Posted on 12/25/2015 8:34:53 AM PST by redreno
ST. LOUIS (AP) No medical or mental health care. No subsidized college or work training. For many who leave the U.S. military with less-than-honorable discharges, including thousands who suffered injuries and anguish in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, standard veterans benefits are off limits.
The discharge serves as a scarlet letter of dishonor, and the effects can be severe: Ex-military members with mental health problems or post-traumatic stress disorder can't turn to Veterans Affairs hospitals or clinics; those who want to go to college aren't eligible for the GI Bill; the jobless get no assistance for career training; the homeless are excluded from vouchers.
"It's an indelible mark of their service that follows them for the rest of their lives into the workforce, through background checks, social relationships, and it precludes them from getting the kind of support that most veterans enjoy," said Phil Carter, an Iraq War vet and senior fellow at the Center for A New American Security.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
So, you can get into the military and demonstrate Dorkbama or Clinton level incompetency and properly get kicked out on their Obamaholes, and they deserve benefits?
Heck, we’ll see what happens to liberal benefits after Revolution II.
>>What about those that were active duty during Bush’s term? And stayed in. Those also are at risk under the new PC military. We’ve already seen ranking officers fired for not going along with the program . . . one major at least for refusing to recognize zero’s authority.
They chose to reenlist. Principles have costs. You choose to either pay the cost or to abandon the principle. They made their choice because the military is not tolerant of those who make a stand against authority.
So it was up to you to cull the army?
Yeah, I saw A Few Good Men, too. Great movie.
There is a means to appeal a discharge.
Precisely. I would be willing to bet however that many of these guys should never have been put in the service to begin with. Too many waivers to meet the demands of the force. This is the price you pay for a recruited force. The Romney, Trump & Sununu boys don’t want to serve, so we send gals and CAT IV’s. Oh for the days when virtually every able bodied VMI, Citadel & Norwich graduate performed some type of military service. Now in all three cases the numbers are well below 30%.
Obviously, there is only one answer to this problem: Elect Donald J Trump President of the United States of America!
It’s up to all good NCO’s to cull the dead weight. I was doing it long before that movie came out.
I understand your sentiments. A person takes a risk to serve his country, even to the loss of his life in service. With some military service is ingrained due to generations of family members that went before - so does he shirk his duty for fear of the communist dictator CinC or does he uphold his forefathers?
On the other hand, if men decide not to enlist and hopefully wait out the tyrant’s term - does that not require a draft - which will force men to serve? I rather doubt that this president will honor any so-called conscientious objection due to personal faith.
Despite your reasoning, I see this as a damned it you do, damned if you don’t scenario.
What pisses me off is the dumb bunny who wrote this article did not even do his home work or flashed over that part to attack the military (likely the latter) . People who get a less-than-honorable discharge can petition to raise their status to a general discharge if they live a clean life (no legal trouble) within a few years of being separated. It does suck that they cannot get or get limited VA health benefits but they can redeem their lives and if approved for the GD the military will honor their commitment.
“I served 22 years in the Army Reserve honorable all the way. Yet I get no benefits, no disability, and no retirement”
Thnk you for your service. For sure you can get care at a VA. It isn’t always the greatest but 97% of the people who work there do genuinely care.
And if you served active duty status and have a disability you think is linked to the active duty service you can ask for a hearing.
I believe each state has a Veteran’s Benefit Commission which can help you.
The knowledge of what a bad conduct discharge would cost me was a powerful motivator for this young, stupid, arrogant GI to do as he was told.
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Same here. In 4 years active and 2 or 3 inactive, I never knew anyone who received a less than honorable discharge. It was very rare because everyone knew even way back then, that such a discharge would effectively ruin the rest of your life.
This is not a new thing, it has always been so. Liberals want to change it because liberals are not honorable.
We called it the “Big Chicken Dinner.”
Good point.
Normally, general under honorable conditions or just a general are not damaging. If you dig into them a bit and find they are entry level discharges for medical or enlistment in error, no harm no foul when it comes to hiring in most places
No one is eligible for benefits if they serve under 180 days.
If it’s a general under other than honorable, sorry buddy, there was negative behavior that that person chose to engage in. If BCD/Dishonorable-there was a court martial involved in that decision. Due process has been served.
Mental health issues or PTSD do not excuse people from making basic decisions concerning right and wrong. This BS.
Military benefits (or lack thereof) are dependent on the branch and when you served. For example, if you were AF enlisted and served from ‘83-’90 or so, you got nothing other than the VA loan guarantee.
And even for for that, the second time you use it, they charge you 3% of the loan amount.
Other than that, no VA health, medical dental, nothing, bupkis. No college help. Doesn’t matter what your medals were or that you had an honorable discharge. Nothing, period. You can’t even get the supposed famous “VA card” that places like Lowe’s want to see to give you the vet discount. You qualify for nothing, period, end of story.
Congress screws with benefits all the time, and count on vets to be so broke and powerless that they can’t organize anything to make a change.
Whiners whining about no benefits for other than honorable can kiss my hairy ass. Welcome to the no military benefits club.
“For many who leave the U.S. military with less-than-honorable discharges...”
Sounds fair to me. No reason for them to get the same bennies as their better who completed their service Honorably. This isn’t elementary school where everybody gets certificates for particpating.
This isn’t news, Other than Honorable Discharges have always resulted in denial of benefits.
However, the only one that is a total bar to VA benefits is the Dishonorable Discharge, that one requires it to be overturned by an act of Congress. The VA can make the Undesirable Discharge, and Bad Conduct Discharge, Honorable for VA Purposes, and grant benefits, if it is concluded that the bad discharge really wasn’t warranted. All it takes is a Administrative Decision. I saw a lot of bad discharges, legitimately given, overturned by very liberal Authorizers at the VA.
Serving dishonorably has it’s consequences. Are they trying to set up sympathy for Obama’s favorite little deserter?
Not him specifically, but for a whole class of miscreants to whom Obama will grant honorable just before he leaves office.
Not valid? Not legal? No authority to do that? Who is going to stop him?
Ask how heroes like Dan Quinn and Charles Martland "earned" their less-than-honorables.
U.S. military accused of telling soldiers to overlook Afghan abuse of boys
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