{"id":410,"date":"2024-11-30T10:16:06","date_gmt":"2024-11-30T16:16:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/veritasmilitarylaw.com\/staging\/9222\/?page_id=410"},"modified":"2026-10-20T07:37:06","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T13:37:06","slug":"involuntary-discharge-separation-defense","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/veritasmilitarylaw.com\/staging\/9222\/involuntary-discharge-separation-defense\/","title":{"rendered":"Involuntary Discharge (Separation) Defense"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sometimes, the military chooses not to court-martial its servicemembers, but it instead chooses for a quicker path: involuntary discharge (also called separation or chapter). For officers, the boards are called <strong>boards of inquiry<\/strong>. While not subjecting the member to federal conviction or jail time, the consequences can still be devastating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Depending on a number of factors, including length of service, basis for discharge, and recommended service characterization (honorable, under honorable conditions (general), or under other than honorable conditions), <strong>the servicemember may be entitled to a discharge board<\/strong> (also called separation board). Each military branch has its own rules for these boards, and they range from a mini court-martial to a conference table meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Even if the member is not entitled to a board, there are still due process requirements, including the ability to respond in writing. While you might feel like there&#8217;s no stopping a discharge, Veritas Military Law can help protect your rights and setup a good argument for a later <a href=\"https:\/\/veritasmiliatrylaw.com\/discharge-upgrades\">discharge upgrade<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Veritas Military Law has experience in both prosecuting and defending administative discharges and separations, including for underlying bases of sexual assault, drug use, serious offenses, active participation in extremist organization, drug abuse, PT failures, fraudulent enlistment, and erroneous enlistment, with service members ranging from only months of service to only months left to retirement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-fe48e5de wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-black-color has-luminous-vivid-amber-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/veritasmilitarylaw.com\/staging\/9222\/contact-veritas-military-law\" style=\"border-radius:0px\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Contact Veritas Military Law Today to Defend Your Service<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Sample Success<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-cover is-light\" style=\"min-height:200px;aspect-ratio:unset;\"><span aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-cover__background has-background-dim\" style=\"background-color:#98a3aa\"><\/span><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-block-cover__image-background wp-image-560\" alt=\"Fourteen KC-135 Stratotankers line up during a simulated alert call March 24, 2016, at McConnell Air Force Base, Kan. Known as the \u201celephant walk,\u201d the alert call was part of an exercise, which displayed the rapid mobility capabilities and teamwork of the men and women at McConnell AFB to take flight within minutes of being notified of a mission. (U.S. Air Force photos\/Airman 1st Class Christopher Thornbury.)\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/veritasmilitarylaw.com\/staging\/9222\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/160324-F-XK483-942-scaled.jpeg?resize=2560%2C1707&#038;ssl=1\" data-object-fit=\"cover\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/veritasmilitarylaw.com\/staging\/9222\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/160324-F-XK483-942-scaled.jpeg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/veritasmilitarylaw.com\/staging\/9222\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/160324-F-XK483-942-scaled.jpeg?resize=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/veritasmilitarylaw.com\/staging\/9222\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/160324-F-XK483-942-scaled.jpeg?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/veritasmilitarylaw.com\/staging\/9222\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/160324-F-XK483-942-scaled.jpeg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/veritasmilitarylaw.com\/staging\/9222\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/160324-F-XK483-942-scaled.jpeg?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/veritasmilitarylaw.com\/staging\/9222\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/160324-F-XK483-942-scaled.jpeg?w=2000&amp;ssl=1 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><div class=\"wp-block-cover__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-cover-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center has-white-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-1\" style=\"font-size:30px\"><a href=\"https:\/\/veritasmilitarylaw.com\/staging\/9222\/pt-failures-probation-and-rehabilitation\">PT Failures: Probation &amp; Rehabilitation<\/a><\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sometimes, the military chooses not to court-martial its servicemembers, but it instead chooses for a quicker path: involuntary discharge (also called separation or chapter). For officers, the boards are called boards of inquiry. While not subjecting the member to federal conviction or jail time, the consequences can still be devastating. Depending on a number of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1338,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-410","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Involuntary Discharge (Separation) Defense - Veritas Military Law<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/veritasmilitarylaw.com\/staging\/9222\/involuntary-discharge-separation-defense\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Involuntary Discharge (Separation) Defense - Veritas Military Law\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sometimes, the military chooses not to court-martial its servicemembers, but it instead chooses for a quicker path: involuntary discharge (also called separation or chapter). For officers, the boards are called boards of inquiry. While not subjecting the member to federal conviction or jail time, the consequences can still be devastating. Depending on a number of [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/veritasmilitarylaw.com\/staging\/9222\/involuntary-discharge-separation-defense\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Veritas Military Law\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-10-20T13:37:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/veritasmilitarylaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/5169841.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/veritasmilitarylaw.com\\\/staging\\\/9222\\\/involuntary-discharge-separation-defense\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/veritasmilitarylaw.com\\\/staging\\\/9222\\\/involuntary-discharge-separation-defense\\\/\",\"name\":\"Involuntary Discharge (Separation) Defense - Veritas Military Law\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/veritasmilitarylaw.com\\\/staging\\\/9222\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/veritasmilitarylaw.com\\\/staging\\\/9222\\\/involuntary-discharge-separation-defense\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/veritasmilitarylaw.com\\\/staging\\\/9222\\\/involuntary-discharge-separation-defense\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/veritasmilitarylaw.com\\\/staging\\\/9222\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/5169841.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-11-30T16:16:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-20T13:37:06+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/veritasmilitarylaw.com\\\/staging\\\/9222\\\/involuntary-discharge-separation-defense\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/veritasmilitarylaw.com\\\/staging\\\/9222\\\/involuntary-discharge-separation-defense\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/veritasmilitarylaw.com\\\/staging\\\/9222\\\/involuntary-discharge-separation-defense\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/veritasmilitarylaw.com\\\/staging\\\/9222\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/5169841.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/veritasmilitarylaw.com\\\/staging\\\/9222\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/5169841.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1\",\"caption\":\"Army Sgt., fire control specialist, assigned to Battery A., 1st Battalion, 38th Field Artillery Regiment, 210th Field Artillery Brigade (FAB), pauses to pose for a quick photograph following the eight-mile ruck march during the 210th FAB 2019 Best Warrior Competition, Camp Casey, Republic of Korea, March 12, 2019. He was clearly exhausted but ready to keep moving through the events in the competition. The ruck march began this year\u2019s competition with 24 Soldiers competing for first place in the following ranks: junior enlisted, noncommissioned officer, warrant officer, commissioned officer, and Korean Augmentation to the United States Army (KATUSA). The competition served as a valuable training experience, and the winners will advance to the 2nd Infantry Division Best Warrior Competition April 2019. (U.S. Army photo by Capt. 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