Legal Question in Military Law in Alabama

Is An Undiagnosed Mental Illness Grounds For Upgrading Military Discharge?

I received a discharge under honorable conditions from the Air Force in 1998 after two Article 15 proceedings which occurred within one year of each other. Both were for dereliction of duty: the first for abuse of government resources for using a computer to access my account with a local internet service provider; the second for misusing a government-issued credit card.

In 1994 and by my own accord, I sought and received treatment for depression. This treatment met little success and continued until and after my discharge.

I was finally and correctly diagnosed as having a bipolar disorder in 2004, the treatment of which has proven very successful.

In retrospect I can see that the behavior that led to my discharge was largely attributable to my mental disorder and the behavior would not have likely occurred if I had been correctly diagnosed and treated. Of course, if correctly diagnosed, I would most likely have been given an honorable discharge for medical reasons.

Given the influence on my behavior due to the disorder and the likely consequences of a correct diagnosis prior to my discharge, would I have good grounds to seek an appeal to upgrade the conditions of my discharge?

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