What is a dishonorable discharge?

[jmowreader]

There's a thread floating around about the single mother who's being court-martialed. In it there are several "give her a dishonorable discharge" posts. You don't GIVE anyone a dishonorable discharge. So, without further ado I present some hip-pocket training on the types of discharges.

The first kind is Entry Level Separation. Also known as Trainee Discharges, if you get a guy in who just cannot adapt to the military, you have the option of throwing him out within 180 days of his entrance onto active duty. This is an "uncharacterized" discharge--neither honorable or other-than-honorable. Think of it as the military's probationary period.

Assuming your guy gets past 180 days, he can receive one of five kinds of discharges. Three are administrative, two punitive. The administrative discharges first.

The preferred discharge is Honorable. It's also the easiest to get--just don't screw up. This discharge affords the veteran access to all his military benefits.

Next is the General Discharge--or "general under honorable conditions." They give these for three reasons: homosexual conduct, drug abuse and long patterns of moderate misconduct. I had a roommate get put out on a General once, and he left us a present when he left--his discharge packet. It was about an inch thick. Good reading. This discharge erases some military benefits, like the GI Bill.

The Other than Honorable Discharge is reserved for serious malefactors. There are two ways you can go here. First is to accept an OTH discharge in lieu of court-martial. Officers do this--if they committed a reasonably minor felony that justifies court-martialing them, they can request discharge for the good of the service and receive this discharge. The other way is to get sentenced to a civil prison or arrested by civil authorities for something really major--rape, murder, armed robbery, and other severe felonies. This is a pretty simple discharge to do but you've got to do something significant to be considered for it. This discharge erases most of your veterans' benefits. This is the most recent addition to the discharge palette--it screws up the rest of your life as badly as a bad-conduct discharge does, but unlike the BCD the Army doesn't have to wait until you're out of jail, drag you into an Army court and court-martial you to give you this discharge. Before OTH discharge was a reality, they would actually do that because if you'd been convicted of, say, manslaughter, no one would want you to have any military benefits...but without court-martialing you you'd get them. (I've been reading in the media about troops who "agreed" to dishonorable discharges to get out of going back to Iraq. I think they were actually this discharge; you can't "agree" to a dishonorable but you can to this, and the name "other than honorable" sounds kinda dishonorableish, right?)

And now for the punitive ones, which can only be awarded as part of the sentence of a court-martial:

The Bad Conduct Discharge is given by either a BCD Special or a General court-martial. It is almost always preceded by a stay at a military prison--there are more than just the big one at Leavenworth. It erases almost all your benefits.

The Dishonorable Discharge is the big one. It always comes with time in Leavenworth. It's given only by a general court-martial. It has all the stigma of a federal felony conviction. This discharge even fucks you up in the civilian world.

[mattvermont]

1. I thought it was

The Catholic term for an ejaculation that does not result in conception.
But then that is just me.

[Thothmes]

2. A conviction by a courts martial is a federal felony conviction.

Does not make a differene whether it is a summery, special or general board.

[jmowreader]

3. A dishonorable discharge is even more punitive

[Thothmes]

4. True. It is among the most severe punishments that can be

handed out at a CM. But any convicition by a courts maritial is a federal felony conviction.

[PacerLJ35]

5. Right. The CM verdict generally = felony, but the discharge type determines post-service benefits

...or lack thereof.

[11 Bravo]

6. Dick Cheney's old man had one 9 months before the miserable bastard was born.

[lies and propaganda]

7. I got a general under honorable conditions in the AF

and I was court martialed for drug use, but just like in the real world.. it helped that i had a GREAT lawyer.

But there are a few more circumstances than just what was named, though you wrapped it up pretty damn well.

[jaysunb]

8. whats todays equivilant of an undesirable (209) ?

[alfredo]

9. You got to fuck up real bad to get one. Chickenshit stuff like pissing on the

company commander's desk will get you thrown in the brig then given a less than honorable discharge like a Bad Conduct.

The most dishonorable discharge is cutting a fart on an elevator, just as you reach your floor.