I have a dishonorable discharge so I can speak with certainty on this issue. I received a DD after I had an accidental discharge that hit and killed one of my buddies in my platoon when we were in Iraq in 03. Shitty situation but I take full responsibility for my actions. I was charged with involuntary manslaughter and did 4 years in the brig. I got out with a DD.
After getting out I wondered what was actually on any sort of background check so I did two online background checks on myself. They both cost me about $50 but it was worth knowing. Both came back with no sort of criminal report on me.
I worked some different menial labor jobs for my first year after I was out. None of them did any type of background check on me so I still wasn’t exactly sure what an employer might find.
An opportunity came up for me to apply for a job at a bank. Being a financial institution I knew that they would have to do a thorough background check. I was honest that I was in the service but they never asked on the application for my discharge type so I didn’t volunteer that information. Well, I interviewed, they did the background check and I got the job. I had that job for 3 years.
Then last year I switched jobs to a large mining company. Again a background check was done and nothing came up.
My father-in-law is a county sheriff and he knows about what happened with me and he told me that there is very limited ways to find someone’s discharge status because of certain privacy laws the military is very tight lipped about veterans information including discharge type. He said that in Colorado, an FFL firearms dealer submits a background check through instacheck and because of the gun law act of 1968 which prohibits a vet with a DD from purchasing a firearm, that it may appear there. But employers probably won’t be able to access that information on a background check.
So if you have a DD, don’t worry. Life goes on. Yes, we can’t buy a gun on our own, we can’t become cops, and we can’t work for the IRS. Boohoo. But your DD will not affect your ability to get a good job with any private company, won’t affect your financial life in any way (trust me I worked for a bank), and won’t affect your ability to live a happy and fulfilling life. You made a mistake and you’ve paid your debt. It’s time to move on and live a good life. Good luck to you and God bless.
This.
You can only be DD’d via a General Court Martial, meaning that your ass has been hauled before a due process panel and you have been warned specifically of what is going on. You don’t get DD’d for missing performance goals or because your job has been eliminated. You get DD’d because you were convicted in a court martial of a specific criminal offense (under the UCMJ or otherwise).
I believe you can get a General discharge administratively.
You can; that’s how I got mine. I requested an admin board for a number of complicated reasons, none of which I care to get into here. The board determined that I should get a general discharge because I hadn’t been at any one command long enough to have a performance evaluation that would make me eligible for a full honorable discharge. The only real benefit I wasn’t eligible for was the GI Bill, but since mine would have expired by the time I went back to school, it was no great loss. I’m still eligible for all other benefits, including VA health care and veterans’ preference for employment. I could apply for an upgrade if I cared enough, but since the general hasn’t hurt me, I don’t feel like going through the paperwork and the process.
Like the above posters stated, for most “civilian jobs” (ie private industry) it won’t be a factor since it is not listed in your background check. The only way people would find out, would be if they requested a copy of your DD214 form. The only jobs that ask are either Federal government or jobs that would require a security clearance. Some states also consider it a felony and loss of civil rights.
If I was looking to hire someone and they told me that had a dishonorable discharge from the military I’d toss their app in the trash unless the job was for something like toilet scrubber or stacking papertowels or something equally unlikely to cause damage to my company. I’d consider it on par with a felony conviction as far as desirability.
Wait, let qualify that just a bit - if the DD occurred 20 years ago and he or she could document a stable work history and good conduct since I’d consider the person for employment. But then, that’s also how I would feel about someone convicted of a felony. Convince me you’ve reformed and I’ll consider you - but if you’re fresh from a DD? Forget about it. I don’t want to associate with you.
My company’s recent experience with a DD hired to work for us only confirms my prior feeling that such people are troublemakers and not to be trusted. My prior opinion was fed by a niece who was DD’d from the army and her fucked-up friends, many of whom were also DD’d.
Are there any stats on the frequency of dishonorable discharges?
I am glad to hear you’ve moved on and done well.
On the other hand, the yahoo my boss hired bragged about getting a DD when he wasn’t declaring he was trying to get it overturned, reminisced about his court martial, repeatedly declared they weren’t his drugs and he wasn’t dealing, he was holding them for a buddy, and was too stupid (or stoned) to hide the evidence he was sniffing glue and huffing during work hours.
I’m going to venture a guess you’re basically a decent guy who made a mistake. My former co-worker was a screw-up on an epic level. You also seem to demonstrate a level of both honesty and discretion he was incapable of. Likewise, my screwball niece also earned her DD, in her case a combination of drug-dealing and sexual misconduct.
General Discharges are always administrative. Bad Conduct Discharges and Dishonorable Discharges are awarded (don’t you like the way the military puts that?) as a sentence from a court-martial. Technically, “General” in “General Discharge” is the characterizatio of service; “discharge” is the type of separation from service.
At the end of WWII, a young able-bodied male would automatically be asked to show his discharge papers in any job interview. If you hadn’t been in the service, you had to have a good reason. It was more a matter of patriotism than anything else. I guess anything less than honorable would have a lot of explaining to do though.
My grandfather was a nazi you insensitive clod! 
If you’re in business for yourself, only your boss knows or cares what discharge you have, unless it’s from VD.
That really sucks. I hope it wasn’t automatic and the government had to prove something more than the round came from your weapon. You put someone in combat long enough, and no matter how much they try to stick to training, mistakes happen. You were in a situation where not firing the moment you see an enemy fighter might mean your death - that kind of finger on the trigger, hair trigger response, things can happen.
Please note that MorenciAZ83 posted that more than three years ago.
Can we then honorably discharge this thread? I’ll salute while you lower the flag, or the boom, or whatever.
Note that there’s another current thread on a related topic, “How do find proof of service and an hornorable discharge or other than” started just yesterday (6/27/2015).