Background
William Olas Bee served in the Marine Corps from nineteen ninety-nine until his voluntary discharge in two thousand thirteen. During his service, he suffered a traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder. After discharge, he applied to the Board for Correction of Naval Records to change his narrative reason for separation from voluntary discharge to medical disability retirement. The Board denied the petition twice, concluding Bee was fit for duty. Bee appealed to the Court of Federal Claims, which upheld the Board’s decision. Bee then appealed to the Federal Circuit.
The court’s reasoning
The court held that the Board for Correction of Naval Records legally erred under Section three thousand three hundred one and Section three thousand three hundred four of the Secretary of the Navy Instruction by failing to explicitly identify the duties of the Infantry Unit Leader rating and by failing to consider common military tasks and deployability. The court further held that under Section one thousand five hundred fifty-two, subsection h of Title ten of the United States Code, the Board must afford liberal consideration to fitness determinations when a veteran seeks a change in discharge narrative to reflect medical disability retirement. The court found the Board failed to apply this lenient evidentiary standard or indicate it was doing so. Regarding timeliness, the court affirmed that the claim accrued upon the Board’s final decision because Bee lacked sufficient knowledge of his permanent disabilities prior to discharge, rendering the Real exception inapplicable.
What it means going forward
The decision requires the Board for Correction of Naval Records to re-evaluate fitness determinations for veterans seeking disability retirement by applying the correct statutory standards and a lenient evidentiary standard for service-connected mental health conditions.