(a) Review by the SRA. The Secretarial Review Authority (SRA) is the Secretary concerned or the official to whom Secretary's discharge review authority has been delegated.

(1) The SRA may review the following types of cases before issuance of the final notification of a decision:

(i) Any specific case in which the SRA has an interest.

(ii) Any specific case that the president of the NDRB believes is of significant interest to the SRA.

(2) Cases reviewed by the SRA shall be considered under the standards set forth in this part.

(b) Processing the decisional document. (1) The decisional document shall be transmitted by the NDRB president under § 724.813.

(2) The following guidance applies to cases that have been forwarded to the SRA except for cases reviewed on the NDRB's own motion, without the participation of the applicant or the applicant's counsel:

(i) The applicant and counsel or representative, if any, shall be provided with a copy of the proposed decisional document, including the NDRB president's recommendation to the SRA, if any. Classified information shall be summarized.

(ii) The applicant shall be provided with a reasonable period of time, but not less than 25 days, to submit a rebuttal to the SRA. Any issue in rebuttal consists of a clear and specific statement by the applicant in support of or in opposition to the statements of the NDRB or NDRB president on decisional issues and other clear and specific issues that were submitted by the applicant. The rebuttal shall be based solely on matters in the record before the NDRB closed the case for deliberation or in the president's recommendation.

(c) Review of the decisional document. If corrections in the decisional document are required, the decisional document shall be returned to the NDRB for corrective action. The corrected decisional document shall be sent to the applicant (and counsel, if any), but a further opportunity for rebuttal is not required unless the correction produces a different result or includes a substantial change in the decision by the NDRB (or NDRB president) of the issues raised by the majority or the applicant.

(d) The addendum of the SRA. The decision of the SRA shall be in writing and shall be appended as an addendum to the decisional document under the guidance in this subsection.

(1) The SRA's decision. The addendum shall set forth the SRA's decision whether there will be a change in the character of or reason for discharge (or both); if the SRA concludes that a change is warranted, the particular change to be made shall be specified. If the SRA adopts the decision recommended by the NDRB or the NDRB president, the decisional document shall contain a reference to the matter adopted.

(2) Discussion of issues. In support of the SRA's decision, the addendum shall set forth the SRA's position on decisional issues, items submitted as issues by an applicant and issues raised by the NDRB and the NDRB president in accordance with the following guidance:

(i) Adoption of the NDRB president's recommendation. The addendum may state that the SRA has adopted the NDRB president's recommendation.

(ii) Adoption of the NDRB's proposed decisional document. The addendum may state that the SRA has adopted the proposed decisional document prepared by the NDRB.

(iii) Adoption of specific statements from the majority or the NDRB president. If the SRA adopts the views of the NDRB or the NDRB president only in part, the addendum shall cite the specific statements adopted. If the SRA modifies a statement submitted by the NDRB or the NDRB president, the addendum shall set forth the modification.

(iv) Response to issues not included in matter adopted from the NDRB or the NDRB president. The addendum shall set forth the following if not adopted in whole or in part from the NDRB or the NDRB president:

(A) A list of the issues on which the SRA's decision is based. Each such decisional document issue shall be addressed by the SRA. This includes reasons for rejecting the conclusion of the NDRB or the NDRB president with respect to decisional issues which, if resolved in the applicant's favor, would have resulted in a change to the discharge more favorable to the applicant than that afforded by the SRA's decision. Such issues shall be addressed under the principles in § 724.806(f).

(B) The SRA's response to items submitted as issues by the applicant.

(3) Response to the rebuttal. (i) If the SRA grants the full change in discharge requested by the applicant (or a more favorable change), that fact shall be noted, the decisional issues shall be addressed and no further response to the rebuttal is required.

(ii) If the SRA does not grant the full change in discharge requested by the applicant (or a more favorable change), the addendum shall list each issue in rebuttal submitted by an applicant in accordance with this section, and shall set forth the response of the SRA under the following guidance:

(A) If the SRA rejects an issue in rebuttal, the SRA may respond in accordance with the principals in § 724.806.

(B) If the matter adopted by the SRA provides a basis for the SRA's rejection of the rebuttal material, the SRA may note that fact and cite the specific matter adopted that responds to the issue in rebuttal.

(C) If the matter submitted by the applicant does not meet the requirements for rebuttal material, that fact shall be noted.

(4) Index entries. Appropriate index entries shall be prepared for the SRA's actions for matters that are not adopted from the NDRB's proposed decisional document.