By Dylan Maeby, Veterans Medical-Legal Partnership Staff Attorney
For many Veterans, being discharged from the military is straightforward, despite the abundance of paperwork and formalities. But this is not the case for all those who served. For some, the process of being discharged is anything but straightforward; instead, it can be a reminder of the trauma they faced during service. For veterans who developed PTSD, who are survivors of Military Sexual Trauma (MST), who suffered Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI), or are members of the LGBTQ+ community, this process can negatively and unjustly impact the rest of their lives.
Upon discharge, service members are given one of five statuses: Honorable, General (Under Honorable Conditions), Other Than Honorable, Bad Conduct, or Dishonorable. Only the first two statuses grant access to most veteran benefits such as VA Healthcare. For veterans who fall outside these categories, getting access to important, and often lifesaving, services can be an uphill battle. There are many reasons why a veteran may be given an Other Than Honorable, Bad Conduct, or Dishonorable discharge. For instance, it is not uncommon for individuals suffering from PTSD to begin to self-medicate by consuming alcohol. Unfortunately, alcohol abuse will often lead to underperformance of duties and eventually discharge (in one of the three remaining statuses) from the military.
Two of the most prevalent myths around discharge status are that either a service member’s status will be automatically upgraded 6 months after discharge or that discharge statuses are permanent and cannot be changed. The first myth seeks to give false hope while also dissuading the veteran from taking affirmative action, while the second leaves the veteran without any hope for change. Both myths are insidious and commonly told, but equally incorrect. There has never been a process for an automatic upgrade; if the veteran does not take matters into their own hands, nothing will change. Known as a discharge upgrade, veterans must apply for and convince a board of 3-5 members that their discharge status was unfairly or improperly issued.
For years, the prospect of obtaining an upgrade was daunting. Although each branch of service was different, the average success rate was in the low single digits. A lot has changed in the last decade, and those numbers have jumped to between 25 and 45%. The driving force behind this change was the recognition by military leadership that conditions and experiences such as PTSD, TBI, and MST were causing service members to act in a predictable, but inappropriate manner. It was only through the formal recognition that PTSD, TBI, and MST could lead to this misconduct that the Boards of Review began giving special consideration to these applications.
2011 also brought about the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the longstanding policy of discharging LGBTQ+ veterans. While the repeal only applied to individuals still in service, it also provided an opportunity for the Boards to review old discharges. Additionally, transgender veterans have a new avenue for correcting military documents to remove their “dead name.”
Today, every branch of service has established boards that review applications for changing the status of a veteran’s discharge.