upgrading discharce

[houstonmarine]

what state are you in? Texas
I was discharged from the Marines back in 01 for a single incident of drug use and I am starting on requesting an upgrade. Any advice, comments, or success stories?

[RealAmerican]

You will not receive an upgrade for using drugs in the Marine Corps. The Marine Corps is part of the Navy's zero tolerance policy and any use of illegal drugs, as it would be in any other job, is grounds for immediate and justifiable termination. You will only receive an upgrade to a discharge if you were either unjustly or improperly discharged. Sounds like you did not fall under either of those categories. Sorry about your bad decisions in the past and I hope you can share with the awolers on the board how it is effecting you now.

A man's country is not a certain area of land, of mountains, rivers, and woods, but it is a principle; and patriotism is loyalty to that principle. ~George William Curtis

[cyberspook]

Originally Posted by RealAmerican

You will not receive an upgrade for using drugs in the Marine Corps. The Marine Corps is part of the Navy's zero tolerance policy and any use of illegal drugs, as it would be in any other job, is grounds for immediate and justifiable termination. You will only receive an upgrade to a discharge if you were either unjustly or improperly discharged. Sounds like you did not fall under either of those categories. Sorry about your bad decisions in the past and I hope you can share with the awolers on the board how it is effecting you now.

A man's country is not a certain area of land, of mountains, rivers, and woods, but it is a principle; and patriotism is loyalty to that principle. ~George William Curtis

Hate to have to agree with this "hard liner" but it's true. You will have to prove that the discharge was either unjust or given in error. In most cases that is pretty hard to prove. The military does a pretty good job of protecting itself from appeal.

[RealAmerican]

The law requires that any job, government or not, notify the next job you try and get, if contacted, that an employee was discharged for drug use. Your DD-214 is your referral from the Corps because the Marines do not have the time or resources to field calls for every discharged Marine. I believe this was a requirement set by the Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988. There is a plethora of information out there on how to appeal your discharge but you will in fact have to prove the Corps was wrong or acted unjustly in giving you whatever type of discharge you received. You will not have much luck with being guilty of using controlled substances. I was really not trying to be a hard liner just don't like to sugarcoat things. Your advice to all these members that pollute the board with questions about how to get out by being AWOL would be a great help. Sometimes the truth is easier to swallow from someone who has walked a mile in those shoes or learned stuff the hard way themselves. Best of luck.

"When I die, I desire no better winding sheet than the Stars and Stripes, and no softer pillow than the Constitution of my country." -- Andrew Johnson