Can the VA downgrade an honorable discharge years later?

SGT Eric Knutson — Tue, 05 Sep 2017 15:39:31 -0400

I met a fellow vet who had an honorable on discharge but then got a letter several years latter saying that he got downgraded to a dishonor.

I am wondering if anyone else has heard of this happening. Marine has showed me his 214 and it says honorable, but they sent him a letter saying that now he was dishonorable, several years later (but not a new 214) and the VA has stopped his PTSD treatment. Seems like a good man struggling to keep his family afloat, and I want to help him here. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 5 at 2017 3:48 PM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 05 Sep 2017 15:48:34 -0400

Yea, that doesn't sound kooky at all

Response by SSG Carlos Madden made Sep 5 at 2017 3:48 PM

SSG Carlos Madden — Tue, 05 Sep 2017 15:48:57 -0400

Is there a specific question you're asking?

Response by SGT Eric Knutson made Sep 5 at 2017 3:49 PM

SGT Eric Knutson — Tue, 05 Sep 2017 15:49:57 -0400

With only 140 characters it is hard to actually ask this question. I am wondering if anyone else has heard of this happening. Marine has showed me his 214 and it says honorable, but they sent him a letter saying that now he was dishonorable, several years later (but not a new 214) and the VA has stopped his PTSD treatment. Seems like a good man struggling to keep his family afloat, and I want to help him here. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Response by LTC Kevin B. made Sep 5 at 2017 3:54 PM

LTC Kevin B. — Tue, 05 Sep 2017 15:54:11 -0400

Are you asking this:

"Can an honorable discharge be downgraded to dishonorable several years later?"

Response by PO1 William "Chip" Nagel made Sep 5 at 2017 4:02 PM

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel — Tue, 05 Sep 2017 16:02:51 -0400

SGT Eric Knutson I May Be Way Off but, A Possibility, I Got a New DD214 when I reenlisted at least twice I remember. Did he Get an Honorable on His First Enlistment and Screw Up After his Reenlistment. That Would be the Only Way I Know Off for that to be Possible.

Response by SFC Andrew Miller made Sep 5 at 2017 4:17 PM

SFC Andrew Miller — Tue, 05 Sep 2017 16:17:30 -0400

The VA can't downgrade any discharge. They can only say that a discharge is Honorable for VA purposes. Upon separation veterans are no longer subject to UCMJ and even when someone applies for an upgrade to their discharge the review board can't change it to something worse even if evidence supports that. If it were criminal in nature, they could face charges in a federal civilian court or a retiree could be called back to be tried by courts martial and then downgraded.

Any change in characterization of service comes from the branch of service and it will be on a DD215, not a letter. In theory, if there is a clerical error and a service member was supposed to receive an OTH, LTH, or BCD that could be amended, but it isn't truly changing the character of service. It is only correcting the clerical error.

If a veteran received any discharge other than Dishonorable, the VA can make a determination that the service is honorable for VA purposes, and could rescind that. I've never seen that happen.

I would also question "who" sent the letter.

Response by CPT Andrew Wright made Sep 5 at 2017 5:10 PM

CPT Andrew Wright — Tue, 05 Sep 2017 17:10:53 -0400

I am willing to bet the individual has additional active duty after the DD214 he is showing and you are not seeing the bad paper. I have nine DD214s for different periods of service (fortunately they all are honorable). On some occasions the military will modify, downgrade, or even upgrade discharges but this is done by the military not the VA.

Response by Jessica Luebke made Sep 5 at 2017 9:10 PM

Jessica Luebke — Tue, 05 Sep 2017 21:10:11 -0400

Never heard of this! Do you know the reason behind "dishonorable"? What an unfortunate turn of events.

Response by SGM Erik Marquez made Sep 6 at 2017 5:02 PM

SGM Erik Marquez — Wed, 06 Sep 2017 17:02:23 -0400

Im going to say the person your referencing is mistaken or intentionally being misleading.
The Department of VA has no process or authority to change a discharge.
The Army does have a process to correct a record (say an erroneously marked DD214, that was marked General under dishonorable, but should have been General under honorable) or upgrade a discharge from General to say Honorable.
I don't believe a Discharge review board can downgrade a discharge after the case is made and reviewed. .. BUT, and erroneous discharge document could be corrected , and then now reflects a lower discharge then what was originally on file. That is not a downgrade though, just a correction of the record.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 27 at 2017 1:08 PM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 27 Oct 2017 13:08:56 -0400

Were I to make a guess, I see two possibilities:
1. This veteran goes back far enough in service to where they issued a DD 214 after each term of enlistment. He may have qualified for benefits utilizing an older 214, then VA discovers the existence of another with a lower characterization of service. This could apply to a Reserve or Guard Soldier called to service multiple times, such as during recent events. I actually see this fairly often.
2. The veteran was chaptered out or barred to reenlistment in lieu of court marshal and given an OTH after the fact on a DD 215. This is rarer, but also not uncommon.

Depending on the circumstances, he might qualify for continued treatment, but have his compensation payment stopped. Or he could wind up with neither if the characterization is bad enough.

Response by SSG Edward Tilton made Oct 27 at 2017 5:03 PM

SSG Edward Tilton — Fri, 27 Oct 2017 17:03:18 -0400

He needs to appeal the VA ruling. Make them produce the evidence used

Response by SrA Brian Tse made Jun 25 at 2018 1:38 AM

SrA Brian Tse — Mon, 25 Jun 2018 01:38:26 -0400

I work for the VA in Compensation and Pension. We cannot change the character of discharge for military service. It's up to the veteran to submit a DD Form 149 to petition a military board for an upgrade. What we CAN do is consider a veteran "Honorable for VA Purposes" for Other Than Honorable discharges. We'd have to see that the veteran did not show WILLFUL and PERSISTENT misconduct to get kicked out. We usually grant "Honorable for VA Purposes" if it turns out the veteran was kicked out for ONLY one failed drug test or some some one time minor offense and an otherwise honorable service. We always treat General (Under Honorable Conditions) as a Honorable.

Response by SGM Bill Frazer made Jun 25 at 2018 5:47 PM

SGM Bill Frazer — Mon, 25 Jun 2018 17:47:56 -0400

How the hell can they do that? The VA is not responsible nor in charge of the discharges- the CO/unit is responsible for that- the VA only determines disability rating and treatments based on that disability.

Response by PFC James Copper made Jun 12 at 2022 3:08 PM

PFC James Copper — Sun, 12 Jun 2022 15:08:04 -0400

I used my cousins birth certificate 35 years ago to enter army I never got caught my honorable is under his name.why did they not catch me.