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Vets' Notes: Cutting Thru Red Tape, Making Sense of RegsBy VVAWDischarge Upgrading Since World War II, four million veterans have received less than honorable discharges from the U.S. military. Of those millions, an estimated 3/4's of a million are from the Vietnam era, most as a result of discharge without benefit of a trial or hearing (general or "other than honorable" discharge). At present discharged from the military, many without benefit of adequate representation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, a questionable legal system to begin with. Currently the various branches of the military are conducting traveling Discharge Review Boards (DRB) which consist of five-member panels of military officers representing Air Force, Army, and combined Navy/Marine Corps boards. These boards deal with discharges in the categories of general and "other than honorable." How they administer their peculiar from of justice depends on the different branches. The Air Force and Army DRB's have the reputation of being more lenient, and the Navy/Marine combination being far less cooperative. Being a Navy veteran seeking an upgraded discharge is a disadvantage because of the Marine composition of the Navy/Marine DRB's. Discharge upgrading counselors have rated Navy Boards ranging from "maniacs" to "gross" in terms of their cooperative spirit. An estimated 30% to 50% of people applying for upgrading are successful. This is probably due to the quality of counseling individuals get before applying for the upgrade. There are not so many people doing upgrade counseling as in pervious finding. Of the advisors available, the quality of advise and guidance the applicant receives is in direct proportion to the success rate of upgrading for that agency and, of course, how good a chance the individual has to getting his/her discharge upgraded. To apply for the DRB's an applicant must have received "bad paper" after today's date, 1967. For a vet applying for upgrading, the sometimes lengthy process can be discouraging when the outcome can conceivably make or break the individuals ability to get vets benefits or employment. With the length and complications of the process also go on a political set of problems. One attorney recently placed it in perspective when he stated, "With the Reagan administration in power it would be fair to say there has been a noticeable chill cast over operation of the Boards and any gay cases in particular are treated with hostility beyond the bounds of the law." A realistic look at the process for discharge upgrading shows it to be merely a bandaid over a large wound. If all eligible vets with bad papers were to apply in a year or two, the system set up to administer to them would throw the waiting list into the next century, hardly an encouraging or efficient method of upgrading. The long waiting and complicated process discourage many applications from the beginning. The discharge upgrading process should be taken on for those vets who need relief to get benefits or jobs. Done correctly, upgrading is not impossible. The long-term relief for vets and future vets lies in the form of a single-type discharge program that VVAW and others have supported for years. For more specific information of discharge upgrading, contact your local VVAW or: Midwest Committee on Military Counseling National Lawyers Guild Military Law Task Force Veterans Education Project (Thanks to Joe Shuman and Randy Newfeld for help with this article)
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