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Careers: Military--Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Coast Guard/Top secret clearance and discharge.
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Question
QUESTION: I recieved a General other than Honorable discharge, is it possible to obtian a Top Secret clearance with this? Or will I need to get a lawyer to try to have the discharge changed.
ANSWER: Hi Bart,
You may wish to re-check your discharge paperwork.
There is no such thing as a "General Other than Honorable" discharge.
The types of discharges are:
Punitive (can only be imposed by a court-martial):
Bad Conduct
Dishonorable
Dismissle (officers only).
Administrative:
Entry Level (Not characterized, and can only be imposed on those with less than 180 days of service).
Honorable.
General (under honorable conditions).
Under Other Than Honorable Conditions (UOTHC).
Which discharge did you actually receive? (It will be listed on your DD Form 214).
Rod Powers
http://usmilitary.about.com
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Sorry, it is a Under Other Than Honorable Conditions (UOTHC).
An UOTHC discharge *could* possibly result in denial of a Security Clearance, but it would probably not be a result of the discharge characterization, but rather the "reason" for the discharge.
In most cases, an UOTHC discharge characterization is a result of the member committing a crime (or more than one crime), and this would impact Security Clearance eligibility. For details, see my Security Clearance article at: http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/generalinfo/a/security.htm.
For more information about the United States Military, feel free to visit my U.S. Military Information Site at: http://usmilitary.about.com.
Hope this helps!
Rod Powers
http://usmilitary.about.com
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Answers by Expert:
Rod Powers
Expertise
Rod Powers is considered one of the premire experts about U.S. Military career information on the planet. He has more than 30,000 articles about U.S. Military career information on the About.com U.S. Military Careers Information website at: http://usmilitary.about.com. Additionally, he is the author of "ASVAB for Dummies," "ASVAB AFQT for Dummies," (available in Dec 2009), and "Veteran Benefits for Dummies," all published by Wiley Publishing. He is also the author of "Barrons' Guide to Officer Candidate School Tests," published by Barron's Educational Series.
Experience
Rod Powers is a retired Air Force first sergeant, with 23 years of active duty service, 11 of those years as an Air Force First Sergeant. He has helped thousands of military members, recruits, and military applicants since he took over the About.com U.S Military Careers Information site in 1999. He has a reputation for "telling it like it is," so questions may not be answered based on "what you want to hear," but will be answered based of the bast available information, concerning the service/situation.
Education/Credentials
Rod is a distinguished graduate of the Air Force Noncommissioned Officers Academy, the Air Force Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy, and the Air Force First Sergeant Academy. He also holds an Associates Degree in Personnel Administration from the Community College of the Air Force (CCAF).
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