Legal Question in Military Law in Washington

OTH discharge, Officer with 11yrs of service

I have 11yrs of service as an Officer During a tour, had an inapprop. relationship. Recevied a GOLOR for adult/fratization, misconduct to name the major ones. They hit me with everything.. After my tour (incident) i received an HONORABLE d/c, and the military was aware of the situation, i had to testify in a case that the other party had become involved in. It has taken 2 years to separate me,(missed two promotions boards because of the ''flag'') after I requested to vol. separate. My discharge was an OTH for an incident that occured now 4yrs ago. My question to you, what is the likely hood of reversing the d/c with a dd214 of an honorable d/c and outstanding OERs throughout my career (during the tour time), even during the separation period and letters of recommendations? What recommendations do you have to prepare for an appeal with my military records? What are the chances of a possible return to any branch of the military? Is it 3yrs to file with military records or is it 15yrs?


Asked on 1/27/09, 4:43 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
William J. Holmes Attorney at Military Law

Re: OTH discharge, Officer with 11yrs of service

It is hard to assess your chances of returning to service without more information. However, to get your discharge overturned, you would need to prove to the board that the discharge you were given was inappropriate, either factually or legally. In short, you have to prove it was an error. The burden of proof is on you to do this. In order to do this, we can use your prior honorable discharges and OERs, but we will need more than just that. We will need to get into the actual facts of the underlying case to show that the OTH was not appropriate.

You have 3 years to file a petition with the Board for Correction of Records. This is where you want to file because they have the authority to overturn the discharge and reinstate you to duty. The Discharge Review Board does not have that power. They can only change the type of discharge.

I hope this has helped. Please feel free to contact me directly if you have additional questions.

Read more
Answered on 1/29/09, 10:52 am


Related Questions & Answers

More Military Law questions and answers in Washington