Veterans face uphill battle for discharge upgrades tied to trauma, GAO says

The military services are inconsistently weighing discharge upgrade appeals from veterans whose experience with mental health issues or sexual assault may have contributed to their exit from the military, a new report has found.

Pentagon directives issued in 2014 and 2017 instructed review boards to give liberal consideration to applicants who were sexual assault victims or who have conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder. But that guidance isn’t being followed regularly within the services, the Government Accountability Office said in the report.

The boards decide whether to apply such consideration to discharge appeals on a case-by-case basis, according to the GAO. Between 2018 and March 2024, they did so for more than half of all applications, or about 21,000 cases. In those cases where sexual assault or mental health conditions were considered, the majority had their requests for upgrades either denied or approved only to a lesser degree than the veteran was seeking, according to the report.