(a) Deliberations, findings, conclusions, and recommendations. (1) Only members of the Board and its staff shall be present during the deliberations of the Board.

(2) Whenever, during the course of its review of an application, it appears to the Board's satisfaction that the facts have not been fully and fairly disclosed by the records or by the testimony and other evidence before it, the Board may require the applicant or military authorities to provide such further information as it may consider essential to a complete and impartial determination of the facts and issues.

(3) Following a hearing, or where the Board determines to recommend that the record be corrected without a hearing, the Board will make written findings, conclusions and recommendations. If denial of relief is recommended following a hearing, such written findings and conclusions will include a statement of the grounds for denial as described in § 723.3(e)(4). The name and final vote of each Board member will be recorded. A majority vote of the members present on any matter before the Board will constitute the action of the Board and shall be so recorded.

(4) Where the Board deems it necessary to submit comments or recommendations to the Secretary as to matters arising from but not directly related to the issues of any case, such comments and recommendations shall be the subject of separate communication. Additionally, in Military Whistleblower Protection Act cases, any recommendation by the Board to the Secretary that disciplinary or administrative action be taken against any Navy official based on the Board's determination that the official took reprisal action against the applicant will not be made part of the Board's record of proceedings or furnished the applicant but will be transmitted to the Secretary as a separate communication.

(b) Minority report. In case of a disagreement between members of the Board a minority report will be submitted, either as to the findings, conclusions or recommendation, including the reasons therefor.

(c) Record of proceedings. Following a hearing, or where the Board determines to recommend that the record be corrected without a hearing, a record of proceedings will be prepared. Such record shall indicate whether or not a quorum was present, and the name and vote of each member present. The record shall include the application for relief, a verbatim transcript of any testimony, affidavits, papers and documents considered by the Board, briefs and written arguments, advisory opinions, if any, minority reports, if any, the findings, conclusions and recommendations of the Board, where appropriate, and all other papers, documents, and reports necessary to reflect a true and complete history of the proceedings.

(d) Withdrawal. The Board may permit an applicant to withdraw his/her application without prejudice at any time before its record of proceedings is forwarded to the Secretary.

(e) Delegation of authority to correct certain naval records. (1) With respect to all petitions for relief properly before it, the Board is authorized to take final corrective action on behalf of the Secretary, unless:

(i) Comments by proper naval authority are inconsistent with the Board's recommendation;

(ii) The Board's recommendation is not unanimous; or

(iii) It is in the category of petitions reserved for decision by the Secretary of the Navy.

(2) The following categories of petitions for relief are reserved for decision by the Secretary of the Navy:

(i) Petitions involving records previously reviewed or acted upon by the Secretary wherein the operative facts remained substantially the same;

(ii) Petitions by former commissioned officers or midshipmen to change the character of, and/or the reason for, their discharge; or,

(iii) Such other petitions as, in the determination of Office of the Secretary or the Executive Director, warrant Secretarial review.

(3) The Executive Director after ensuring compliance with this section, will announce final decisions on applications decided under this section.