For decades, veterans who were discharged due to behavior caused by untreated PTSD or military sexual trauma had no meaningful recourse. Their misconduct was documented; the underlying mental health crisis was not. Two landmark policy directives changed everything. The Hagel Memo (2014) and Carson Memo (2017) require military discharge review boards to give "liberal consideration" to mental health conditions as a mitigating factor — including conditions that were never diagnosed during service. If your discharge was driven by PTSD, MST, depression, TBI, or substance use connected to mental health, you may have grounds for an upgrade that didn't exist ten years ago.
Before 2014, the military's discharge review system evaluated misconduct at face value. A veteran who went AWOL was evaluated on whether they went AWOL — not on why. A veteran discharged for drug or alcohol violations was evaluated on the violation — not on whether the substance use was a veteran self-medicating for undiagnosed combat trauma. A survivor of military sexual assault who exhibited behavioral changes was evaluated on the behavior — not on what caused it.
The consequences were severe and often permanent. Veterans who received Other Than Honorable (OTH) or General discharges for behavior driven by untreated mental health conditions lost access to VA health care, disability compensation, GI Bill benefits, and home loans. The military essentially punished servicemembers twice for conditions the military itself created — or failed to treat.
By 2014, the problem was well-documented. Research showed that veterans with PTSD were disproportionately represented in the population receiving less-than-honorable discharges. Veterans advocacy organizations had built extensive records of servicemembers discharged for behavior that was a direct symptom of service-connected mental health conditions. The Department of Defense was forced to acknowledge the systemic failure and respond.
A 2017 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report found that between fiscal years 2011 and 2015, approximately 92,000 veterans with less-than-honorable discharges were potentially ineligible for VA health care. Many of those discharges were connected to mental health conditions or MST. The Hagel and Carson Memos were designed to address this population.
On September 3, 2014, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel issued a memorandum titled "Supplemental Guidance to Military Boards for Correction of Military/Naval Records Considering Discharge Upgrade Requests by Veterans Claiming Post Traumatic Stress Disorder." The memo directed all Discharge Review Boards (DRBs) and Boards for Correction of Military Records (BCMRs/BCNR) to apply new standards when evaluating upgrade requests from veterans with PTSD or TBI.
The core directive of the Hagel Memo:
Boards must give "liberal consideration" to PTSD and TBI diagnoses when evaluating whether those conditions contributed to the misconduct that led to discharge. The veteran does not need to have been diagnosed during service. A current, properly supported diagnosis is sufficient to trigger this standard — if a qualified mental health professional can credibly connect it to the service-era stressor and the misconduct that followed.
The memo also addressed the specific challenge of personality disorder discharges — a category that had been widely misused to discharge veterans who were actually experiencing PTSD. Before the Hagel Memo, servicemembers were sometimes given personality disorder characterizations that (a) blocked VA benefits and (b) relieved the military of responsibility for the condition. The memo directed boards to carefully scrutinize personality disorder discharges when PTSD was potentially involved.
Key provisions of the Hagel Memo:
On August 25, 2017, acting on behalf of Secretary of Defense James Mattis, the Army Secretariat issued a memorandum expanding the liberal consideration standard to cover all mental health conditions — not just PTSD and TBI. This directive is commonly referred to as the "Carson Memo" in the veterans legal community, though it was formally issued by Secretary Fanning's office in the Army Secretariat.
The Carson Memo expanded the Hagel framework to include:
The Carson Memo's most significant expansion was its treatment of substance use disorders. Veterans who had been discharged for drug or alcohol violations had historically faced an uphill battle — substance use was treated as a character failure rather than a symptom. The Carson Memo directed boards to consider whether the substance use was a response to untreated mental health trauma, and if so, to apply liberal consideration.
Similarly, veterans discharged for personality disorders received additional protection under the Carson Memo. The memo specifically noted that personality disorder diagnoses in the context of service-connected trauma should be reviewed with particular scrutiny.
"Liberal consideration" is a legal standard of review — and it's more veteran-favorable than the prior standard in several concrete ways:
Under the prior standard, ambiguous evidence was interpreted against the veteran. Liberal consideration reverses this: when evidence is in "approximate balance" — meaning neither clearly supporting nor clearly refuting the connection between the mental health condition and the misconduct — the board must resolve the ambiguity in favor of the veteran. This is similar to the benefit-of-the-doubt standard that applies in VA disability claims.
Before the Hagel Memo, veterans were often told they needed to show their PTSD was documented in their service medical records. Under liberal consideration, a current diagnosis from a qualified mental health professional is sufficient — as long as the professional can credibly connect the diagnosis to service-era events and explain how the condition contributed to the veteran's in-service misconduct.
The standard requires that the mental health condition "contributed to" the misconduct — not that it was the sole cause, or even the primary cause. A veteran who committed misconduct for multiple reasons, one of which was untreated PTSD, may still qualify. The condition needs to be a real contributing factor, but it doesn't have to have been the only factor.
Under both memos, boards that deny upgrade applications citing mental health evidence must explain their reasoning in writing. This creates a record for appeal and makes it harder for boards to summarily dismiss mental health evidence without engagement.
Liberal consideration is not automatic approval. Boards still evaluate the totality of the service record, the nature and severity of the misconduct, and the strength of the mental health evidence. Veterans with serious and ongoing misconduct patterns — particularly those that persisted despite mental health intervention — may face harder arguments. The stronger and more specific your evidence, the better.
The single most important element of a PTSD/MST upgrade application is establishing nexus — the connection between your mental health condition and the misconduct that led to your discharge. This is where most upgrade applications succeed or fail.
The nexus argument has three parts:
A mental health professional's nexus statement should explicitly address all three elements. A generic diagnosis letter is not sufficient. The evaluating professional should review your service records, your personal statement, and buddy statements before writing their opinion — and their letter should specifically address the misconduct, the diagnosis, and the causal connection.
A well-constructed evidence package dramatically improves your odds. Here is the optimal evidence stack for a PTSD-based upgrade:
Commission a full psychiatric or psychological evaluation from a licensed private-sector provider — psychologist, psychiatrist, or licensed clinical social worker with discharge upgrade experience. A private evaluation typically carries more weight than a VA evaluation because it is perceived as independent. The evaluation should include:
If VA has service-connected a mental health condition, this is powerful corroborating evidence. Submit all relevant VA records: the rating decision, C&P exam results, treatment notes, and any VA clinical assessments. A VA service-connection decision effectively pre-establishes that the condition is connected to service — the board cannot simply ignore it.
Your own statement is a required and crucial element. Write chronologically: describe your service, the in-service stressor that caused your PTSD, the behavioral changes that followed, how your mental health affected your conduct, and what the discharge has cost you. Be specific about dates, units, and incidents. Be honest about the misconduct — boards expect you to acknowledge it; they want to see that you understand the connection between your mental health and your behavior. Aim for 3-6 pages.
Statements from fellow servicemembers, non-commissioned officers, chaplains, or family members who knew you during service carry significant weight. Ask them to describe, in their own words, the behavioral changes they observed — not to make legal arguments, but to describe what they saw and heard. Useful observations include: changes in mood or personality, increased alcohol consumption, sleep disturbances, isolation, aggression, erratic behavior, or expressions of distress. These observations corroborate the timeline of your mental health deterioration.
Pull your complete service records via SF-180 or milConnect. Review for: sick call visits for sleep, anxiety, or physical symptoms of stress; any mental health referrals or counseling; medical records mentioning behavioral changes; counseling statements reflecting declining performance; duty performance evaluations showing a decline around the time of the stressor; and any administrative actions that correlate with the onset of mental health symptoms.
Our guided tool walks you through gathering the right evidence, drafting your personal statement, and selecting the correct board to file with.
Start Your Claim →Military Sexual Trauma cases have some unique considerations that make them both more challenging and, with the right approach, more amenable to upgrade.
MST survivors rarely reported assaults during service. In fact, the process of reporting often resulted in retaliation, second victimization, and — in some cases — the survivor being the one discharged. When official assault reports don't exist, it doesn't mean the assault didn't happen. The boards, like VA adjudicators, can accept circumstantial evidence known as "MST markers."
The same evidence framework used in VA MST compensation claims applies here. Markers that can corroborate an MST claim without a formal report include:
The nexus for MST upgrades follows a specific pattern that boards are now trained to recognize: assault → trauma response → behavioral changes → discharge for the behavioral changes. Your personal statement and mental health evaluation should explicitly trace this chain. The Carson Memo specifically requires boards to consider MST as a mitigating factor and to apply liberal consideration when MST-related diagnoses (PTSD-MST, depression, anxiety) are presented.
Veterans who were discharged after reporting an MST assault — whether through formal channels or informally — may have particularly strong procedural arguments as well, given DoD's longstanding failures in responding to assault reports appropriately.
→ Connect with advocates who specialize in MST-related discharge upgradesDischarge upgrade success rates have historically varied widely. Prior to the Hagel and Carson Memos, upgrade success rates were low — often below 30% across all grounds. Since the memos, success rates for PTSD and mental health-based applications have improved significantly.
Based on available data from advocacy organizations and DoD reporting, well-documented PTSD and mental health upgrade applications succeed at rates estimated between 50–70% when:
Applications that rely solely on a bare PTSD diagnosis without an explicit nexus opinion, or that fail to connect the specific diagnosis to the specific misconduct, succeed at significantly lower rates. The investment in a thorough private mental health evaluation pays off in outcomes.
Success rates also vary by board and branch. The Army DRB has historically been more receptive to mental health-based applications than some other branches. The BCMR for Navy/Marine Corps (BCNR) has a stronger record on MST cases in recent years. Knowing which board to approach and how to frame your application matters.
Plan for a 12–24 month process from application to decision. The DRB is typically faster (12–18 months); the BCMR can take 18–24 months or longer. Building your evidence package — including the private mental health evaluation — typically takes 2–4 months before you file. Do not rush the evidence package to speed up the timeline; a well-prepared application that takes 3 months to assemble will almost always outperform a hasty application filed in 3 weeks.
The correct board depends on your discharge type and how much time has passed since separation:
If you're unsure which board applies to your situation, consult a VA-accredited attorney, a VSO, or a discharge upgrade legal clinic before filing. Filing with the wrong board wastes time and may not preserve your rights.
→ Use our DD-214 Upgrade Tool to determine which board applies to your caseIf your upgrade is granted, the practical and financial implications can be substantial:
Upon receiving your corrected DD-214 reflecting an upgraded character of service, you are immediately eligible to file VA disability claims, access VA health care, apply for GI Bill benefits, and apply for VA home loans. File your claims as soon as your corrected DD-214 is issued — do not wait.
VA disability compensation is generally paid from the date you file your claim — not from your discharge date. However, in cases where your upgrade was significantly delayed due to circumstances beyond your control, you may be able to argue for an earlier effective date. This is a complex area of law that requires an accredited attorney.
For veterans who have been receiving limited VA mental health care under OTH exceptions (see our guide to OTH benefits), upgrade opens the door to the full range of services including disability compensation — which can be substantial depending on the nature and severity of your conditions.
GI Bill benefits that were inaccessible under OTH or General discharges may become available after an upgrade to Honorable or General. Note that GI Bill benefits have a 10-year use-by clock that runs from discharge date. If significant time has passed, check with VA on remaining eligibility.
In addition to the character of service upgrade, you can request that the reason for separation be changed on your DD-214. If you were discharged under a personality disorder characterization that should have been PTSD, or for a reason that is no longer accurate given your mental health diagnosis, the boards can correct this as well. A changed reason for separation can affect employment records, federal hiring eligibility, and other downstream consequences.