Any Advice for Reason of Separation Upgrade Not RE-code Navy?

2021-08-26T21:26:21-04:00

Looking for advice on best approach, what to expect, can I do it alone? I'm hoping to change my reason of separation based on error of handling. I have contacted lawyers, however, they are all very busy, I do have consultations lined up. I don't want VA benefits or an RE code change as I think they're fine as they are. I don't feel that my discharge was done properly based on procedure. If anyone has experience or knows someone who may have advice, feel free to reach out. Thank you all for your time.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 26 at 2021 9:29 PM

2021-08-26T21:29:36-04:00

PFC Private RallyPoint Member The Facts Ma'am... Just The Facts.

Response by CPT Lawrence Cable made Aug 26 at 2021 9:52 PM

2021-08-26T21:52:13-04:00

First, have you applied for an upgrade with the Discharge Review Board? You can find the application on line, or at a DOD or VA facility. Fill it out and list all the reasons why you think it is incorrect. If you have done that, then you just wait until the initial findings of the board. The Review Board can correct errors and change the discharge reason also. Make sure you list all the relevant reasons as completely as you can, if it isn't on the form, you can't bring it up at a hearing or appeal.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 26 at 2021 10:34 PM

2021-08-26T22:34:13-04:00

If PTSD is involved at all I believe there is a group in DC funded to represent vets upgrading their discharge

Response by A1C Chris Pointer made Aug 27 at 2021 12:00 AM

2021-08-27T00:00:00-04:00

Can you do it alone? Yes I did mine alone (for the most part anyway). It really depends on what you're trying to change it from, to.

Couple questions though:
1. If you're not upgrading for VA benefits or a change in RE code, what's your goal?
2. What are you trying to change the reasoning from and what do you think it should be?
3. In what way do you think your seperation was mishandled and what proof do you have to support it?
4. How long have you been out?

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 27 at 2021 5:17 AM

2021-08-27T05:17:17-04:00

It will be a lot easier and faster for you to get a waiver from a branch than it will be to get your case before a discharge review board. For one, your purpose for requesting the change is for reentering the military and that can be accomplished through a waiver, meaning that a discharge review isn't necessary. Review boards can take years to review a case if it's not a high priority, and this wouldn't be a high priority case. Second, you have to show that the Separation authority was completely incorrect. Not that it could have been, might have been, or that there were mitigating circumstances and you don't agree with the outcome. Commanders have wide latitude to choose one separation over another and a review board will not lightly overturn a Commanders choice without proof that your separation reason "should" have been something else and not "could" have been something else.

I can tell you that based on the information you provided below there are some things the board will take issue with. Pseudoephedrine is not meth, it's not like meth, it's not even a prescription drug, it's an over the counter drug in most states. You can use it to make meth with some backyard chemistry, but you can use mold to make LSD and that doesn't mean ergot fungus is LSD. You don't know that a medical officer broke any protocol by referring you somewhere. It is the duty of the medical officer to determine when a person needs to be referred to a higher echelon of care. You also don't have a copy of the protocol on hand. Even if you did, and the medical officer broke that protocol, they are within their duties and responsibilities to make that call. Your psych eval may have been haphazard but adjustment disorder is a common enough reaction to a stressful situation that it doesn't take a PhD to meet with you in person to identify.

When you remove these parts of your story, as the board members will, it will read like this:
Serious inner ear infection caused disoriention and extreme pain that led to emotional breakdown during training. No prior history of anxiety disorder and no post history of anxiety disorder afterwards.

That is a much easier sell for the board, that's not to say they will change your separation. But that's also a much easier sell for a recruiter putting in a waiver.

Response by PFC Darrell Delmundo made Sep 20 at 2021 10:04 AM

2021-09-20T10:04:43-04:00

If everything you have stated is accurate. You are looking to prove that your separation was not due to a “adjustment disorder” and that your narrative reason for separation was inaccurate.

I had a similar situation where I had to change my narrative due to the fact that my diagnosis for a psychosocial disorder was given with minimal to little testing and review to justify a diagnosis that was given and that many other fully qualified professional physicians have rejected the diagnosis since.

A “adjustment disorder” is defined as a “maladaptive response to a psychosocial stressor that occurs when an individual has significant difficulty adjusting to or coping with a stressful psychosocial event.”

However your situation sounds like you had physical difficulties dealing with physical injuries.

If you’re looking to change you narrative then your focus should be on how that diagnosis was inaccurate because you did not have psychosocial stressors at the time of separation.

Trying to get these types of changes done through an appeal etc is a long and rigorous process but it sounds like your situation may qualify for a correction.