Chapter 5: Legal Terminology and Potential Resources

Certain VA benefits and other perks of military service require certain types of military discharges. You may see generic statements such as a requirement that the discharge be anything “other than Dishonorable” or any military discharge not characterized as a punitive discharge in some cases. The different types of military discharges are;

Honorable Discharge

This is the highest discharge a military member can receive. It indicates the service member performed duties well, faithfully executed the mission, and was an asset to the branch of the military where the member served.

General Discharge Under Honorable Conditions

This type of military administrative discharge is motivated by different things depending on the branch of service. The overall conduct of the military member may have been exemplary in some areas, but other areas of misconduct or failure to adapt to the military environment may have resulted in such a discharge.

The separation paperwork for these military discharges may be quite specific about the reasons for the discharge, so while it’s not stigmatized the same as a Dishonorable discharge, the General Discharge Under Honorable Conditions may still hurt the veteran in some ways where a DD Form 214 Report of Discharge is required for employment or other reasons.

Other Than Honorable (OTH) Discharge

This is the most severe of the administrative discharges (which do not require a court-martial). Reasons for the OTH discharge may depend on the severity of the offenses, how a particular branch of the military has traditionally handled such issues, and other variables.

Bad Conduct Discharges

A Bad Conduct Discharge comes as the result of a court-martial and may be followed by prison time depending on the nature and severity of the conduct.

Dishonorable Discharge

This is the most punitive of all military discharges and is given as the result of a court-martial. Desertion, murder, fraud, and other crimes performed in uniform can result in court-martial proceedings that lead to a Dishonorable Discharge. No military benefits or future military service is possible with a military discharge characterized as Dishonorable.

Other Military Discharges

A new recruit that cannot complete Basic Training, adapt to the military environment while in Basic Training or Tech School, or otherwise is unable or unwilling to complete the initial phases of training. These separations generally happen before the new recruit has served more than 180 days. These are not considered “good” or “bad” discharges, the recruit is not considered a veteran, and those receiving Entry Level Separations are not eligible for benefits.

A medical discharge may be given to service members who become sick or injured to the point where military duty is no longer possible based on a medical evaluation of the medical condition.

Military members who receive Medical Discharges should apply for VA compensation for service-connected medical issues, especially those that resulted in the discharge.