Is it possible to change my discharge from honorable to medical... anyone know?

Military Law Discussions
1

Hey, I’m in a tough spot. I got discharged from the Navy back in 1973 due to debilitating feet problems, but I didn’t get a medical discharge. It was just a bare honorable, and I really need it changed for obvious reasons. I tried reaching out to a law firm years ago but didn’t get any responses. Any idea if it’s even possible to get it changed now or if I can do anything about it?

2

Unfortunately, it’s gonna be tough to change that discharge to a medical one after all these years. From what I know, the military would’ve had to go through a medical evaluation board to issue a medical discharge, and since so much time has passed, that process can’t really happen now.

3

@Merlin
Wow, didn’t know that. Guess it’s a no-go then. Thanks for explaining.

4

Yeah, I don’t think you can change it after so many years. But I think you still have options for getting benefits from the VA. They can help you with that, even if your discharge wasn’t medical.

5

Vance said:
Yeah, I don’t think you can change it after so many years. But I think you still have options for getting benefits from the VA. They can help you with that, even if your discharge wasn’t medical.

I had no idea about that. I’ll definitely look into it. Thanks for the tip!

6

That sucks, but you’re definitely eligible for VA benefits with your service. It might not be the discharge change you were hoping for, but the VA should still be able to help with medical or disability benefits.

7

@Haze
Good to know. I’ll reach out to them and see what I can qualify for.

8

I think you’re out of luck for changing the discharge status after all these years. But like others have said, the VA benefits are still on the table for you, so make sure you look into that.

9

Zephyr said:
I think you’re out of luck for changing the discharge status after all these years. But like others have said, the VA benefits are still on the table for you, so make sure you look into that.

Thanks for the reassurance. At least I can still get something out of this.

10

I’m sorry to hear about your situation. I believe the process for changing discharges is very limited after so many years. But the good news is you should be able to get VA benefits. That’s definitely something worth exploring.

11

@Ren
I appreciate the support. I’ll definitely get in touch with the VA. Thanks for the help!