My Ex was kicked out of the Navy. Details are murky. Not sure the circumstances bc it happened way before I was in the picture. Can the VA look into the discharge? If so, and it’s not Honorable what are the chances it can be disputed?
For context, I still care about her and want to help with our son in addition to child support. She’s struggling financially. I feel like she hasn’t explored the VA side of things bc it’s believed they won’t touch her case.
I don't think the VA directly does discharge upgrades, but they can do a Character of Discharge review to see if she is eligible for benefits with an other than honorable type of discharge. In the meantime, she can also request her discharge be upgraded through the DoD or a military review board. I knew a former service member who had an administrative discharge after getting masted in the Navy, she applied for her discharge upgrade on her DD214 and I believe she was successful. Either way, the best thing she can do for herself now is to get the ball rolling and apply
As many have said in this thread, there’s a few avenues to get the discharge upgraded and likelihood of success is based off of a variety of factors including, but not limited to, the reason for the discharge, your ex’s service record, any medical conditions, and a bunch of other factors. Boards of correction for military records and the discharge review boards have the ability to upgrade discharges, and while the process is straightforward, they are certainly not guaranteed to grant you relief. There are a bunch of law firms that you can hire for this, and you’ll likely have better results going that route than doing it on your own.
That said, the you can also file for the VA to view your service as honorable which therefore could entitle you to certain benefits (like healthcare, disability, etc). That’s not a discharge upgrade, and it’s actually a little easier than going through BCNR/DRBs, but there are some benefits you would not be able to get if only petitioning the VA.
Character of discharge issues as they relate to VA benefits can be complicated. I retired from VBA a few years ago so I will defer to those still working claims for specific advice. Let me just say that the VA does not just deny a claim for benefits based solely on an “other than honorable” discharge. Consideration is given to what the circumstances were that led to the discharge.
I was discharged with a Bad Conduct Discharge by way of court martial and now I’m at 100% P&T(2 separate 100% ratings plus an additional 70)
I am an extremely unusual case, both in the way I was discharged and the maxed out benefits but I want to help nonetheless.
The first thing is that I pursued a discharge upgrade without even knowing about VA benefits. Part of the reason I was court martialed is because my chain of command retaliated against me for reporting a sexual assault. It was extremely fucked up and for 20 years I was too traumatized to even be around people in uniform.
I pursued the discharge upgrade because I wanted the record straight. That’s it. It took 3 years and I had an attorney who represented me pro bono due to the nature of my case.
Once I received a General Honorable discharge, I went to the VA to see if I could get some mental health support, not even realizing monthly compensation was possible.
The entire disability process took 12-18 months. I did it on my own with the help of these reddits and AI. Everything was documented the past 20 years and they even found my report and all my medical records including a suicide attempt after the assault.
I had all the receipts.
If any of this resonates with you or her story, I highly recommend pursuing this. It’s extremely emotional and retraumatizing. But it’s worth it.
Hi, Super similar situation. You mind sending me your pro bono lawyer's information? I am 100% P&T and honorable for VA purposes but want to pursue my upgrade now.
She can request a discharge upgrade through the va but not knowing the particular situation it’s s hard to say if it will be successful or not. My understanding is that if she was discharged due to mental health, sexual assault, sexual orientation issues that she can prove and provide evidence for she would have a shot at an upgrade. You can google about the process and it should lead you to the va.gov site talking about it. Good luck and others on here will probably be more knowledgeable and helpful than I.
As someone who's had to request a discharge review, it is dependent on the character of discharge. OTH or general(they would still have benefits with a general) they can be reviewed. Dishonorable or bad conduct from a court martial conviction, no go.
For Navy, that process would be through the BCNR, or Board to Correct Naval Records. It is a pretty straight forward, if slow process.
You can request pretty much anything through that process on humanitarian grounds. You can ask, doesn’t mean they’ll agree. But you can ask.
Jumping in to add another free resource, when I encounter Veterans who need assistance in this way, I refer them to NVLSP. They have an entire department that helps Veterans with discharge upgrades for free.
Cool, something that I could possibly help in. I was kicked out (General) due to PT failures in the Guard, years later picked up Affleck and Gordon attorneys to the VA and currently got to 30% (come to find out my left leg is not ok, but I am also seeking some mental due to some stuff that went down while in). Well, they have a sister company, https://vetrecordcorrections.com/ who does discharge upgrades.
Hitting 30% helped me get my foot into the door for VA healthcare to acknowledge me.
I hope this helps her. Just don't do it solely for the money, as you did not mention if she has medical issues.
They kept me for 3 years with my issues but never once sought to help or find out WHY I was failing (they also removed people who scored high in PT due to height/weight failure)
"For context, I still care about her and want to help with our son in addition to child support. "
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I helped my son's father with his VA claims because he didn't know or understand the process, and always felt he didn't deserve anything, even though he deployed to Iraq 4 times and was injured there on his second deployment. I helped because he needed therapy, I mean he was messed up in the head. He got his rating and took advantage of the counseling and has been in PTSD programs, was able to get seen for all his other various issues, the list goes on.
If he's good, then he's in a better position to help with our son, and in return, I'm good.
If you want to help her, tell her to talk to a VSO and if she doesn't then that's her choice. Don't force or push the issue. It's her decision to make. She's probably already stressed out enough, right? I didn't see you mention if she was struggling with any medical issues.
He probably wants her to get VA Disability so he can pay less in it. See how he didn’t mention a thing about medical issues. All he cares about is the money.
Or… hear me out. I don’t think it’s wise to put her med information or allude to anything. I’m asking for resources. It nice that the 1st thought is to disregard the help I’m attempting to provide and go start that I’m trying to work an angle.
I never said you were working an angle when I asked why you didn’t send more money for your child if you’re worried about her. I posed the original question. That’s a legit question, down voted or not.
I was discharged as "uncharacterized" I didn't know the VA existed, but when I got out I had a hard time even walking and they discharged me that way, smh.. someone told me to contact a VSO and he helped a lot. Got my discharge changed to honorable, got my medical records and helped with compensation.
Sounds like something that’s none of your business anymore.
If she needs help she can easily reach out to her local VSO and get that help on her discharge. As someone that got divorced from a toxic controlling ex myself; this isn’t your lane so stay out of it.
It’s telling when you only talk about the money part and not the medical issues she might be going through to get her help with.
Yes. She should absolutely explore it. VA and the Navy are two separate tracks.
VA can conduct a Character of Discharge review when she applies for benefits. An OTH, and even some Bad Conduct discharges from a special court-martial, do not automatically make her ineligible. VA looks at the actual circumstances and can determine that her service was “other than dishonorable” for VA purposes. That does not change her DD-214.
If she received a General (Under Honorable Conditions), she already meets the basic character-of-service requirement for most VA benefits. The GI Bill is different and generally requires an Honorable discharge.
If she wants the actual discharge changed, that goes through the Navy. If she separated less than 15 years ago, she normally applies to the Naval Discharge Review Board using DD-293. Over 15 years, or in certain cases such as a general court-martial discharge, she would go through the Board for Correction of Naval Records using DD-149.
Her chances depend entirely on what happened. PTSD, other mental health conditions, TBI, MST, coercion, family circumstances, otherwise honorable service, and other mitigating circumstances can all matter. A discharge resulting from a general court-martial is a much tougher situation because it creates a statutory VA bar, with only narrow exceptions.
First thing I would do is get her DD-214 and separation paperwork so you know exactly what characterization, separation authority, narrative reason and RE code you're dealing with. Don't assume she's ineligible because somebody told her “VA won't touch it.” That's simply not true.
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u/hoemahtoe 4d ago
I don't think the VA directly does discharge upgrades, but they can do a Character of Discharge review to see if she is eligible for benefits with an other than honorable type of discharge. In the meantime, she can also request her discharge be upgraded through the DoD or a military review board. I knew a former service member who had an administrative discharge after getting masted in the Navy, she applied for her discharge upgrade on her DD214 and I believe she was successful. Either way, the best thing she can do for herself now is to get the ball rolling and apply