What constitutes being a Vet? I'm just tired of not knowing for sure whether I am. Please advise.

Thank you SGT Vermier.

SGT Vernier - anything General under honorable and up is a vet for benefits. Realistically, even if an OTH, BCD or DD, they're still a vet, because they probably had some honorable service period before the downfall.

There are distinctions for benefits and other purposes as well.

It all comes down to what the goal of the question is.

Actually you don't you only have to serve on active duty for a period of 24HR outside of drills and school

Personally, I don't care what conditions one was discharged under, I care only how someone served. I know a few guys with a "Dirty Deed" or "Big Chicken Dinner" that came after some honorable, even heroic service - in a couple cases the discharge type was directly caused by the consequences of that service. (a VSM, VCM, CAR, Purple Heart and a BCD tells me a lot about a veteran I'm going to probably respect).

I appreciate your saying that. I was offered any job I wanted in the army but I chose infantry with ranger option because I wanted be there for the people on the front lines. I got hurt in basic and they sent me home. Now I am about to reenlist in the navy.

I met a ranger veteran who served 2 different wars that said he was proud to shake my hand because I volunteered and he was drafted. My family on the other hand says I didn't do anything and it doesn't count. Whenever they see anything military, they sneer at me, even though no one else in my family has any military/government experience in any capacity

PFC (Join to see) - I hope that you made it into the Navy. And I hope that you can make a career of it. When anyone in your family sneers at you just ask them how many times they volunteered for service. It's up to you whether to ask them, "Were you too lazy, or too cowardly?"

Thank you SSG Mann