DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
Application for the Correction of
the Coast Guard Record of:
BCMR Docket No. 2011-215
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
FINAL DECISION
This proceeding was conducted according to the provisions of section 1552 of title 10 and
section 425 of title 14 of the United States Code. The Chair docketed the application upon
receipt of the applicant’s completed application on July 28, 2011, and subsequently prepared the
final decision as required by 33 CFR § 52.61(c).
appointed members who were designated to serve as the Board in this case.
This final decision, dated June 21, 2012, is approved and signed by the three duly
APPLICANT’S REQUEST AND ALLEGATIONS
The applicant asked the Board to correct his record by promoting him to commander
(CDR) with the date of rank he would have had if he had been selected for promotion year (PY)
by the PY 2011 selection board. In the alternative, he asked that his record be corrected by
removing his two non-selections for promotion to commander CDR before the PY 2011 and
2012 CDR selection boards.1,2 He also requested that if selected by the first selection board to
consider him with a corrected record that his CDR date of rank be backdated to the date he
would have received if selected by the PY 2011 selection board.
The applicant alleged that he had an incomplete record before the PY 2011 CDR
selection board. In this regard, the evidence shows that his record of professional development
(CG-4082) covering courses and training that he completed from approximately June 9, 2005 to
August 14, 2009 (approximately 22 courses) was not in his record. In addition, the applicant
stated that the evaluation summary sheet in “Direct Access” showed his job classification as that
of a LT when he was a LCDR filling a LCDR’s job. One of the documents submitted by the
applicant entitled “My Employee Review” has two entries. One entry shows that from June 29,
1 At the time he submitted his application, the applicant had only one failure of selection for promotion
to CDR. While his application was pending before the BCMR he encountered his second non-selection
before the PY 2012 CDR selection board.
2 The terms non-selection, failure of selection, and passovers are used interchangeably in this decision.
2005 to April 30, 2006, his job and position codes were that of a lieutenant.” The more recent
entry shows that from May 1, 2006 to April 30, 2007, his job and position codes were that of a
LCDR. His LCDR date of rank is March 1, 2006.
The applicant submitted evidence showing that he made every effort to have a corrected
record before the PY 2011 CDR selection board. He submitted several documents including the
record of professional development to PSC for inclusion in his record prior to convening of the
PY 2011 selection board. However, the last two pages of the professional development record
were not in his record before the PY 2011 selection board.
alleged incorrect LT job classification occurred after the PY 2011 non-selection.
It appears from the record that the discovery of the alleged error with respect to the
VIEWS OF THE COAST GUARD
On October 20, 2011, the Judge Advocate General (JAG) of the Coast Guard submitted
an advisory opinion recommending that the Board grant relief in accordance with a
memorandum submitted by the Commander, Personnel Service Center (PSC).
PSC stated that “despite the applicant’s attempts to rectify the situation with respect to
errors in his record, not all items were added to his record or corrected in time for the [PY 2011]
promotion board and thus an injustice has been substantiated.” PSC added that the omitted
documents could have had an impact on the selection board’s determination not to select the
applicant because the applicant had a 5-year gap in his professional development history.
However, PSC affirmed that the applicant’s record was corrected in time for evaluation
by the PY 2012 CDR selection board, but the applicant was not selected for promotion to CDR
by that board with a corrected record. Therefore, PSC argued that the non-selection before the
PY 2012 selection should not be removed from the applicant’s record.
In light of the above, PSC recommended the removal of the applicant’s PY 2011 non-
selection for promotion to CDR, but PSC did not recommend the removal of the applicant’s PY
2012 non-selection and stated that the PY 2012 failure should count as the applicant’s first failure
of selection. PSC recommended that the applicant’s record be reviewed by the PY 2013 CDR
selection board, and if selected by the PY 2013 selection board that his date of rank be corrected
to the date he would have received if he had been selected by the PY 2012 selection board.
APPLICANT’S RESPONSE TO THE VIEWS OF THE COAST GUARD
On January 24 2012, the Board received the applicant’s response to the views of the
Coast Guard. He agreed with them, except that he disagreed that his PY 2012 failure of selection
should not be removed.
The applicant argued that the Coast Guard’s contention that he did not suffer an injustice
before the PY 2012 selection board is incorrect and that the remedy recommended by the Coast
Guard is inadequate. The applicant argued that the appropriate remedy in this case would be a
special selection board, as authorized by 10 U.S.C. § 628(b), where an officer’s record is
compared with a sampling of other officer’s records who were selected and the special board
renders a determination as to whether that non-selected officer would have been selected with a
corrected record. 3
In the alternative, the applicant argued that the Coast Guard should remove both of his
non-selections for promotion from his record. The applicant argued that in determining whether
a failure of selection should be removed, the Board must consider (1) whether the error was
prejudicial to the applicant’s record in the sense that it made the applicant’s record appear worse
than it would have without the errors, and (2) whether it is unlikely that the applicant would have
been promoted in any event. BCMR No. 2007-022, citing Engels v. United States, 678 F.2d 173,
177 (Ct. Cl. 1982). The applicant argued that he is not required to prove that the error changed
the result of the selection board, just that the error prejudiced his record. The applicant stated
that in assessing whether an error prejudiced his record, “the fundamental principal is whether
[the applicant’s] record before the selection boards still portrayed his service career on a fair and
equitable basis.” Hary v. United States, 618 F.2d 704, 708 (Ct. Cl. 1980). The end burden of
demonstrating the harmlessness of the error falls on the government. Engels, 678 F.2d at 176.
The applicant argued that his non-selection by the PY 2011 selection board had lasting
negative impacts that prejudiced his record before the PY 2012 selection board. He argued that
his record before the PY 2012 selection board was prejudiced by indicators that he had been
previously passed over for promotion. He stated that the Federal Court of Claims has recognized
“the inherently detrimental nature of the presence of passovers in a serviceman’s record . . .” See
Riley v. United States, 608 F.2d 441, 444 (Ct. Cl. 1979). With regard to the Riley case, the
applicant offered the following:
[T]he court invalidated a second nonselection for promotion on the basis that an
earlier nonselection was prejudicial to the serviceman’s record. In Riley, a
serviceman was passed over for promotion for the first time after the selection
board viewed a record that contained two erroneous OERs. Id. at 442. The
erroneous OERs were removed from [the applicant’s] record and [the applicant]
applied to have the passover removed from his record. Id. While the application
was pending, the applicant was passed over a second time. Id. The record before
the second selection board did not contain the erroneous OERs, but did indicate
that [the applicant] was previously passed over for promotion. Id. The court held
that inclusion of the first nonselection in the serviceman’s record before the
second selection board was prejudicial error. Id at 444. “[T]he parties and even
the Correction Board acknowledged that previous passovers may detrimentally
affect promotion opportunities.” Id. As the first nonselection was based on
material error that prejudiced the serviceman’s record and the nonselection itself
was prejudicial, both the first and second nonselections were equally invalid even
though the erroneous OERs had been removed from the serviceman’s record by
the time the second selection board considered him for promotion. Id. The court
3 The Coast Guard does not have the authority to convene special selection boards. See Memorandum from the
Office of the Judge Advocate General, General Law Division (January 26, 2001).
ordered a nonprejudicial explanation be put in the serviceman’s record addressing
the gaps caused by the nonselections. Id at 445.
The applicant stated that the Coast Guard lists the in-zone and above-zone4 candidates for
promotion in a combined list to avoid disclosing candidates who are above-zone to the selection
board. According to ALCGOFF 093/11, the Coast Guard listed members to be considered by the
PY 2012 selection board alphabetically. The only other information about the members on that
list was their employee identification numbers. Out of 261 candidates, the applicant’s name was
listed as number 149. The applicant stated that this procedure of listing members failed to
remove all indicators from the record of a candidate who has been previously passed over for
promotion. The applicant argued that his date of rank and the fact that he had one more OER
than other candidates indicated to the CDR selection board that he had a previous non-selection.
The applicant stated that based on promotion statistics in the announcement of the selection
board results for PY 2012 there was a 74% (125/170) opportunity of selection for in-zone
officers and a 20% (18/90) opportunity of selection for above-zone officers. The applicant
argued that by virtue of his date of rank he would have been associated with the above-zone
officers at the PY 2012 CDR board.
The applicant argued that his record was further prejudiced before the PY 2012 selection
board because due to his non-selection before the PY 2011 selection board, he was unable to
pursue career enhancing assignments that would have made him a stronger candidate before the
PY 2012 board. In addition, the applicant stated that the employee summary sheet that showed
his rank as lieutenant was not corrected until November 9, 2011 after the PY 2012 CDR selection
board met on July 26, 2011. The applicant argued that the selection board would have had no
way of knowing that the rank error on his employee summary sheet was an administrative error,
and that it would have been logical for the selection board to conclude that the error was simply
an indication of the applicant’s carelessness in checking his record for accuracy prior to the CDR
board. The applicant also stated the following:
The PY11 non-select basically foreclosed all opportunity for applicant to comply
with the Commandant’s guidance to the PY 12 board that “[o]fficers should aspire
. . . to assignments that provide them with successively greater levels of
responsibility, authority and accountability.” . . . The lack of an end of tour
award, applicant’s inability to seek career enhancing assignments, the continued
presence of errors in the record, and the indicators to the board that applicant had
a previous non-select on his record made applicant’s record at the PY12 [CDR]
board weaker than it would have been had it not been for the Coast Guard’s
failure to correct substantial errors in applicant’s record for the PY11 board. It is
impossible to know whether these errors in fact caused the PY [CDR] board to
non-select applicant. However, applicant must only show the record appeared
worse than it would have without the errors. Other than the non-selects in PY11
and PY 12, applicant had had a stellar career in the Coast Guard. There is nothing
in his record to indicate that applicant would not have been selected for promotion
even if his record had not been correct.
4 Above-zone refers to an officer who has been passed over for promotion.
FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS
The Board makes the following findings and conclusions on the basis of the applicant's
3.
1. The Board has jurisdiction concerning this matter pursuant to section 1552 of title 10
military record and submissions, the Coast Guard's submission and applicable law:
of the United States Code. The application was timely.
2. The applicant was not selected by the PY 2011 selection board for promotion to CDR.
After learning of his non-selection, he reviewed his record and discovered two pages were
missing from his Professional Development Record. He filed an application with the Board
seeking a direct promotion because of the error and failure. In the alternative, he requested the
removal of his failure of selection before the PY 2011 selection board, and that if selected by the
PY 2012 board, that his date of rank be backdated to what it would have been if selected by the
PY 2011 board.
While his application was pending before the BCMR, the Coast Guard
administratively corrected the applicant’s record by including a complete copy of his
Professional Development Record. His corrected record was then placed before the PY 2012
CDR selection board. However, even with the corrected record, the applicant was not selected
for promotion by the PY 2012 CDR selection board. After the applicant’s failure before the PY
2012 board, the Coast Guard issued an advisory opinion in this case recommending removal of
the PY 2011 failure of selection, but not the PY 2012 failure. In his reply to the advisory
opinion, the applicant renewed his request for a special board. In the alternative, he requested
removal of his PY 2011 and PY 2012 failures of selection, and that if he is selected by the PY
2013 selection board that his date of rank be adjusted to the date he would have had if he had
been selected by the PY 2011 selection board.
4. With respect to the applicant’s request for a special selection board, the Board has no
such authority. The General Law Division of the office of the JAG stated in a January 26, 2001
memorandum that 10 U.S.C. § 628 does not authorize the Coast Guard to convene special
selection boards. . Nor is it the Board’s policy to promote an officer who has not been selected
by a duly convened selection board. In similar cases, the Board has denied requests for direct
promotions, including BCMR Nos. 1998-065, 2008-024, and 2010-038. As the Board explained
in BCMR 2008-024 (finding 14) for not directly promoting an officer:
The applicant requested that upon a finding of error or injustice that the Board
order his promotion to the grade of LCDR, as well as direct the removal of his
two failures of selection of promotion to LCDR. The Board does not normally
promote but instead removes failures of selection for promotion that allows the
applicant another opportunity(s) to be considered for promotion by a duly
constituted selection board with a corrected record. . . . Moreover, decisions on
promotions are better left to the Service which has a selection board process in
place to determine who is best qualified for service in the next higher grade.
Therefore, the Board will consider the applicant’s request for alternative relief, which is the
removal of his PY 2011 and 2012 failures of selection and backdating of his CDR date of rank to
the PY 2011 board if he is selected for CDR by the PY 2013 selection board.
5. With regard to the PY 2011 selection board, the Board finds that the applicant’s record
before that board contained a prejudicial error. The Coast Guard admitted, and the Board finds,
that the applicant’s record before the PY 2011 CDR selection board was inaccurate because it did
not include the applicant’s complete Professional Development Record. Therefore, the Coast
Guard recommended, and the Board agrees, that as a result of this prejudicial error, the
applicant’s PY 2011 failure of selection for promotion to CDR should be removed from his
record.
6. With regard to the PY 2012 selection board, the Coast Guard stated that the applicant
had a correct record before that board and still was not selected for promotion. Therefore, the
Coast Guard argued that his PY 2012 failure should not be removed. In contrast, the applicant
argued that his PY 2012 failure of selection for promotion to CDR should be removed because,
even though the error had been corrected and even though the Coast Guard does not distinguish
between in-zone and above-zone officers before selection boards, he was prejudiced before the
2012 board by the fact that the selection board knew that he was above-zone based on his LCDR
date of rank and due to his having one more OER than other in-zone officers. However
ALCGOFF 093/11 issued on June 15, 2011 published the selection board list for the PY 2012
CDR board and listed officers alphabetically by last name with no other information on that list
except for their employee identification numbers. By listing the officers alphabetically there was
no indication on that list who was more senior or who was in or above-zone. Of the 261 officers
on the selection board list, the applicant was listed as number 149. Therefore, with just the
names listed alphabetically and no other information about the officer on that list, the selection
board could not tell from that list which officers were above-zone. The applicant has not
provided an explanation why the selection board would be curious about his date of rank such
that it would review and compare dates of ranks for all 261 officers. The applicant has not
presented sufficient evidence that it was apparent to the PY 2012 selection board that he was
above-zone due to his date of rank. Nor has he presented sufficient evidence that the selection
board was aware that he was above-zone because he had one more OER than other members on
the list. Except for his statement, he presented no concrete evidence in this regard. The
applicant has failed to establish an error in his record before the PY 2012 board and without the
establishment of an error there is no basis on which to discuss removing a failure of selection due
to prejudice or any other reason. See Engels v. United States, 678 F.2d 173, 175 (“officers
claiming . . . to have been improperly selected out, after passovers, must first show that the
service committed a legal error.”) The court further stated in Engels that as to the existence of
the error, the burden of going forward and of persuasion lies squarely with the claimant. In this
case, the applicant speculates as to errors but offers insufficient proof that any error occurred in
his record before the PY 2012 selection board.
7. Even if the selection board was aware of the applicant’s date of rank, it would not
prove that the applicant was above-zone. In this regard, the officers may have different dates of
rank for different reasons. For instance, officers on the list could have had date of rank
adjustments through BCMR action. Therefore, it cannot be automatically assumed, as the
applicant has done, that what appears to be an earlier date of rank means that an officer is above-
zone.
8. The applicant next alleged that the rank history entry on his employee summary sheet
indicating that he held a LT’s position immediately after his promotion to LCDR was not
corrected until after the PY 2012 board dismissed. The Coast Guard indicated that the applicant
had a correct record before the PY 2012 selection board. Except for his statement, the applicant
did not present any evidence showing when this correction was actually made. He suggested that
this error may have led the selection board to believe that he was not concerned enough about his
record to review and correct it prior to the selection board meeting. However, even if the
employee summary sheet indicated that he held a LT’s position as a LCDR immediately after his
promotion to LCDR, it was clearly obvious that the applicant was a LCDR, since the following
entry on the employee summary sheet showed that he was a LCDR and since he was competing
for promotion to CDR before the PY 2012 selection board. He would not have been competing
for promotion to CDR as a LT. Moreover, all of his LCDR OERs showed his rank as LCDR, as
did his Record of Professional Development. In addition, the applicant’s suggestion that an
incorrect rank on an employee summary sheet, which was an obvious administrative error and
was refuted by accurate reflections of his rank and the other overwhelming evidence in the
record, would have influenced the selection board or outweighed an otherwise strong record of
performance is not persuasive to the Board. The Board is not persuaded that this administrative
error constituted a legal error that was prejudicial to the applicant before the PY 2012 selection
board because it did not make his overall record appear worse. See Engels at 176.5
9. In light of the above finding, the Board agrees with the advisory opinion that the
applicant’s PY 2011 failure should be removed from his record and treated as if it never
occurred. The PY 2012 failure should not be removed because he had a substantially complete
and fair record when he was considered for promotion by PY 2012 selection board. In Hary v.
United States, 618 F.2d 704, 709 (1980), the court stated that an officer is entitled to a record
before a selection board that is “substantially complete and fair,” which the applicant had before
the PY 2012 selection board. Therefore, his PY 2012 failure should be treated as first failure,
as recommended in the advisory opinion. The applicant’s record should be placed before the PY
2013 selection board and if selected by that board, his date of rank should be adjusted to that he
would have received if selected by the PY 2012 board.
10. The Coast Guard recommended relief that is more generous than Board precedent
supports. In such past situations, the Board has ordered the Coast Guard to correct the error and
to remove the applicant’s failure of selection for promotion. The Board’s order would have
further directed that if the applicant is selected for promotion by the first board to consider him
with a corrected record, his date of rank should be backdated. (If the applicant is not selected by
the first board to consider him with a corrected record, he is usually not backdated by the
BCMR.) See ordering language in BCMR Nos. 2008-024 and 2010-038.
5 In Engels, the United States Court of Claims established two "separate but interrelated standards" to determine the
issue of nexus. The standards are as follows: "First, was the claimant's record prejudiced by the errors in the sense
that the record appears worse than it would in the absence of the errors? Second, even if there was some such
prejudice, is it unlikely that he would have been promoted in any event?” Id. at 176.
The Coast Guard recommended relief in the applicant’s case similar to that that an officer
would be entitled to whose record was not considered by a selection board due to an
administrative error. Under 14 U.S.C. § 262(b) an officer shall not be considered to have failed
of selection if he was not considered by a selection board because of administrative error. The
law further states that “[i]f he is selected by the next succeeding selection board and promoted,
he shall be given the date of rank and position on the active duty promotion list in the grade to
which promoted that he would have held had he been recommended by the first selection board.”
In cases of administrative error, it is as if the administrative error never occurred. In this case, by
treating the applicant’s PY 2012 failure as his first, it is as if the FY 2011 failure never occurred.
Even though under Board precedent, the applicant would not be entitled to backdating if selected
by the PY 2013 board because he failed before the PY 2012 selection board with a corrected
record, this Board will grant the relief recommended by the Coast Guard under this particular set
of circumstances.
11. Accordingly, the applicant should have the partial relief recommended by the JAG,
which includes the removal of his PY 2011 failure of selection for promotion to CDR as if it
never occurred. His PY 2012 failure of selection for promotion should not be removed and it
should be considered his first failure of selection for promotion to CDR. If he is selected for
promotion by the PY 2013 selection board he should have the date of rank he would have had, if
he had been selected by the PY 2012 selection board, with back pay and allowances.
[ORDER AND SIGNATURES APPEAR ON NEXT PAGE]
ORDER
The application of XXXXXXXXXXXXX, for correction of his military record is
granted, in part, as follows:
The Coast Guard shall correct his record by removing his PY 2011 failure of selection for
promotion to CDR. His PY 2012 failure of selection for promotion to CDR shall not be removed
from his record and shall be considered his first failure of selection for promotion to CDR. If he
is selected for promotion to CDR by the PY 2013 selection board, his date of rank shall be
backdated to what it would have been had he been selected for promotion by the PY 2012
selection board and he shall receive corresponding back pay and allowances.
No other relief is granted.
Philip B. Busch
Lynda K. Pilgrim
Vicki J. Ray
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