Army Times
By Jim Tice
Staff writer
December 1, 2014
The secretary of the Army has ordered liberal consideration be given to Vietnam-era soldiers who received downgraded discharges even though they may have been suffering from post-traumatic stress.
(Photo: Sgt. 1st Class James K.F. Dung/Army)
Vietnam-era soldiers who faced punitive discharges because they suffered from post-traumatic stress are to be given liberal consideration to requests for discharge upgrades.
Secretary of the Army John McHugh issued this directive to the Army Review Boards Agency, the service's highest level of administrative review for personnel actions.
McHugh's Nov. 3 directive was prompted by an earlier order from Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel which acknowledged that thousands of soldiers may have been kicked out of service because of behavior problems related to post-traumatic stress.
Upgraded discharges for soldiers who received a less than honorable discharge could lead to the award of previously denied benefits, such as disability pay, separation pay and GI Bill eligibility.
The ARBA is comprised of several boards for considering the claims of soldiers and former soldiers who appeal the filing of unfavorable information in their personnel records.
PTSD was not recognized as a potential behavior altering medical condition until 1980, which means that disability claims and discharge upgrades based on claims of the condition routinely were denied by government agencies, to include the Army review boards.
Hagel's September instruction to the services followed by several months a federal court class action suit filed by a group veterans and the Vietnam Veterans of America that claims the military systematically denied discharge upgrade applications based on claims of PTSD.
The suit estimated that about one-third of the 250,000 other-than-honorable discharges issued to Vietnam era veterans may have been PTSD-related.
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