Military Discharge: Actions Needed to Help Ensure Consistent and Timely Upgrade Decisions , July 24 , 2025
Military Discharge: Actions Needed to Help Ensure Consistent and Timely Upgrade Decisions , July 24 , 2025
From the report: "Service members separated from the military without an honorable discharge can apply to a post-separation review board for a possible discharge upgrade due to a potential error or injustice in the process. In 2014 and 2017, the Department of Defense (DOD) directed these boards to give “liberal consideration” to applications from veterans with a qualifying mental health condition, such as post-traumatic stress disorder or an experience of sexual harassment or sexual assault connected to their service. DODs’ post-separation review boards have implemented liberal consideration and, from January 2018 through March 2024, applied it to more than 21,000 discharge upgrade cases. The rates of discharge upgrades granted ranged from 18 to 49 percent among the boards.
However, in reviewing the boards’ adjudication of these cases, GAO identified the following challenges:
• Use of guidance. Boards inconsistently applied key liberal consideration guidance related to the use of (1) Department of Veterans Affairs documentation connecting a veteran’s mental health condition to their military service; and (2) applicant testimony about an experience of sexual harassment or sexual assault during military service. An evaluation and periodic monitoring of how each board applies liberal consideration guidance could help ensure consistent treatment among veterans.
• Adjudication time frames. Some boards are required to adjudicate discharge upgrade cases within a specified time frame, while other boards are not. Required time frames for all boards will help ensure work is organized to efficiently achieve objectives and provide applicants—who may have critical financial and health challenges—a more predictable timeline for an already lengthy adjudication process.
• Communicating decisions. Boards inconsistently explained in their decisional documents how they applied key liberal consideration guidance in discharge upgrade cases. Requiring that boards communicate a comparable level of information about how they used this guidance will provide applicants with a more precise understanding of how the board reached its decision of whether to grant an upgrade.
• Availability of case information. DOD is generally required to post documentation of discharge upgrade decisions on its online reading room. However, GAO found that about 43 percent of documents on liberal consideration cases closed from January 2018 through March 2024 that should have been posted are missing from the reading room and posted documents are not organized in a user-friendly manner. A process that ensures all documents are posted and effectively organized will enable the reading room to serve its intended purpose."
Authors - Government Accountability Office (GAO)Related Resources
