[no_toc]The truth is that many people with “bad paper” might be able to receive most Veterans Affairs benefits, even without a discharge upgrade. The VA is allowed to grant eligibility to most people in this situation, for all benefits except the GI Bill. This happens if the VA looks at your overall service and decides that it wasn’t “under dishonorable conditions.” This is called a Character of Discharge review. This doesn’t change your discharge (it won’t change what is written on your DD 214), it just changes how the VA treats you. But most people don’t ever receive a Character of Discharge review because they don’t ask the right way.
We typically advise people to apply for a discharge upgrade through the Department of Defense and to ask the Veterans Affairs to do a Character of Discharge review. Continue Reading …
https://www.swords-to-plowshares.org/guides/va-character-of-service-determination-an-alternative-to-discharge-review/
VA has its own set of rules when it comes to determining whether a veteran’s discharge status qualifies the veteran for benefits. Today we are going to discuss the process that the VA uses to determine whether a discharge was “under conditions other than dishonorable” for VA purposes. The VA must conduct a formal character of discharge determination if a claimant was discharged under conditions other than honorable, undesirable, or bad conduct. The character of discharge determination is a review of all the circumstances surrounding the person’s discharge, and the VA will also determine if a statutory or regulatory bar to VA benefits exists. As discussed in a prior post, if there is not statutory or regulatory bar to benefits, the person will qualify as a veteran because the Veterans Affairs will categorize the discharge as conditions other than dishonorable. Continue Reading …
https://www.hillandponton.com/va-character-of-discharge-determination/
VA’s information which can be found here …
Applying for Benefits and Your Character of Discharge
Generally, in order to receive VA benefits and services, the Veteran’s character of discharge or service must be under other than dishonorable conditions (e.g., honorable, under honorable conditions, general). However, individuals receiving undesirable, bad conduct, and other types of dishonorable discharges may qualify for VA benefits depending on a determination made by VA.
Read the factsheet on claims for benefits involving other-than-honorable discharges.
Correcting Military Records
Each of the military services maintain a discharge review board with authority to change,
correct or modify discharges or dismissals not issued by a sentence of a general court-martial.
Read more about correcting or changing your service discharge.
Specific Benefit Program Character of Discharge Requirements
Discharge Requirements for Compensation Benefits
To receive VA compensation benefits and services, the Veteran’s character of discharge or service must be under other than dishonorable conditions (e.g., honorable, under honorable conditions, general).
Discharge Requirements for Pension Benefits
To receive VA pension benefits and services, the Veteran’s character of discharge or service must be under other than dishonorable conditions (e.g., honorable, under honorable conditions, general).
Discharge Requirements for Education Benefits
To receive VA education benefits and services through the Montgomery GI Bill program or Post-9/11 GI Bill program, the Veteran’s character of discharge or service must be honorable.
To receive VA education benefits and services through any other VA educational benefits program, including the Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance (DEA) program, the Veteran’s character of discharge or service must be under other than dishonorable conditions (e.g., honorable, under honorable conditions, general).
Discharge Requirements for Home Loan Benefits
To receive VA home loan benefits and services, the Veteran’s character of discharge or service must be under other than dishonorable conditions (e.g., honorable, under honorable conditions, general).
Discharge Requirements for Insurance Benefits
Generally, there is no character of discharge bar to benefits to Veterans’ Group Life Insurance. However, for Service Disabled Veterans Insurance and Veterans’ Mortgage Life Insurance benefits, the Veteran’s character of discharge must be other than dishonorable.
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