# WWII discharge and reinlistment question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 25, 2012, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-discharge-and-reinlistment-question/632552 "2012-08-25T00:14:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Osip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4491bb/32.png) [@Osip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Osip)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-discharge-and-reinlistment-question/632552/1 "2012-08-25T00:14:39Z")
Cleaning up my Grandfather’s house and inventorying his estate, I found two different discharge papers, Discharged in 1943 then discharged again in 1947. The '43 discharge showed: Enlistment: 1941 Basic: Private Air school AC Discharge 1943 the '47 Does not mention the discharge in 43 It mentions completion of Air training and the rank of Lt and of course his discharge in 47 as a Capt. My question is: was a discharge and re enlistment a normal thing for those completing Pilot training? Something to do with bringing them back as an officer? Thank you in advance, Osip ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-discharge-and-reinlistment-question/632552/2 "2012-08-25T00:32:57Z")
My father’s papers showed that he was discharged from the Army in 1943, but discharged from the Air Froce in 1945. He wasn’t a pilot, or any other kind of officer. I think it must have been some sort of routine reworking of paperwork. ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-discharge-and-reinlistment-question/632552/3 "2012-08-25T01:29:16Z")
My father grows swiss chard in his garden. After I moved away from home, I almost never ate it again. So I guess you could say I was “dis-chard” in 1981. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-discharge-and-reinlistment-question/632552/4 "2012-08-25T01:42:44Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > My father’s papers showed that he was discharged from the Army in 1943, but discharged from the Air Froce in 1945. He wasn’t a pilot, or any other kind of officer. > > I think it must have been some sort of routine reworking of paperwork. Just a guess but your father may have been transferred from the Army to the Air Force in 1943 (at that time, the Air Force was still administratively part of the Army). The same type of thing might have happened to the OP’s grandfather. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-discharge-and-reinlistment-question/632552/5 "2012-08-25T01:59:25Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Just a guess but your father may have been transferred from the Army to the Air Force in 1943 (at that time, the Air Force was still administratively part of the Army). The same type of thing might have happened to the OP’s grandfather. Makes sense. My Dad’s WWII papers are all messed up as he started the war with the Army Air Corps, was transferred to the 10Mtn, then shipped to New Guinai. But they show several discharges then re-enlistments. Odd, he ended the war as a E6 (perhaps a temp promotion, but in 1947 as he hung around a while as part of the Occupation forces). Then joined up with the Natl Guard and retired as a E8. But he is buried in the Veterans cemetary as a Corporal in the Air Corps.😕 ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-discharge-and-reinlistment-question/632552/6 "2012-08-25T03:18:36Z")
> [@brujaja](#): > > My father grows swiss chard in his garden. After I moved away from home, I almost never ate it again. > > So I guess you could say I was “dis-chard” in 1981. [hijack] Swiss chard goes very well with cooked okra. I thought you’d have known that. [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Snnipe\_70E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@Snnipe\_70E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snnipe_70E)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-discharge-and-reinlistment-question/632552/7 "2012-08-25T03:43:26Z")
The US Air Force was created in 1947. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-discharge-and-reinlistment-question/632552/8 "2012-08-25T06:00:48Z")
> [@Snnipe\_70E](#): > > The US Air Force was created in 1947. As a independent branch of the armed forces, yes. But from 1941 to 1947, it was the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) and was a functionally autonomous branch of the Army - the same relationship the Marine Corps now has with the Navy. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-discharge-and-reinlistment-question/632552/9 "2012-08-25T14:36:44Z")
He may have re-enlisted. The man who used to own my house did that. After finishing his tour in the Pacific for the Navy he returned home, then after a while enlisted in the Army in served in Europe. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-discharge-and-reinlistment-question/632552/10 "2012-08-25T14:41:29Z")
Officers by their very nature are not enlisted. They are commissioned. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-discharge-and-reinlistment-question/632552/11 "2012-08-25T15:46:46Z")
So he may have been discharged, then recieved a commision as an officer when re-entering the military. ---
**Author:** ![flyguy1912](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f4b2a3/32.png) [@flyguy1912](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flyguy1912)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-discharge-and-reinlistment-question/632552/12 "2012-08-25T15:59:30Z")
I don’t know that this applies to WWII era, however, it is common practice in the army to require an additional commitment prior to receiving specialized training. Usually the soldier is discharged and immediately re-enlisted to meet the time needed. ---
**Author:** ![TXCowboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/76d3ee/32.png) [@TXCowboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TXCowboy)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-discharge-and-reinlistment-question/632552/13 "2012-08-25T16:25:10Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > So he may have been discharged, then recieved a commision as an officer when re-entering the military. This would be the case. He would have been discharged from his enlistment and then commissioned in as an officer. Also, it seems that even when you re-enlist, you are technically discharged and then re-enlisted. Its not just a continuation of your enlistment. Recently I was going through some pictures with my wife that were of my father-in-laws military career. (He is recently deceased so we can’t ask him but my MIL confirms this) We found several pictures that show his re-enlistment ceremonies and each one of them show an officer and him posing holding a discharge certificate and then in the next pictures show him swearing in for enlistment. These are all pictures stamped on the back that they were taken by an army photographer and are numbered so you can tell the sequence of them. He was in the army for 20 years, we found 3 sets of these pictures so this same thing was done at least 3 out of his 4 re-enlistments. ---
**Author:** ![UncaStuart](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncastuart/32/404_2.png) [@UncaStuart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncaStuart)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wwii-discharge-and-reinlistment-question/632552/14 "2012-08-25T19:43:59Z")
I have my Dad’s papers from 1943, and there is a similar discharge. As others have said, I expect is has to do with one’s classification as a cadet, which is a non-commissioned rank, and only after graduating from flight school are you discharged in order to accept a commission.