A "Veteran" after dropping out of boot camp? Where do you draw the line?

SrA Adams,

If she was Medically Discharged she is a Veteran. If she quit her contract, she gets no Veterans Benefits thus she is NOT a Veteran. I would ask to see her DD-214. If she won't produce it to prove her discharge status........ Call BS on her and let her know that if she continues you will "out" her.

They are not a veteran. If it came down to a sprained ankle, she could have waited until she healed and started Boot Camp over again. In the Air Force, if you are hurt, you are put in a holding squadron until you heal and then put back into a squadron where you left off at (if you got hurt in week 5, then you would go back to week 5 and continue). I would imagine there are different rules and standards for each branch about this. Not finishing Boot Camp/Basic then you are not a veteran, and haven't earned the title.

She's NOT a veteran... PERIOD!

That's like saying my ex-roommate ( a fat ass paintballer and W.O.W. 'Hero') who loves to dress up and play army rangers...is a Veteran! NOT!!!!

He is my ex roommate, because he is a poser and a whimp, that nearly got his ass beaten by myself and other real veterans. The closest he came to joining the Army or any branch was to hangout POSING in the near from real Recruiters in the mall. They too nearly killed him!

At lead she did two weeks, but she is NOT a veteran and is NOT entitled to benefits thereof or there within! She, like he...will be a a Veteran when.... (See below)!

Minimum Duty Requirements

Most Veterans who enlisted after September 7, 1980, or entered active duty after October 16, 1981, must have served 24 continuous months or the full period for which they were called to active duty in order to be eligible.

For purpose of receiving healthcare benefits from the Dept of Veteran Affairs, the individual had to have been on active duty for 24 months. This minimum duty requirement may not apply to all Veterans. The exception being those who were discharged for a disability incurred or aggravated in the line of duty, for a hardship, “early out,” OR those who served prior to September 7, 1980.

With that said, some people have legitimate injuries and achieve the "veteran" status. I have seen people completely disregard their injuries and push through just to finish basic training or MOS school. Those are the people who have earned their title and obtain my respect as a Veteran.

Barring a serious service related injury at boot camp, how can one not pass basic training and not be considered a SM yet be considered a veteran? In general anything done in a training status doesn't count towards any award, in-country service, etc.

If they wrote a blank check to Uncle Sam, took the oath and joined the military especially during a time of war... yes, I think that makes them a veteran. I don't think they should refer to themselves as a soldier, marine or airman until they have at least made it through boot camp.

If one doesn't graduate basic training, then one hasn't performed all the qualification steps to be called a 'soldier' thus how could they be considered a veteran. I have my personal beliefs of the term veteran, but at the very least it should be reserved for those that completed basic.

Veteran? No way. She scarcely even grazed the tread on her new combat boots.

She does not, in my opinion, stand in the same coveted circle as my brothers- and sisters-in-arms.

Here's my two cents as a female veteran, who served honorably for 11 years.....I call shenanigans. Even in BMT in the AF you are not called Airman until graduation, you are "kindly" referred to as "Trainee". Plus, had she been injured as such requiring medical release, she would have been transferred to a medical hold training flight and been held until MEB'd. A process longer than two weeks. Most individuals who fall out in week two, do so by claiming that the stress of training is too much and they, what I refer to as, "psych out". I am fairly certain I got a small tear in my Achilles heel in BMT and my shit swelled up like a fat tick. I was damned determined to not get washed back. My TI snuck me a soft ankle brace that I wore in boots only and I pushed through the pain. I not only graduated, but made it my bitch and graduated with top honors. So, the long short of it is, no. Said individual in question not a veteran, IMHO. She's, unfortunately, a member of a large growing list of posers. Twisted ankle? Smh. Sounds like half the whiners that clog up my ER.