While the Board for Corrections of Naval Records (BCNR) rarely issues discharge upgrades, it is more receptive to removing the words "personality disorder" from the narrative reason for separation box on a veteran's DD-214 certificate of discharge.
For many years the Navy discharged sailors with minor conduct problems seeming to stem from mental health issues with a "personality disorder" diagnosis. This enabled the Navy to avoid sending the sailor into the disability evaluation system for a more thorough mental health evaluation. In March 2012, the Vietnam Veterans of American, in conjunction with Yale Law School, issued a report entitled "Casting Troops Aside: The United States Military’s Illegal Personality Disorder Discharge Problem"
The BCNR appears to accept that having the words "personality disorder" on a DD-214 is unfairly stigmatizing and may direct the issuance of DD-214s without those words. The BCNR will substitute the words "Secretarial Authority" in the reason box.
The VVA report can be found at the following link:
https://law.yale.edu/sites/default/files/documents/pdf/Clinics/VLSC_CastingTroopsAside.pdf
For many years the Navy discharged sailors with minor conduct problems seeming to stem from mental health issues with a "personality disorder" diagnosis. This enabled the Navy to avoid sending the sailor into the disability evaluation system for a more thorough mental health evaluation. In March 2012, the Vietnam Veterans of American, in conjunction with Yale Law School, issued a report entitled "Casting Troops Aside: The United States Military’s Illegal Personality Disorder Discharge Problem"
The BCNR appears to accept that having the words "personality disorder" on a DD-214 is unfairly stigmatizing and may direct the issuance of DD-214s without those words. The BCNR will substitute the words "Secretarial Authority" in the reason box.
The VVA report can be found at the following link:
https://law.yale.edu/sites/default/files/documents/pdf/Clinics/VLSC_CastingTroopsAside.pdf