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| Home Front: Politix |
| Did Kerry get a bad discharge? |
| 2004-10-13 |
| An official Navy document on Senator Kerry's campaign Web site listed as Mr. Kerry's "Honorable Discharge from the Reserves" opens a door on a well kept secret about his military service. The document is a form cover letter in the name of the Carter administration's secretary of the Navy, W. Graham Claytor. It describes Mr. Kerry's discharge as being subsequent to the review of "a board of officers." This in it self is unusual. There is nothing about an ordinary honorable discharge action in the Navy that requires a review by a board of officers. According to the secretary of the Navy's document, the "authority of reference" this board was using in considering Mr. Kerry's record was "Title 10, U.S. Code Section 1162 and 1163. "This section refers to the grounds for involuntary separation from the service. What was being reviewed, then, was Mr. Kerry's involuntary separation from the service. And it couldn't have been an honorable discharge, or there would have been no point in any review at all. The review was likely held to improve Mr. Kerry's status of discharge from a less than honorable discharge to an honorable discharge. A Kerry campaign spokesman, David Wade, was asked whether Mr. Kerry had ever been a victim of an attempt to deny him an honorable discharge. There has been no response to that inquiry. The document is dated February 16, 1978. But Mr. Kerry's military commitment began with his six-year enlistment contract with the Navy on February 18, 1966. His commitment should have terminated in 1972. It is highly unlikely that either the man who at that time was a Vietnam Veterans Against the War leader, John Kerry, requested or the Navy accepted an additional six year reserve commitment. And the Claytor document indicates proceedings to reverse a less than honorable discharge that took place sometime prior to February 1978. The "board of officers" review reported in the Claytor document is even more extraordinary because it came about "by direction of the President." No normal honorable discharge requires the direction of the president. The president at that time was James Carter. This adds another twist to the story of Mr. Kerry's hidden military records. Mr. Carter's first act as president was a general amnesty for draft dodgers and other war protesters. Less than an hour after his inauguration on January 21, 1977, while still in the Capitol building, Mr. Carter signed Executive Order 4483 empowering it. By the time it became a directive from the Defense Department in March 1977 it had been expanded to include other offenders who may have had general, bad conduct, dishonorable discharges, and any other discharge or sentence with negative effect on military records. In those cases the directive outlined a procedure for appeal on a case by case basis before a board of officers. A satisfactory appeal would result in an improvement of discharge status or an honorable discharge. |
| Posted by:RWV |
| #6 oooops. ima thought thisn talk bout nother kinda discharge. |
| Posted by: muck4doo 2004-10-13 8:30:29 PM |
| #5 Title 10, U.S. Code Section 1162 and 1163. 1162 § 12681. Reserves: discharge authority Subject to other provisions of this title, reserve commissioned officers may be discharged at the pleasure of the President. Other Reserves may be discharged under regulations prescribed by the Secretary concerned. § 12682. Reserves: discharge upon becoming ordained minister of religion Under regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of Defense, a Reserve who becomes a regular or ordained minister of religion is entitled upon his request to a discharge from his reserve enlistment or appointment. 1163 § 12683. Reserve officers: limitation on involuntary separation (a) An officer of a reserve component who has at least five years of service as a commissioned officer may not be separated from that component without his consent except— (1) under an approved recommendation of a board of officers convened by an authority designated by the Secretary concerned; or (2) by the approved sentence of a court-martial. (b) Subsection (a) does not apply to any of the following: (1) A separation under section 12684, 14901, or 14907 of this title. (2) A dismissal under section 1161 (a) of this title. (3) A transfer under section 12213, 12214, 14514, or 14515 of this title. (4) A separation of an officer who is in an inactive status in the Standby Reserve and who is not qualified for transfer to the Retired Reserve or is qualified for transfer to the Retired Reserve and does not apply for such a transfer. § 12684. Reserves: separation for absence without authority or sentence to imprisonment The President or the Secretary concerned may drop from the rolls of the armed force concerned any Reserve— (1) who has been absent without authority for at least three months; (2) who may be separated under section 12687 of this title by reason of a sentence to confinement adjudged by a court-martial; or (3) who is sentenced to confinement in a Federal or State penitentiary or correctional institution after having been found guilty of an offense by a court other than a court-martial or other military court, and whose sentence has become final. § 12685. Reserves separated for cause: character of discharge A member of a reserve component who is separated for cause, except under section 12684 of this title, is entitled to a discharge under honorable conditions unless— (1) the member is discharged under conditions other than honorable under an approved sentence of a court-martial or under the approved findings of a board of officers convened by an authority designated by the Secretary concerned; or (2) the member consents to a discharge under conditions other than honorable with a waiver of proceedings of a court-martial or a board. § 12686. Reserves on active duty within two years of retirement eligibility: limitation on release from active duty (a) Limitation.— Under regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary concerned, which shall be as uniform as practicable, a member of a reserve component who is on active duty (other than for training) and is within two years of becoming eligible for retired pay or retainer pay under a purely military retirement system, may not be involuntarily released from that duty before he becomes eligible for that pay, unless the release is approved by the Secretary. (b) Waiver.— With respect to a member of a reserve component who is to be ordered to active duty (other than for training) under section 12301 of this title pursuant to an order to active duty that specifies a period of less than 180 days and who (but for this subsection) would be covered by subsection (a), the Secretary concerned may require, as a condition of such order to active duty, that the member waive the applicability of subsection (a) to the member for the period of active duty covered by that order. In carrying out this subsection, the Secretary concerned may require that a waiver under the preceding sentence be executed before the period of active duty begins. ANY LAWYERS OUT THERE |
| Posted by: BigEd 2004-10-13 5:25:21 PM |
| #4 Rantburg Ultra drinking game: Do what Frank suggested but also a drink everytime Kerry says 'but.' |
| Posted by: badanov 2004-10-13 3:07:25 PM |
| #3 1) FOX, Drudge, and all us supporting pajama-men and -women gotta go to work on this... Gut feeling - Kerry got a general discharge after his trip to Paris, to meet with the Vietnam communists, while still a member of the reserves... Someone aside from the goverment offical folks has got to know of this... |
| Posted by: BigEd 2004-10-13 3:01:14 PM |
| #2 Tonight's Debate Drinking Game: take a shot every time Kerry says "I have a plan". Take another when he refuses to unveil that plan Don't do this for more than 20 minutes to a half-hour to avoid risk of alcohol poisoning |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-10-13 2:25:10 PM |
| #1 I have wanted him to sign Form 180 since the Bush TANG affair. Also T's tax returns. |
| Posted by: chicago mike 2004-10-13 2:08:21 PM |