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A military discharge is given when a member of the armed forces is released from their obligation to serve.
Typically, an honorable discharge is given when a servicemember meets one or more of several requirements.
- The contracted period of service is finished;
- An order of a superior or military court decides the term of service is over;
- The conflict is finished and the military unit is being released from active duty.
- Being passed up twice in a row for promotion when eligible, though this varies by branch of service;
- Certain other circumstances, including (in some countries) homosexuality, though in the United States this was replaced by the "don't ask, don't tell" policy in 1993.
A medical discharge is given when the service member has a medical condition that makes them unfit for military service. This may be an injury sustained in combat.
A less than honorable discharge refers to a discharge that occurs under other than honorable conditions. This can be due to generally improper conduct, conviction of a crime either in a military court martial or a civilian court, or some other inappropriate action on the part of a soldier or someone associated with that soldier.
The United States military subdivides less-than-honorable discharges into four categories, in increasing order of severity:
- general discharge;
- undesirable discharge;
- bad conduct discharge; and
- dishonorable discharge.
Undesirable discharges or worse typically disqualify the soldier from receiving veterans' benefits, and any less-than-honorable discharge — even a general discharge — usually renders the discharged soldier ineligible for unemployment insurance benefits, because such a discharge is considered tantamount to having been "fired" from the most recently-held job.
In addition, those given dishonorable discharges may permanently forfeit certain citizenship rights, including the right to legally possess a firearm (under the federal Gun Control Act passed in 1968), and the right to vote in some states.
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