Discharge Upgrade

Individuals who left the military with a discharge that’s less than fully honorable retain the right to upgrade that discharge even years later through their own military department’s Discharge Review Board or through their military department’s Board for Correction of Military/Naval Records.

The department encourages all service members who believe they have suffered an error or injustice to request relief from their military department review boards.

There are many reasons a discharge characterization might warrant an upgrade. For example, an event that led to an other-than-honorable discharge characterization may have been driven, in part, by the presence of a traumatic brain injury or by posttraumatic stress disorder, which might not have been considered when a service member was initially discharged.

There are two avenues former service members can use to pursue a change in the characterization of their discharge. First is the Discharge Review Board, also called a DRB. The military departments each have their own DRB. Second is the Board for Correction of Military or Naval Records, also called a BCMR or BCNR. Again, each of the military departments has its own BCMR or BCNR. 

Marines and sailors apply to the Department of the Navy boards; airmen and guardians apply to the Department of the Air Force boards; and soldiers apply to the Department of the Army boards.