boards of correction of military records
What Are Boards Of Correction Of Military Records?
The military makes mistakes—simple as that, and these mistakes can have an enormous impact on your career or life after service. Your eligibility for veterans benefits, military benefits, VA disability, even holding certain jobs or attending certain schools can be impacted. Fortunately, you may be able to do something about this.
What Can Boards Of Correction Of Naval Records Do?
If you feel as if your military records contain errors or unjust derogatory information, there are avenues available to correct that information. Each service has an office dedicated to reviewing requests to correct military records. These corrections can include upgrading discharges, determining medical retirement eligibility, erasing Article 15 / NJP actions, modifying evaluation reports, etc. In fact, all branches of the military consider you to have a strong case for a military discharge upgrade if you can show your military discharge was connected to any of these categories:
- Mental health conditions, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Traumatic brain injury (TBI)
- Sexual assault or harassment during military service (at VA, we refer to this as military sexual trauma or MST)
- Sexual orientation (including under the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy)
But correcting a military record is a complex process with various authorities and jurisdictions that have different legal standards, time limits, and evidentiary rules that make the process confusing.
What’s more, you have a limited number of opportunities to appeal to these boards, so you must make the most of every opportunity.
At King Military Law, we believe in ensuring our clients have all the information they need to make important military legal decisions. To that end, we include contact information and links to the services Boards of Correction below. We encourage you to go to the relevant site and learn as much as you can. This information might enable some to file their own request for a military record change without the expense of an military attorney, BUT BE CAREFUL!
As mentioned, you may only get one shot at it. Therefore, we encourage clients to at least speak to a military attorney with experience in this process prior to submitting a request. At King Military Law, we’re happy to offer a free consultation to help you make these decisions.
AND YOU CAN WIN! Here’s an example of a recent KML client that came to us after his command wrongly deprived him of his promotion to Chief Petty Officer (E7). BCNR Decision
We hope this information was helpful. Good luck! And please call us if you think we can help.
How Do I Reach The Board Of Correction Of Naval Records?
Here are the links and contact information to the different Boards:
U.S. Army Review Boards Agency (ARBA)
251 18th Street South, Ste. 385
Arlington, VA 22202-3531
http://arba.army.pentagon.mil/
U.S. Navy & U.S. Marine Corps Board for Correction of Naval Records
701 S. Courthouse Road, Building 12, Suite 1001
Arlington, VA 22204-2490
Phone: (703) 604-6884/(703) 604-6885
https://www.secnav.navy.mil/mra/bcnr/Pages/default.aspx
U.S. Air Force Board for Correction of Air Force Records
SAF/MRBR 550-C Street West, Suite #40
Randolph AFB, TX 78150-4742
https://www.afpc.af.mil/Career-Management/Military-Personnel-Records/
U.S. Coast Guard Department of Homeland Security
Office of the General Counsel Board for Correction of Military Records
245 Murray Lane, Stop 0485
Washington, DC 20528-0485
Phone: (202) 477-4099
https://www.uscg.mil/Resources/Legal/BCMR/
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