If you left the military with an Other Than Honorable (OTH), Bad Conduct, or General discharge, you may believe the door to VA benefits is permanently closed. It isn't. Federal law provides two formal pathways to change your character of service — and recent policy shifts under the Hagel and Carson Memos have dramatically improved the odds for veterans with PTSD, TBI, MST, and other mental health conditions. This guide explains what a discharge upgrade is, how the two review boards work, what evidence you need, and how to file.
A discharge upgrade is the formal process of changing the character of service recorded on your DD-214 — the document that determines your eligibility for virtually every veterans benefit. The character of service is a legal characterization of how your military service ended, and it gates your access to VA health care, disability compensation, GI Bill education benefits, home loans, and more.
An upgrade does not erase your service record. Your underlying conduct and disciplinary history remain in your military personnel file. What changes is the formal characterization — from OTH or General to Honorable, for example — which opens the door to benefits you earned through years of service.
Importantly, an upgrade is not an automatic or guaranteed process. You must petition a military review board, present evidence, and meet a legal standard. But the process is less adversarial than VA claims adjudication — there are no opposing attorneys — and the right evidence package can be decisive.
As of 2025, the Department of Defense estimates that tens of thousands of veterans are living with less-than-honorable discharges related to PTSD, MST, or other mental health conditions — many of whom have never attempted an upgrade. Policy changes in 2014 and 2017 were specifically designed to help these veterans.
The military issues five types of discharges. Understanding where yours falls determines which benefits are blocked and which review process applies:
A critical distinction: OTH is an administrative separation — it does not come from a military trial. It can be issued for patterns of misconduct, drug use, AWOL, or other reasons that fell short of criminal prosecution. This matters because it means the DRB — the faster, more accessible board — can review it.
Federal law provides two distinct administrative boards that can review and upgrade discharges. Each has its own jurisdiction, powers, and procedures.
Each military branch has its own DRB. These boards review administrative discharges — meaning OTH and General discharges — but cannot review punitive discharges that resulted from courts-martial. The DRB can upgrade your discharge to General or Honorable, change the reason for separation listed on your DD-214, or do both.
Key DRB facts for 2025:
You can request a personal appearance hearing before the DRB, which gives you the opportunity to present your case in person, bring witnesses, and be heard by a panel of officers. Veterans legal advocates often recommend requesting a hearing rather than a records-only review, as it allows you to humanize your service and address the board directly.
The Board for Correction of Military Records (BCMR) — or the Board for Correction of Naval Records (BCNR) for Navy and Marine Corps veterans — has broader authority. These boards can correct any military record when correction is needed to remedy an error or injustice. Unlike the DRB, they can review punitive discharges from courts-martial, including Bad Conduct and Dishonorable Discharges.
Key BCMR/BCNR facts for 2025:
If your discharge is OTH or General and you are still within the 15-year window, start with the DRB — it is generally faster and more veteran-friendly in recent years. If the DRB denies your application, or if your discharge came from courts-martial, proceed to the BCMR/BCNR. You can also apply to both boards simultaneously.
| Factor | Discharge Review Board (DRB) | BCMR / BCNR |
|---|---|---|
| Covers OTH / General | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Covers BCD / Dishonorable | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| Filing deadline | 15 years from discharge | No time limit |
| Hearing option | ✅ Yes (Washington, D.C.) | Rarely |
| Form required | DD Form 293 | DD Form 149 |
| Typical timeline | 12–18 months | 18–24 months |
Both the DRB and BCMR/BCNR apply a legal standard when evaluating your application. To win an upgrade, you must show that your discharge was the result of either an error or an injustice.
Error means the military made a factual or procedural mistake in processing your discharge. Examples include: failing to advise you of your rights during the separation process, conducting the discharge without the required mental health evaluation, or making a factual error in the record.
Injustice is broader and more commonly argued. It means your discharge was inequitable given the full circumstances of your service — even if no specific procedure was violated. A veteran who committed misconduct directly caused by untreated PTSD, for example, may argue their discharge was unjust because the military failed to identify and treat the underlying condition.
The "error or injustice" standard is more forgiving than a court's appellate standard of review. You don't need to prove the board acted illegally — you need to show fairness demands a different outcome. This is why strong supporting evidence makes such a difference.
Two landmark policy directives have dramatically expanded the grounds for discharge upgrades related to mental health:
On September 3, 2014, then-Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel issued a memorandum directing all Discharge Review Boards and Correction Boards to give "liberal consideration" to veterans with PTSD or TBI when those conditions may have contributed to the misconduct that led to the discharge. The memo acknowledged that military review boards had historically failed to account for these conditions — often discharging veterans for behavior that was a symptom of their untreated trauma.
Under the Hagel Memo, a PTSD or TBI diagnosis doesn't need to have existed in your service records. You can receive a diagnosis now, connect it to your service through a mental health professional's statement, and use it to argue that your in-service misconduct was substantially caused by an undiagnosed or untreated condition.
On August 25, 2017, then-Secretary of the Army Robert Speer (acting on behalf of SecDef) expanded the liberal consideration standard to cover all mental health conditions — not just PTSD and TBI. This update, often called the "Carson Memo" after former Army Secretary Eric Fanning's predecessor, extended liberal consideration to:
The Carson Memo was particularly significant for MST survivors, who had been disproportionately discharged under OTH and General characterizations after reporting assaults or exhibiting behavioral changes that were symptoms of trauma.
Under the Hagel and Carson Memos, boards are required to give serious weight to mental health evidence — even if the condition wasn't diagnosed during service. A veteran with a 2025 PTSD diagnosis can use it to upgrade a 2010 OTH discharge if a qualified mental health professional can connect the current diagnosis to in-service stressors and the misconduct that led to separation.
Based on board decisions and legal advocate experience, the following grounds are most frequently cited in successful upgrade applications:
This is the most common and successful ground in post-Hagel/Carson applications. You must show that (a) a qualifying mental health condition existed during your service, (b) it contributed to the conduct that led to your discharge, and (c) the military failed to identify or appropriately respond to the condition. You do not need a contemporaneous diagnosis — a current diagnosis, properly connected by a licensed mental health professional, is sufficient.
Veterans who were sexually assaulted or harassed during service and subsequently exhibited behavioral changes — increased alcohol use, AWOL, insubordination, other misconduct — often have strong grounds for upgrade. The boards are required under the Carson Memo to consider MST as a mitigating factor. Importantly, the same "markers" used in VA MST claims (behavioral changes in service records, medical visits, duty performance issues) can substitute for a formal assault report, which was often never filed.
Each branch has specific regulations governing the administrative separation process. If you were not properly counseled, not offered an opportunity to respond, or not given required legal advice, the procedural error can support an upgrade. This ground works best in combination with substantive grounds like PTSD or MST.
Since 2016, DoD policy requires that servicemembers showing signs of mental health conditions be evaluated before being processed for administrative separation. If you were discharged after 2016 without a mental health evaluation, and evidence in your record suggests you showed symptoms, this is a procedural error that can support an upgrade.
If similarly situated servicemembers received lighter punishments for the same conduct, this disparity can support an injustice argument. This is harder to prove without access to comparative records, but may be documented in investigation files or unit histories.
Deadline: Must be submitted within 15 years of your discharge date. After 15 years, the DRB loses jurisdiction and you must go to the BCMR.
Deadline: Technically no absolute time limit, though applications filed more than 3 years after the error or injustice occurred may be subject to a timeliness challenge. However, boards regularly waive this requirement "in the interest of justice" — particularly for veterans with mental health conditions who were unable to pursue their case earlier.
You can file simultaneously with both boards. There is no rule against it, and some legal advocates recommend filing both applications at the same time if you have a strong case.
→ Use our DD-214 Upgrade Tool to prepare your applicationThe strength of your evidence package is the single most important factor in a discharge upgrade case. Boards receive thousands of applications — well-documented, organized submissions receive more favorable treatment than bare-bones applications. The following evidence categories are most valuable:
A detailed evaluation from a licensed private-sector mental health professional (psychologist, psychiatrist, or licensed clinical social worker) carries significant weight — often more than a VA evaluation, which may be perceived as less independent. The evaluation should include: diagnosis, professional opinion connecting the diagnosis to in-service stressors, and a specific statement that the diagnosed condition was "more likely than not" present during service and contributed to the conduct leading to discharge.
If VA has already service-connected a mental health condition, this is strong corroborating evidence. Submit all relevant VA records, including the rating decision, C&P exam results, and treatment notes. A VA service-connection decision creates a powerful presumption that the condition existed during service.
Write a detailed, honest personal statement describing: the in-service stressors you experienced, the behavioral changes that followed, how your mental health affected your conduct, and what your service meant to you. Boards respond to human stories. This is not a legal brief — be authentic, specific, and honest, including about the misconduct that led to your discharge.
Statements from fellow servicemembers, supervisors, chaplains, or family members who witnessed your behavioral changes during service are extremely valuable. They don't need to know you had PTSD — they need to describe what they saw: changes in mood, substance use, isolation, aggression, sleep disturbance, or other behavioral changes that are consistent with your diagnosis.
Request your complete service records (use SF-180 or milConnect) and review them for: sick call visits, mental health referrals, any medical evaluations, counseling statements that reflect behavioral changes, duty performance evaluations showing a decline, and reports of disciplinary incidents. These contemporaneous records can corroborate your timeline.
Our guided claim tool helps you organize your evidence, identify the right board to file with, and build a stronger application.
Start Your Claim →If the DRB or BCMR grants your upgrade, the results are significant:
After receiving your corrected DD-214, file your VA disability claim as soon as possible. Benefits are not automatically retroactive to your discharge date — the retroactive period runs from when you file the claim, so delay costs money.
→ Connect with accredited veterans legal advocates who handle discharge upgradesYou do not have to wait for a discharge upgrade decision to access some VA services. Federal law provides several exceptions for veterans with OTH discharges:
Do not wait to seek mental health treatment while your discharge upgrade is pending. Access care now, and use your treatment records as evidence in your upgrade application.
→ Start your discharge upgrade application with our guided tool