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Careers: Military--Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Coast Guard/Upgrading a discharge
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Question
Hello, a few months ago I asked a question about a discharge I received in Navy basic training for asthma. I just had a medical test done last month to see if it really is asthma. I will get the results next month and I am confident that it will be in my favor. I am doing this to support my case to change my military records. I want to upgrade my RE-4 to a better code so that I can have a chance to reenlist. Is it possible a congressman can help me get this done? I have not contacted one yet, but I was wondering if a congressman can help me get it done. Is this possible and if so has it ever been done? Thank you for your time.
Hi Brandon,
In my experience, a Congressman is worthless in this type of situation. Congress-critters can be helpful if there is obvious evidence that the military service violated regulations or procedures, but -- they do not have the power to upgrade a discharge or an RE-Code.
The only people with the power to upgrade an RE-Code, or change the reason for discharge is the particular service's discharge review board, or military records review board. Congress is not allowed to interfere with their review processes.
For information about the discharge review process, see: http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/generalinfo/a/dischargeupg.htm
For information about the records change process, see: http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/airforcebase/a/chgrecords.htm
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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