The Cost of a Negative Separation: The Extreme Impact of a Military Discharge That Is Other Than 'Honorable'

Abstract

For those who join the military, their exit from service will fall into one of two categories, voluntary or involuntary separation. Those who voluntarily separate have completed their term of service and no longer owe any continuing service obligation under their enlistment contract or commission. These soldiers are eligible for the full array of benefits and are looked upon by the general population with favor in almost every aspect of their post military life. There are certain classifications of involuntary separations that, when imposed, do not cause soldiers to lose eligibility for all benefits; these include Honorable and General Discharges. There are others that force the Departments of Veterans Affair to make a case-by-case determination of a particular veteran’s eligibility for benefits; these include Other Than Honorable and Bad Conduct Discharges. Finally, there are those separations that render a veteran ineligible for all benefits and are not permitted to submit an application for review by the Department of Veterans Affairs; these are those classified as Dishonorable Discharges, or Dismissals in the case of an Officer. Despite the category or classification of a soldier’s discharge, the next step that must be taken by any veteran is reintegration into civilian life. Steven Davidson, former U.S. Army Sergeant and 2012 Army Times Soldier of the Year, argues, “the most crucial benefit to ensuring successful reintegration is mental health services.” In Mr. Davidson’s opinion, there is a period after service during which a former soldier’s mind is simply unsettled, and even those fortunate enough to be surrounded by friends and family during this period still feel completely out of place in everyday civilian life. This article begins with a description of the benefits made available to veterans by the Department of Veterans Affairs, then it details the various categories and classifications of separation and the effect each has on benefit eligibility, then it discusses the burden of a “negative separation,” and finishes with a proposal to help alleviate the problems with the veteran reintegration process.