The U.S. Department of Defense has upgraded the dismissals of 820 former military personnel to “honorable discharges” after a year-long review of their service records.
The upgrades were announced Oct. 15 by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, who said in a statement that the effort was “driven by the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy and other policies for former military personnel. “The aim is to redress the damage.” ”
Austin noted that 851 cases were actively reviewed in the past year, and more than 96% of them were eligible for “remedy.”
“We will continue to honor the service and sacrifice of all service members, including the brave Americans who put their hands up to serve but were turned down for the sake of their loved ones.” “We will continue to strive to do the right thing by all American patriots who have served our country honorably.”
The “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy was in effect from February 28, 1994 to September 20, 2011. Under this policy, gay, lesbian, and bisexual service members had to hide their identities based on the following assumptions: Although superiors and others “don’t ask” about their sexual orientation, the service members agreed not to “tell.”
There were practical problems with this policy, and some people were involuntarily turned out against their will. Nevertheless, service members who were identified as non-heterosexual (approximately 13,500 in total) were ultimately discharged from the military as a result of the policy, the report said. news release From the Department of Defense.
Although the majority of service members were honorably discharged, nearly 2,000 were not fully honorably discharged.
After “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was repealed by Congress, those who were honorably discharged under it were eligible to request upgrades to the Military Department Review Board. About 85% received some form of relief, but others affected by this change did not know they could request an upgrade to their discharge status.
Last year, Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks launched an aggressive review of LGBTQ veterans who were fired under the policy but had not yet applied for promotion.
As a result, veterans who were separated from the military under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” will have their discharge documents, known as DD-214s, changed to “honorable” without going through the formal process. About applying for a discharge upgrade.
Members who receive the upgrade will be eligible for benefits previously denied based on their discharge status, including medical benefits, college tuition assistance, veterans loan programs, and even some employment opportunities.
The Department of Defense is sending information to those whose status has been upgraded on how to obtain a copy of their new certificate. However, because the DD-214 contains sensitive personal information, ex-military personnel must request a copy individually. military era.
The Pentagon review comes decades before the implementation of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, which completely prohibited gay, lesbian and bisexual people from serving in the military. It does not apply to military personnel who have been
These veterans are often the ones hardest hit by less than honorable discharges.
In a separate initiative announced in June, President Joe Biden announced that thousands of former military members have been convicted of violating now-defunct military regulations that criminalized sodomy and consensual same-sex relationships. An attempt was made to improve this situation by granting amnesty to the
Many people who are court-martialed and convicted are able to request and receive proof that their convictions have been vacated and can then apply for an upgrade to their discharge status.
The Department of Defense does not plan to continue reviewing cases beyond the 820 veterans who have received upgraded discharge status. This means other veterans will have to submit their own application to request the change.
“We encourage all veterans who believe they have been wronged or mistreated to request corrections to their military records,” Pentagon officials said in a statement. CBS News.
Source: Metro Weekly – www.metroweekly.com
