The Vanishing Honorable Discharge

The Vanishing Honorable Discharge

Once upon a time in America a veteran's "Character of Discharge" was
considered the final word in determining whether or not a vet was
fully employable by any company or eligible for all Veteran
Administration benefits. But, recently, special codes placed on a
veteran’s Certificate of Release from Active Duty (DD-214) are
replacing the Character of Discharge as the sole determinant by some
who decide whether to hire a vet or allow the vet to fully utilize the
VA benefits he or she is legally entitled to. A growing number of
veterans who earn an Honorable (character of) Discharge are finding
that receiving America's highest thanks for serving is often
meaningless to a prospective employer or nullified by a veteran
service officer ignorant of DoD's official DD-214 policy guidelines.

Fifty years ago when Harvey J. enlisted in the Army he was told that
aside from obeying lawful orders his most important military goal was
to obtain an Honorable Discharge. "The type of discharge you get",
Harvey's Drill Sergeant told him, "will follow you everywhere you go
for the rest of your life. Go for an Honorable Discharge and you will
be never be turned down by anybody. But if you get a
less-than-honorable discharge you will be regret it for the rest of
your life."

Years ago those words held serious meaning. Today those words ring
hollow for millions of discharging military personnel who earned their
Honorable Discharge but are forever stigmatized by special codes and
descriptors that have come to replace a veteran's overall Character of
Service. Thousands of new veterans are finding that possessing an
Honorable Discharge is meaningless if they also possess an SPD
(Separation Program Designator) or RE (Re-Entry) code that casts an
uncomplimentary reflection on their overall military conduct, or the
military's decision to accept them back should they later desire to
return to military service.

SPD, SPN (Separation Program Number) and RE codes are issued to all
discharging military personnel. These codes are placed on the DD-214
form and provide any who see the DD-214 a summary and characterization
of the veteran's military service. These codes are intended solely for
use by military recruiters for re-enlistment review and the Department
of Defense for statistical analysis. However, an increasing number of
employers, Veterans Administration service officers, law enforcement
agencies and prospective mates are using these codes to base decisions
on employment, veteran benefit eligibility, criminal behavior modeling
and marital compatibility.

Shortly after the Vietnam War when thousands of military personnel
faced post-war, DoD drawdowns, negative SPN and SPD codes were handed
out like speeding tickets at the Indy 500. Because private employers
were discovered to be using these codes to deny employment during the
so-called “nutty Vietnam veteran scare”, regardless of the veteran's
"Character of Discharge" being Honorable, The Ford and subsequent
Carter Administrations ordered DoD to reduce its use of SPN/SPD codes
and directed VA to assist veterans in obtaining a new DD-214 that did
not list the codes. For a very brief time SPD and SPN codes
disappeared from military use. But as America’s all-volunteer military
kicked-in full steam, DoD found it necessary to provide additional
reference data for military recruiters to help identify and screen-out
individuals who performed less than model service in one branch then
attempted to re-enlist in another branch. Hence, SPD codes were
restored with a vengeance. The use and abuse of SPD codes have risen
steadily since and have produced more chaos and pain in the lives of
innocent veterans that make their post-Vietnam use relatively innocent
in comparison.

To compromise with the former policy of removing the SPN, SPD and RE
code from the DD-214, DoD created a new policy of issuing discharged
veterans two copies of their DD-214. One of the copies (Copy 1) does
not contain any codes. The second copy (Copy 4) contains not only the
SPD code but a clear text definition of the SPD code called the
Narrative Reason Of Separation, or NROS, which was never used on
previous DD-214's.
(Lists of SPD and SPN codes during the 1970’s and 1980’s were
supposedly unavailable from official sources yet hundreds of
unauthorized persons and private businesses were finding copies of the
lists easily obtainable).

But, now comes the Catch-22. As a means of ensuring that all personnel
receive Copy 4 which contains an SPD code and NROS definition, DoD
also places the veteran's Character of Discharge (Honorable, General,
etc.,) on Copy 4, but not on Copy 1. In short, a veteran is not issued
a DD-214 that shows he or she received an Honorable Discharge unless
they 'request' a DD-214 that might also list negative information
assigned by a non-commissioned officer or arbitrarily decided by a
mid-level civilian clerk conducting the veteran’s discharge
'out-processing'.

Here are two examples of veterans who received Honorable Discharges
but feel wrongfully harmed by their SPD code and NROS:

JOE M.

During Basic Training Joe injured his back while performing a
rope-climbing exercise. To help Joe through the first days following
his injury a military MD at the Post Hospital prescribed a
morphine-based pain suppressant. Shortly after being taken off the
medication Joe’s platoon underwent a routine, unannounced drug test.
Expectedly, Joe’s test came back as positive. But despite a detailed
report and passionate defense from his attending physician that Joe's
pain medication accounted for the positive test result and was nothing
more than the by-product of a residual, unassimilated legal
medication, Joe was unable to remove the derogatory test data from his
military file. Three years later, the civilian clerk processing Joe's
discharge paperwork noted the test result and despite acknowledging
that Joe had been awarded the Good Conduct, Bronze Star and National
Defense Service Medals, she assigned Joe the Department of Defense SPD
code for drug use and the "Misconduct, Drug Abuse" NROS. Joe now
worries daily because his DD-214 gives the appearance that he was, or
remains, a chronic, illegal drug user.

JANE B.

Jane had served three and one half years of her four year enlistment
prior to meeting her future husband. Her total service went without a
single blemish on her exemplary record. She received back-to-back high
performance evaluations from each of her Commanding Officers. Several
weeks before her discharge Jane became pregnant but did not consider
it necessary, nor was it required, to file an official medical
condition report because the baby's birth was scheduled many months
after her discharge date. However, when making the required visit to a
re-enlistment officer prior to discharging, Jane gave her pregnancy
and upcoming marriage as reasons for not re-enlisting. A few weeks
later while going though normal out-processing Jane was assigned an
SPD code and NROS for “pregnancy” rather than “normal expiration of
service” due to the fulfillment of her enlistment contract. Jane and
her husband of five years now suffer from anxiety that members of
their church or future employers may attribute these military-issued
designators to lacking moral judgment or character.

To further ensure that a veteran is forced to obtain Copy Number 4 (of
the 8-copy) DD-214 which lists the SPD code and NROS description, the
vet is directed to officially request this copy, signature required.
At the same time, military and civilian clerks issuing Copy 4
sometimes translate the 'request' option applying to Copy 4 to mean
that Copy 1 should not be provided to the veteran because no “request”
requirement for Copy 1 appears mandated. Consequently, thousands of
veterans who are entitled to receive Copy 1 automatically must later
apply to the National Records and Personnel Center for it. But, again,
Copy 1 provides no real substance for the veteran seeking employment
or VA benefits because Copy 1 does not list the veteran’s Character of
Discharge.

REMEDY

What is needed to protect the veteran's employment future and VA
benefit eligibility is a total reconstruction of the DD-214 that will
provide issuance of a Copy 1 that clearly displays Character of
Discharge but does not list SPD or RE codes, which can remain on Copy
4 and continue to be issued on a formal 'request' basis. Additionally,
a new federal law or Executive Order, which hold greater weight than a
DoD policy statement, should be enacted that unmistakably prohibits
all non-DoD persons/agencies from requesting Copy 4 from a veteran.

Honorable or Under Honorable Conditions service in the United States
military should be restored to its historic classification without
qualification under dozens of often negative subcategories. A veteran
who has served Honorably should not be made to suffer loss of
employment or rejection of VA benefits simply because although he or
she served honorably and received an Honorable Discharge, an incident
or misinterpretation during their service leaves them permanently
tainted with a cloud of criminal conduct or absence of moral integrity
hanging over their heads.

A copy of the Department of Defense official DD-214 policy can be
found at URL:

http://member.aol.com/warlibrary/policy.htm

Permission to publish/re-distribute freely granted.