As mentioned in the previous post about discharge upgrades, service members who received less than honorable discharges related to mental health issues stemming from PTSD can request to have their discharge reviewed for possible upgrade. Not long after I made that post, the Army reached a settlement in a class-action lawsuit regarding this exact situation.
In a lawsuit filed against Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy, a class of veterans argued that the Army should overhaul its process of reviewing discharge upgrade requests and review past denials under more generous guidelines.
The Army agreed to a settlement on 28 Dec 2020 that would achieve that, the Veterans Legal Services Clinic at Yale Law School said.
“Under the agreement, the Army will automatically reconsider certain discharge-status-upgrade decisions made by the Army Discharge Review Board (ADRB) between April 17, 2011, and the effective date of settlement that partially or fully denied relief to Iraq- and Afghanistan-era veterans with less-than-fully-honorable discharges,” the Army statement read. “The settlement also expands reapplication rights for eligible applicants who were discharged and received an adverse ADRB decision between Oct. 7, 2001, and April 16, 2011.”
In many cases, having a less-than-honorable discharge limits veteran access to the very health care and support they need. “Veterans of the Army, including the National Guard and Reserve, who were discharged with less-than-fully-honorable service characterizations while having a diagnosis of, or showed symptoms of [various behavioral health conditions] may be eligible for relief,” the Army statement reads. “Discharge upgrades are not guaranteed and applications will be decided on a case-by-case basis.”
In addition to offering to review the various cases of the veterans defined within the lawsuit’s time period, the ADRB is implementing new training and review protocols for judging discharge reviews for veterans with PTSD, TBI, MST or other behavioral health conditions.
If you’re interested in submitting for a review and potentially getting your discharge upgraded, consider reaching out to your County Veteran Service Officer or other local Veteran Service Officer (such as the American Legion or VFW posts).
