Expert: Howard Lorenz - 6/16/2010

Question
QUESTION: Hello,
My husband recieved an RE-4 honorable discharged about 13 years ago.We recently moved and was going through paperworks and noticed some interesting facts. first let me explain as how he had gotten the discharged. Back in 1995 my ex husband and I went through of the many marriage seperations, but this time it was for good, he moved me out of the navy houseing and brought in his Japanese girlfriend to take care of our three kids. meanwhile I met a young Navy man, fell in love and thats when I decided to divorce my ex husband, before this I had signed legal seperation paperworks I had no understanding of at the time, I had no lawyer and his lawyer was of course on his side so he couldn't explain what the paperworks would end up for our marriage.
When I finally had the strength to go against my ex-husband and divorce him, I had my lover drop off his friend three houses down from my ex's house to drop of the divorce papers. unfortunately he was not home, but his Japanese girlfriend was she took the paperwork, apparently it angered him and the fact that my lover was being stationed to Hawaii, my ex was afraid I would join him.... he was right, so my ex-husband went to NIS, we don't know exactly what he told them, but next thing we know my lover was being called to NIS office and they grilled him asking him if he went to my ex's house, he told them no, he wasn't there, they made him write it down and he sighned it, but then they kept grilling him more and telling him he was there till he finally got fed up with it all and said fine I was there. From there he had to apear in front of his CO, and his staff, in which they all saw he had never gotten in trouble and decided they would not punish him except for one cheif who said, he lost a sailor because of his wife cheating on him this sailor killed himself over it and that he would make my lover an example. BUT here is the kicker.....because I had signed one of many legal seperation papers, that the last one became a divorce paperwork...so when I did finally go to court to divorce my ex' I was in shock to find I was already divorce, at the time I was young and didn't understand all the legalality of it all. Years later 2010 we come across some of my old legal paperworks and come to find out that in 1996 I was already divorce before my ex-husband went up to NIS and complained against my lover ( who of course is now my husband ) my now husband was given an RE-4 honorable discharged because they say it was his only offense on his record.
So now I see it this way, my ex-husband had no legal rights to go up to NIS and state we were married when we were not and fill a complaint against my now husband. In light of that picture....can we fight against this RE-4 and get my husbands records set straight? and if so How can we go about doing this? *( Also at the time my ex-husband had a friend who worked in the NIS office....so I have a feeling it was his friend who kept grilling my now husband till he got the answer he wanted to get him kicked out.)
Thank you for your patience and responds.

ANSWER: If you were already divorced before all this happened, then yes you could take it back to the NAVY and have them review the case and do a change to record.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I have another question, my daughter is in Air Force boot camp, she had gotten sick with strep after 1 1/2 weeks of arrival, they put her back in training too early and didn't heal all the way and caught laryngitis,so they ended up puting her back into medical hold, while there they told her she may have asthma and a slight curve to her spine, all her young life she had never been diagnose with either, she played soccer, played the flute in marching band, which requires us to have her physical done, doctors never found asthma or scoliosis, plus the school systems do their own physical exams for scoliosis, she had pass her physicals. Even in meps when she did her physical, she passed. So how is it that all of a sudden she is diagnose with scoliosis and told her she will be getting a medical discharge?
I had asked her if she can get a second opinion, she was told she couldn't and that she had to get out of the military to get a waiver from a doctor to get back in. She has a total of 3 weeks of training to count towards her graduation....she doesn't want to get out, she wants to continue, so my question is, can we get a second opinion while she is in boot camp? if not can she get a waiver while in boot camp to continue, and if not..... what is her chances of getting back in if she does get a waiver after they medically discharge her?

Thank you for your answer in advance =)

Answer
When the Chief Medical officer at the processing station does his or her examination for entry to the military, its just a basic once over. They look at the medical questionnaire and the body and thats pretty much it. Now if there is nothing that is disqualifying, they go to BMT. What happened to your daughter is classical. When she went to the docs at BMT, these guys are tuned in to finding all possible issues that can be wrong with a trainee. You have to understand that during the training phases they are subject to discharge at any given time if there is a finding. When your daughter went in for her condition, they more than likely took and X Ray and found her curve in her spine. The asthma is more than likely not asthma, but what they heard was wheezing from her condition. There is no second opinions, its an entry level medical separation with no benefits.... I would blame the recruiter partially for this one, I always told my troops do not go to the docs unless you are bleeding or passing out... because this always happened.