10 U.S.C. § 1552 — Correction of military records: claims incident thereto

(a) (1) The Secretary of a military department may correct any military record of that department when the Secretary considers correction necessary to fix an error or remove an injustice. Except as paragraph (2) provides, the Secretary must act through civilian boards in the department’s executive part. The Secretary of Homeland Security may correct Coast Guard military records in the same way. (2) The responsible Secretary does not have to use a board to correct a record announcing that a person is ineligible to enlist or reenlist, is not accepted for enlistment or reenlistment, was promoted and appointed to an initial or higher grade as an enlisted member, or was not promoted to a higher grade. The correction may be made only if it favors the person concerned. (3)(A) Corrections must follow procedures established by the responsible Secretary. For a military-department Secretary, the Secretary of Defense must approve those procedures. (B) If a board preliminarily finds that a claim lacks enough information or documents to support it, the board must notify the claimant in writing and identify the specific information or documents needed to make the claim complete and reviewable. (C) If a claimant cannot provide military personnel or medical records relevant to a claim, the board must make reasonable efforts to obtain them. The claimant must give the board documentary evidence of the claimant’s efforts to obtain the records. The board must tell the claimant the results of its efforts and, on request, give the claimant copies of records it obtained. (D) A request to reconsider a board’s determination must be reconsidered, no matter when it was filed, if it is supported by materials not previously presented to or considered by the board when it made the determination. (4)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B), a correction is final and conclusive for all United States officers unless fraud procured it. (B) If a board does not grant a request to upgrade the characterization of a discharge or dismissal, that denial may be considered under section 1553a. (5) Each board’s final decision must be made publicly available in electronic form on a centralized Internet website. Personally identifiable information must be removed from each decision made public. (b) A claimant, the claimant’s heir or legal representative, or the responsible Secretary must request a correction within three years after discovering the error or injustice. The responsible Secretary may request correction only for a group of current or former armed-forces members similarly harmed by the same error or injustice. A board may excuse a late request if it finds that doing so is in the interest of justice. (c)(1) From applicable current appropriations, the responsible Secretary may pay a claim for lost pay, allowances, compensation, emoluments, or other financial benefits, or for repayment of a fine or forfeiture, if correcting a record shows that the claimant is owed the amount because of the claimant’s or another person’s service in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space Force, or Coast Guard, or because of the claimant’s or another person’s service as a civilian employee. (2) If the claimant has died, the money must be paid on demand to the legal representative. If a legal representative does not demand payment, it must be paid (A) to the surviving spouse, heir, or beneficiaries, in the order required by the law that applies to that type of payment; (B) if no such law sets an order, in the order listed in section 2771 of this title; or (C) as otherwise required by the law that applies to that type of payment. (3) When a claimant accepts a settlement under this section, the settlement fully satisfies the claim. This section does not authorize payment of a claim that private law compensated before October 25, 1951. (4) If the correction sets aside a court-martial conviction, a payment under this subsection for the correction must include interest at a rate set by the responsible Secretary, unless the Secretary finds interest inappropriate in the circumstances. If interest is included, it must be calculated yearly and compounded, using the lost pay, allowances, compensation, emoluments, or other financial benefits and any fine or forfeiture paid, from the conviction date through the payment date. (d) Current appropriations may continue paying the pay, allowances, compensation, emoluments, and other financial benefits of a person paid under subsection (c) who is entitled to those benefits because of the correction. This continuation may last no longer than one year after the correction date if the person is not reenlisted, appointed, or reappointed to the grade connected with the payments. Without regard to reenlistment, appointment, or reappointment qualifications, the responsible Secretary may reenlist, appoint, or reappoint the person to that grade. (e) This section does not allow payment for a benefit to which the claimant might later become entitled under laws and regulations administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. (f) For court-martial records and related administrative records concerning cases tried or reviewed under chapter 47 of this title, or under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (Public Law 506 of the 81st Congress), action under subsection (a) may extend only to (1) correcting a record to show actions taken by reviewing authorities under chapter 47 or that Uniform Code, or (2) acting on a court-martial sentence for clemency. (g)(1) A medical advisory opinion given to a board about a current or former armed-forces member diagnosed while serving with a mental health disorder must include an opinion from a clinical psychologist or psychiatrist if the correction request concerns a mental health disorder. (2) When reviewing a claim described in subsection (h), a board must seek advice from a psychiatrist, psychologist, or social worker trained on mental-health issues associated with post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, or other trauma identified in the current edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by the American Psychiatric Association. (3) When reviewing a claim alleging sexual trauma, intimate partner violence, or spousal abuse, a board must seek advice from an expert in trauma specific to the applicable kind of abuse. (h)(1) This subsection applies to a former armed-forces member whose claim for review of a discharge or dismissal is based wholly or partly on post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury as supporting reasoning or as a reason for priority review, when the condition is related to combat or military sexual trauma as determined by the responsible Secretary. (2) For such a claimant, a board must (A) review medical evidence from the Secretary of Veterans Affairs or a civilian health care provider that the claimant presents, and (B) review the claim with liberal consideration for the possibility that post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury contributed to the circumstances leading to the discharge or dismissal or to its original characterization. (i) Each board must make publicly available each calendar quarter, on the applicable military department’s or Department of Homeland Security’s public Internet website: (1) the number of claims it considered during the preceding calendar quarter, including cases alleging that a former member’s mental health condition, including post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury, contributed wholly or partly to the original characterization of the discharge or release; (2) the number of claims submitted during the preceding calendar quarter relating to service during a war or contingency operation, listed by each war or operation; (3) the number of military records corrected through the consideration described in paragraph (1) to upgrade former members’ discharge or release characterizations; and (4) the number and disposition of claims decided during the preceding calendar quarter alleging that sexual assault contributed wholly or partly to the original characterization of the discharge or release. (j) For a recommendation under section 1130 of this title to award or upgrade a military decoration or award, a board determination favorable to the claimant allows the recommendation to proceed and the applicable award authority to make the award or upgrade without regard to the statutory time limit in section 7274, 8298, or 9274 of this title, as applicable. (k) In this section, “military record” means a document or other record about (1) an individual current or former armed-forces member, or (2) at the responsible military-department Secretary’s discretion, another military matter affecting a current or former armed-forces member, an employee or former employee of that department, or a dependent or current or former spouse of any such person. “Military record” does not include records about civilian employment matters, such as matters covered by title 5 and chapters 81, 83, 87, 108, 747, 855, 857, 871, and 947 of this title.