
2 NAVY ANNEX
WASHINGTON DC 20370-5100

JRE
Docket No. 04823-07
16 May 2008

This is in reference to your application for correction of your naval record pursuant to the provisions of title 10 of the United States Code, section 1552.

A three-member panel of the Board for Correction of Naval Records, sitting in executive session, considered your application on 15 May 2008. 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, your naval record and applicable statutes, regulations and policies.

After careful and conscientious consideration of the entire record, the Board found that the evidence submitted was insufficient to establish the existence of probable material error or injustice.

The Board found that you served in the Marine Corps from 25 February 1975 to 6 August 1976, when you were discharged for the good of the service in lieu of trial by court-martial for an extended period of unauthorized absence. Although you served on active duty for approximately seventeen months, you completed only 7 months and 15 days of creditable service, with more than three hundred days time lost. There is no indication in the available records that you were unfit for duty because of the residual effects of the facial injury you sustained during April 1975, or that your unauthorized absences were caused by or otherwise related to the effects of that injury. You would not have been entitled to disability separation or retirement in any event, because your request for discharge In lieu of trial by court-martial would have taken precedence of disability evaluation processing. Accordingly, and as you have not demonstrated that it would be in the interest of justice for the Board to upgrade your discharge, your application has been denied. The names and votes of the members of the panel will be furnished upon request.

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 and material evidence or other matter not previously 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,

ROBERT D. ZSALMAN
Acting Executive Director