BoatBanter.com - View Single Post - The nice thing about Marine Corps Base Quantico...

Richard Casady

On Fri, 19 Jun 2009 19:10:10 -0400, wrote:

On Fri, 19 Jun 2009 13:44:15 -0500, Richard Casady
wrote:

On Fri, 19 Jun 2009 06:48:43 -0400, John H
wrote:

Tim, if you're referring to your discharge papers, i.e. your DD 214,
that's one thing. Normally, the acronym DD is used for 'Dishonorable
Discharge'. I don't think you got that! (At least that's the way I
remeber it!)

I was a discharge clerk. There were five kinds of discharge in the
USAF, and a dishonorable one could only be had as the sentence of a
general court martial. Any garden variety ****up would have gotten a
administrative 'undesirable discharge' long before it got to the court
martial stage. A DD would go with a serious felony, murder, rape,
armed robbery, something really heavy. I had five hundred of the
forms, and I never even heard of anyone getting a DD. I drew up three
Bad Conduct discharges. Guy drank, drove, crashed, killed his best
friend the passanger. He got five years in the state pen, and a BCD.

Casady

The guys who were just troublemakers usually got General Discharges.
That included folks who were chronic UAs, lots of article 15s or
generally didn't want to be in the military anymore.
The military usually gave them their wish and even though it said GD
under honorable conditions, employers knew the difference.

Actually, the undesirables all seemed to be dope smokers from the
Canal Zone And a few gays. They were death on both. This was the late
sixties, if it matters.
There were many General Discharges, but some were kicked out with an
Honorable. If you were rif-raf you got a general, if you did your best
and just were not the military type, you could get an honorable. They
tried not to hammer guys who never should have been there. Recruiters
mistakes. Of course, none of it mattered to the clerks, we treated
everyone the same, helpful and polite. Your dough and walking papers
as soon as possible, good luck with your future.

Casady