OTH Discharge?

Mike Lewis said:
I remember about ten years ago when Kelly Flinn - the first female B-52 pilot - was discharged after adultery and she got a General Discharge. I was trying to find out if she ever made it with the airlines or not, as that might be an indicator of whether you could get into the airlines or not.
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Flinn resigned her Commission and that allowed her to have a General Discharge.

She was hired at ASA relatively soon after she got out of the USAF and flew there for some time (I think I saw her on a flight I took out of Atlanta on an Embraer back about '99, but I'm not 100% certain). The last I heard as of a couple years ago she was married with a new name and flying at UPS.

With respect to the original poster...I don't know how you got into a situation where you have to choose between finishing your college degree on some timeline and being discharged from your reserve unit in OTH conditions. Regardless, seems to me that there has got to be another angle to this whole thing. You identified the problem yourself -- "I'm not willing to come back as a 27 year old...."

IMHO you're not making the correct decision if you are choosing to have a questionable military discharge rather than to delay completing your degree. You can attempt to rationalize it all you want, but in the big picture you are simply setting yourself up for problems later in life. VERY short-sighted decisionmaking here.

One will require you to explain yourself for the rest of your employment career. The other one wil cost you...I don't know what it will cost you, but it won't be as much as having an other-than-honorable discharge.

I know you asked for "piece of mind" posts to be in PM, but this just needs to be said in public. Sorry.
 
When I was still active duty, my Brigade Commander was a full bird who'd periodically read a letter from one of his former soldiers.

The letter was a request for help. Apparently the young trooper had been caught doing something illegal and got a Dishonorable Discharge.

It made his life very, very hard.

Any discharge other than Honorable, General Under Honorable Conditions (ie, administrative non-punitive), or Medical will HUGELY affect your life and may make life as you know it very difficult.

That shiny college degree won't mean SQUAT if your employer says "Let's see that DD-214!" and sees anything other than Honorable or Honorable Conditions on that form.

I got stop-lossed in 2005 and wound up doing a YEAR past my the end of my contract- on active duty, in Iraq. I was PISSED. In the end, however, there was nothing I do but shut up and take it. I hated the fact that 'my' life was delayed yet another year. I was 27 when I got out, too. Same as you're facing. Now, about two years later, my life is on track, I have a great job with real potential.. and things will be fine.

Relax, slow down, and deal with first things first. Get the *Honorable* discharge, deal with the fact that your government lied to you, and then when they let you go, run fast and don't look back.
 
Fact not hearsay: An OTH discharge will have negative implications getting hired with a major airline - not impossible, but almost.
 
Firebird2XC said:
Any discharge other than Honorable, General Under Honorable Conditions (ie, administrative non-punitive), or Medical will HUGELY affect your life and may make life as you know it very difficult.
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Why would a medical discharge HUGELY affect your life and may make life difficult? For those that have been wounded, or are amputees, might have a difficut time readjusting. I happen to have a medical discharge. My DD-214 says Honorable Discharge. You need to be careful explaining these things. A DD-214 won't say medical discharge. It will be explained in the remarks and the RE code will reflect not being medically qualified anymore for military service.
 
If the Marine Reserves are like the active Navy, and I think they are, here is what will happen. You will be Notified, Counseled, and you must respond to your ADSEP. If you fall under the entitlement to present your case to an Admin Sep board, (the guidelines are in the MILPERSMAN), then you will need to elect to have it. If not, tough luck. That board will decide what is going to happen. Sometimes this happens after MAST or Office Hours. Keep in mind, this is the Navy side, but I think Marines fall under this. The board almost always goes with the CO's recommendation.

Look, think about it this way. Do you think an Airline will want to hire someone who has a problem with showing up to work? I sympathize with your plight, as I want to fly for a living really bad, but I am not going to risk getting kicked out for it. I will wait 6 more years when I retire. When I interviewed at SkyWest (I got out for 3 years and came back in) and got a job as an A&P, my interviewer wanted to see my DD214. In any case, if you do get your ADSEP and even turn it into honorable, which there are procedures to do in the MILPERSMAN, and you are in an interview, then prepare what you are going to say and blame yourself and only yourself and tell the interviewer how you have changed, because the Marines did not tell you to not be at where you were appointed to be. That was your choice. I would try to fix it, if I were you, if you can. Fullfill your obligation-you signed it. I hear this every day at work. ADSEP's are not good for the future.

Tough love:)

Wittmandriver
 
H46Bubba said:
Why would a medical discharge HUGELY affect your life and may make life difficult? For those that have been wounded, or are amputees, might have a difficut time readjusting. I happen to have a medical discharge. My DD-214 says Honorable Discharge. You need to be careful explaining these things. A DD-214 won't say medical discharge. It will be explained in the remarks and the RE code will reflect not being medically qualified anymore for military service.
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I think you misread what he said; he said any discharge other than Medical (and Honorable and General with Honorable conditions).

Did anyone see the PBS special called "Carrier" this week? There was a guy who was getting kicked from the Navy with an OTH discharge, and the guy was happy was getting out of the Navy, but to hear the Captain explain it he said the OTH discharge basically tells employers he was "fired from the Navy."

Based on what I read here, do whatever you can to get back solid with the Marines and get that honorable discharge.
 
H46Bubba said:
Why would a medical discharge HUGELY affect your life and may make life difficult? For those that have been wounded, or are amputees, might have a difficut time readjusting. I happen to have a medical discharge. My DD-214 says Honorable Discharge. You need to be careful explaining these things. A DD-214 won't say medical discharge. It will be explained in the remarks and the RE code will reflect not being medically qualified anymore for military service.
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Either I wrote that jacked up, or you just read it wrong.

I was saying that Honorable/Gen. Under Honorable Conditions/Medical are in one group, and anything other than that is in the other, "make your life difficult group".

Sorry if I was unclear. :)
 
Firebird2XC said:
Either I wrote that jacked up, or you just read it wrong.

I was saying that Honorable/Gen. Under Honorable Conditions/Medical are in one group, and anything other than that is in the other, "make your life difficult group".

Sorry if I was unclear. :)
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No it was my bad!:o I read it wrong.:banghead:
 
You will not be hired at Delta with an OTH discharge.

You'll never even be called for the interview to explain it...


Kevin
 
I'm not entirely sure why someone brought in a CO pilot into this mix. History will show that punishments are far from even between Enlisted and CO, so the example is moot.
The way I understood things is that after 6 months with an OTH you can apply with the VA to have your records changed to Honorable. You loose your benifits to have GI Bill and what not.
Obviously the majority of people feel that you should finish your obligation, because thats the more sensible thing. You may feel wronged and maybe its not the advice you are seeking, but it seems to be the better choice.
Asking around my work center, it is looked at...pretty heavily. If they see that on your app, most times they wont call. This is general job application, not airline specific btw.
If they do call you should feel pretty damn lucky.
Getting a job with the OTH is possible however so if you are set in your way...which it seems like you are then go for it.
Keep in mind that it wont be easy....at all.
 
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