Military discharge review boards are not consistently following a directive to give liberal consideration to appeals from veterans who experienced such things as post-traumatic stress disorder or sexual assault, the Government Accountability Office found. (Robert H. Reid/Stars and Stripes)
The military services are inconsistently weighing discharge upgrade appeals from veterans whose experience with mental health issues or sexual assault may have contributed to their exit from the military, a new report has found.
Pentagon directives issued in 2014 and 2017 instructed review boards to give liberal consideration to applicants who were sexual assault victims or who have conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder. But that guidance isn’t being followed regularly within the services, the Government Accountability Office said in the report.
The boards decide whether to apply such consideration to discharge appeals on a case-by-case basis, according to the GAO. Between 2018 and March 2024, they did so for more than half of all applications, or about 21,000 cases.
In those cases where sexual assault or mental health conditions were considered, the majority had their requests for upgrades either denied or approved only to a lesser degree than the veteran was seeking, according to the report.
The Air Force Discharge Review Board had the lowest rate of full approval, at 8%. It was followed by the Air Force Board for Correction of Military Records at 10%; the Board for Correction of Naval Records at 13%; the Army Board for Correction of Military Records at 26%; the Naval Discharge Review Board at 27%; and the Army Discharge Review Board at 29%.
“While the adjudication process may appear relatively straightforward, officials from each board told us that every case is unique and that case reviews can be lengthy and complex,” the GAO wrote in its report.
In 2017, an expansion of the Pentagon directive provided guidance on how to apply the standards more fairly and consistently.
Review boards were instructed to consider whether veterans had a condition or experience that may excuse or mitigate the discharge, whether the condition occurred during military service, and whether it excuses or outweighs the discharge.
In addition to the uneven handling, the boards also inconsistently explained how they applied the guidance in their decisions, and the Pentagon failed to post nearly half of its case decisions to its online database as is generally required, the GAO report said.
Veterans who separated from the military under other than honorable conditions can’t access certain benefits and may have trouble getting jobs.
A dishonorable discharge or dismissal is reserved for those convicted of felonies or military offenses requiring severe punishment.
But service members can also be discharged for behavior that constitutes a significant departure from what is considered acceptable conduct or for bad conduct that doesn’t meet the threshold severe punishment.
The liberal consideration for discharge reviews stemmed from a lawsuit filed in 2014 by Vietnam veterans and three veterans organizations.
The complaint against the Army, Navy and Air Force said that because PTSD was not recognized as a serious condition at the time of the separations, veterans received other-than-honorable discharges.
Following the lawsuit, then-Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel directed review boards to give liberal consideration to discharge upgrade applications from veterans who documented one or more PTSD symptoms or conditions.
The subsequent expansion of that directive included considerations for applicants who had experienced sexual assault or harassment.
Among the nine recommendations in the report is one that the Defense Department examine how its guidance is applied. Others call on the agency to require the boards to share estimates about time frames and improve access to its online reading room.
