Expert: John L - 9/18/2008

Question
I found out on a Tuesday that my Naval psychiatrist/Dr. was recommending me for separation. After it goes up her chain of command it would go to mine no later than the following Monday. She also told me that some of the verbiage on the recommendation would be basically that my personality clashes with the Navy and it's needs. My questions are, 1) How long should this type of separation take? 2) Would it be classified as honorable? (I've had no discipline problems and received 3.8 eval scores) 3) Would I have to pay back my enlistment bonus of $4,000? 4) Can I still use my GI Bill?  I've been in for two years, and like I said earlier, no discipline problems, passed all PRT's, Received Must Promote and Early Promote on my evals. Thank you in advance for your help.

Answer
This is a little out of my league,  I can only tell you with my past experiences working with soldiers on discharges.  First, if you get a medical discharge, it would most likely be Honorable unless you are in your first year of enlistment, then it would be uncharacterized, be seeing as you have eval scores, It shows you've been in longer. Medical separations take a long time, usually go thru a med board process, which depending on the area, can be quick or drag out ever time.  

As far as bonus goes, refer to your bonus addendum of your contract.  Usually, discharges for medical do not require repayment, but you will forfeit any payments not yet received.  Your GI bill benefits should still be available to you, as long as you have met all the time requirements, but sometimes those are waived for medical discharges to a point.  Refer to www.gibill.va.gov for a better answer on that.  

Make sure you go to any discharge briefings offered on benefits to finds out what you are entitled to.  If you require further counseling after discharge, make sure it is logged in your medical file so you can go to the VA hospital for help if you so need it.

Good luck and thanks for serving.