What happens if you get discharged from the air force

They may have difficulty finding work in the civilian sector. Officers in the armed services can be imprisoned in military prison for serious crimes.

They cannot be reduced in rank by a court-martial, nor can they receive a bad conduct or dishonorable discharge. It may be a mental or physical condition that prevents continued service.

Here are some examples:. They are unable to complete basic training, unable to adapt to military life, or unwilling to complete the training.

Such discharges are not considered good or bad. These are rare and take place when it is in the government's best interest to discharge the service member for a mental of physical condition. For example, a Navy enlistee whose training is in shipboard communications suffers from severe and intractable sea sickness. Or a service member has a personality disorder that makes it impossible to work in groups. These are used when a service member becomes ill or is injured during their military service and are now unable to perform the duties required of a productive member of the military.

These separations are based on a medical evaluation. Most people who receive a medical discharge are entitled to VA benefits. If it is a service related injury or medical condition such as traumatic brain injury, combat injury, PTSD, or a chemical exposure, the individual may be eligible for disability benefits. There is a process that allows veterans to appeal their discharge status in the hope of having it upgraded to an honorable discharge.

This is through the Discharge Review Board. Every branch of the military has its own Discharge Review Board. The petitioning veteran must compile evidence, document the reasons for upgrading the discharge, and submit an application packet to the review board. Nothing is automatic. The veteran must support their case and explain why the current discharge is unjust. There are some specific instances where special consideration is warranted toward upgrading the discharge. Perhaps, the veteran can show evidence of PTSD being a factor in the disruptive or criminal behavior that resulted in the unfavorable discharge.

There have been instances where the victim of a sexual assault experienced PTSD that ended in unfavorable discharge. Those cases, too, warrant special consideration.

Discharges related to sexual orientation are also considered. Since World War II, over , service members have been discharged for their sexual orientation. Since that time, many LBGT veterans have applied and had their discharges upgraded to honorable. For example, unsatisfactory performance or weight control discharges should be halted if medical problems are referred for disability proceedings; soldiers diagnosed with personality disorders warranting administrative discharge and with severe depression or PTSD warranting medical retirement should be medically processed.

Medical separation normally does not take priority over discharges which warrant other than honorable characterization or over disciplinary action and punitive discharge. Before deciding on a medical discharge, counselors or attorneys should inquire about pending or possible involuntary discharges, investigations or disciplinary actions. Discharges in which an other than honorable discharge may be authorized even if not recommended in the individual case generally take precedence over medical proceedings DoD Similarly, pending approved unsuspended punitive discharges or dismissals preempt medical proceedings.

DoD Counselors contacted by military members who face separation under these conditions should inquire about health concerns that may have contributed to the conduct for which they are being separated. All too often, symptoms of medical problems are viewed by commands as misconduct warranting administrative separation with an other than honorable discharge.

Medical problems may be raised as mitigation in discharge or court-martial proceedings to avoid other than honorable or punitive discharges or even to seek referral to the disability system. Such mitigation may result in retention in the service, leaving the way open for later medical discharge or retirement; or in a general or honorable discharge permitting VA medical care and benefits.

Servicemembers who qualify for this examination will not be separated until the appropriate authorities, as determined by the Secretary concerned, have reviewed the results of the examination.

Even if DoD In such situations, some servicemembers may be able to fall back on DODI While this instruction does not require commands to seek an evaluation for PTSD or TBI for servicemembers, counselors can help servicemembers acquire such an evaluation through civilian channels, if necessary, and help push for referral into the disability system if they can demonstrate that their medical impairment was the cause of the conduct for which they are being separated.

Servicemembers may consult attorneys or counselors after diagnoses of their problems by military or civilian doctors. More often, medical problems have not been diagnosed by the military, servicemembers have difficulty accessing military doctors, or members feel they have been misdiagnosed by military doctors.

In these cases, it is extremely helpful to begin by sending clients to civilian physicians — specialists if possible. While the military is not bound by civilian medical reports, they can be persuasive. Submission of civilian reports giving specific diagnoses and descriptions of severity can help clients gain access to military doctors and can help those doctors in coming to correct conclusions.

If the clients already have diagnoses and are confident of their accuracy, existing records may suffice, though even here civilian reports may be valuable in lending additional emphasis to the severity of the condition. In all medical cases, it is useful to obtain copies of all military medical records, and any relevant civilian medical records, at the outset, and for attorneys or counselors to review the records with the clients. It is worth noting that clients are not always aware of helpful or harmful entries in their military medical records, including diagnoses other than those mentioned to patients.

In many cases the specific condition will be listed; if not, a civilian health care expert can look for the presence of similar conditions with similar effects, severity and prognosis.

The DVA rating schedule can be used to determine symptoms or standards used to measure severity. In some cases, the existence of a medical condition by itself is enough to lead commands to refer members to sick call and lead commanders in the Army or military doctors to initiate medical discharge proceedings of their own accord.

Here it may be sufficient for clients to present themselves for evaluation. Often, however, commands or medical personnel usually medics or corpsmen make it difficult to see military physicians. And military doctors may fail to recognize problems, may delay in making diagnoses, or may make efforts at treatment before deciding whether conditions require discharge.

In these cases, outside assistance may be important at the outset, and service differences are significant. In the Army, unlike the other services, disability proceedings often begin with a referral by the commanding officer, specifically asking that a medical evaluation be conducted AR , Section II, Initiation of Medical Evaluation, paragraph The other services are less concerned about referrals by commands.

Informally, treating physicians, particularly specialists, often initiate the process for medical evaluation boards MEBs. Thus, if doctors fail to act on their own, counsel in Army cases may wish to address a letter to the command, providing documentation of the condition and requesting medical discharge. In other services, this request is better addressed to the treating doctor, the head of the treating facility, or medical headquarters. Unfortunately, many commands, soldiers and even Army doctors tend to assume that commands have greater authority than the regulations allow, and civilian advocates may need to remind both commands and doctors of the requirements of the regulations.

Members with medical problems have little or no access to legal help through the military in the early stages of their cases. Military counsel is not normally available to soldiers who are having problems gaining access to doctors, feel they have been badly treated in the medical system, or believe that medical evaluation boards should have been prepared long ago.

Under the IDES system, members should be able to consult with military attorneys when MEB proceedings have been initiated or are contemplated. Military counselors or attorneys can play an essential role in the early stages of cases. Members are generally not familiar with the medical standards governing discharge, and may be misled by over-worked corpsmen, medics or doctors, as well as unsympathetic commands.

Few have any idea of the criteria which might make the difference between a medical discharge without disability benefits for a pre-existing condition or medical retirement with disability benefits. In many areas, non-physicians serve as gatekeepers; they and medical officers serving in the field may be the most likely to under-diagnose medical and psychiatric problems that should warrant referral to a specialist or even emergency treatment.

Advocates can help members move through this sometimes unfriendly system by bringing pressure on commands, medical treatment facilities or medical headquarters, or by enlisting the assistance of civilian physicians to document problems and urge evaluation and treatment. The right to medical evaluation and care is not discussed much in military regulations, though it is assumed to be a basic right.

Some help can be found in DoD Instruction The Instruction also describes complaint procedures available to patients. With problems that are difficult to measure, including some psychiatric conditions and physical conditions which manifest in such elusive symptoms as back pain or headaches, civilian documentation and pressure from an advocate may be important in ensuring that problems are taken seriously.

Reports from civilian doctors are particularly helpful, making it difficult for commands and military doctors to ignore the condition, and providing documentation for complaints if they do so. Part of this process involves helping soldiers or sailors to be effective patients. Many servicemembers downplay medical problems to avoid ridicule or harassment. They should receive an explanation of the value of full reporting of problems and of repeated visits to sick call or their individual doctors whenever symptoms arise.

Most counselors and attorneys encourage their clients not to present as members wanting their rights or wanting discharge, but rather as patients wanting help with problems. Members also need to be warned that military medical records are not confidential, and that information they provide to military doctors or mental health professionals can be repeated to their commands. If access to physicians is denied, sometimes informal appeal to the commanding officer by members or their advocates will make access easier.

Formal letters from counsel requesting medical evaluation sometimes provide the necessary impetus. Parallel letters and complaints can be made to the commander of the military treatment facility involved and to the surgeon general of the service. Some counselors and attorneys have found ombudsmen and patient advocates at military medical facilities to be helpful, as well.

The regulations offer little guidance on time frames for medical evaluation and treatment. When cases stall, and referrals to MEBs are not forthcoming, counselors or attorneys may need to recommend a reasonable time and demand that the service justify any delay beyond that point. The issue of how long the service can take before responding to certain requests should be judged under a reasonableness standard. Where members have given the military the opportunity to grant the relief requested or to rectify any unwarranted denial of a request for relief, and have submitted appeals to the secretary of the service, administrative remedies have been exhausted for purposes of federal court intervention.

The military should not be able to avoid the consequences of unreasonable delays by transferring members to a war zone and away from the assistance of their attorneys. When in-service remedies have been exhausted, attorneys may go into federal district court to challenge any denial deemed arbitrary and capricious or without basis in fact. GIs may prevail on a writ of habeas corpus or writ of mandamus in such a forum if they have provided a prima facie case warranting medical discharge or retirement, and the military has failed to disprove the existence of the medical condition identified in the prima facie case.

Previously, the VA performed its own medical evaluations after veterans were discharged and then assigned a VA disability rating and processed the VA disability benefits.

The integration of the military and veterans disability evaluation systems was meant to streamline the medical evaluation process and reduce the amount of time between discharge from the service and commencement of VA benefits. There are many factors affecting the length of time needed to get through the entire IDES process including, but not limited to, lack of adequate staffing, training of personnel on the new system, the number of medical conditions of the servicemember, and an increase in the number of servicemembers in the system.

Servicemembers should expect the process to take nearly one year and possibly longer. It should be noted that military disability ratings and VA ratings may differ because there are some conditions the VA considers and rates as disabilities that the military does not consider unfitting.

These differences are described in DoD Instruction One example is the physical appearance of scarring or other disfigurement that does not interfere with functioning. The Integrated Disability Evaluation System and the process for medical discharge and retirement are governed by statute. Be aware that these regulations may or may not already be updated for changes resulting from the implementation of IDES through DTM There are variations between services, so it is important to work with individual service regulations as well as the DoD Instructions and Directive.

In addition, there is a significant body of case law on the disability system and the rights of those considered for medical discharge or retirement; unfortunately, almost all of the cases, like the regulations, deal with individuals who have already entered the system through a medical evaluation board.

This graphic was created by IDES program administrators and includes the target number of days for each step in the process. The dark hexagons identify points in the process where servicemembers may rebut or appeal decisions.

Source — DTM, Attachment 9. These include:. MEBs do not formally convene, and they offer members no formal opportunity to testify or present evidence. The regulations set out detailed requirements for MEB reports, including types of testing required for some specific medical conditions. A General military discharge is a form of administrative discharge.

To receive a General Discharge from the military there has to be some form of nonjudicial punishment to correct unacceptable military behavior or failure to meet military standards. The discharging officer must give the reason for the discharge in writing, and the military member must sign paperwork stating they understand the reason for their discharge. Veterans may not be eligible for certain veterans benefits under a General Discharge, including the GI Bill.

The most severe type of military administrative discharge is the Other Than Honorable Conditions. Some examples of actions that could lead to an Other Than Honorable Discharge include security violations, use of violence, conviction by a civilian court with a sentence including prison time, or being found guilty of adultery in a divorce hearing this list is not a definitive list; these are only examples.

In most cases, veterans who receive an Other Than Honorable Discharge cannot re-enlist in the Armed Forces or reserves, except under very rare circumstances. The Bad Conduct Discharge is only passed on to enlisted military members and is given by a court-martial due to punishment for bad conduct. A Bad Conduct discharge is often preceded by time in military prison. If the military considers a service members actions to be reprehensible, the general court-martial can determine a dishonorable discharge is in order.

Murder and sexual assault are examples of situations that would result in a dishonorable discharge. If someone is dishonorably discharged from the military they are not allowed to own firearms according to US federal law.