DoD and VA Release Online Tool to Assist Veterans with Discharge Upgrade Process

DoD and VA Release Online Tool to Assist Veterans with Discharge Upgrade Process

The Department of Defense, through a joint initiative with the Department of Veterans Affairs, is pleased to announce the launch of a web-based tool that will provide customized guidance to veterans who desire to upgrade or change the conditions of their military discharge. “We are thrilled to have partnered with the Department of Veterans Affairs in developing this wonderful and easily-accessible tool,” said Mr. Robert Wilkie, Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness. “We support our veterans, whether they served recently or long ago, and we are excited to introduce a tool that will individualize the guidance for those who desire an upgrade or change in their military discharge,” he said.

Over the years, some veterans have criticized the review process as daunting or difficult to understand. The issuance of supplemental guidance over the past few years, while helpful to many, has the side effect of creating multiple guidance documents that can be confusing to some. Furthermore, some veterans suffer from mental health or other conditions that make tasks like these more difficult for them than for others.

This innovative tool simplifies and customizes the guidance. By answering a few short questions, veterans will know which board they need to go to, what form to fill out, any special guidance applicable to their case, where to send their application, and some helpful tips for appealing their discharge. Any veterans who believe their discharge was unjust, erroneous, or warrants an upgrade are encouraged to use this tool and then apply for review.

This tool can be found on Vets.gov at: https://www.vets.gov/discharge-upgrade-instructions. The link is also available on Military OneSource (http://www.militaryonesource.mil/) and each of the review board’s websites (listed below). The link has also been forwarded to a number of Veterans Service Organizations and Military Service Organizations in order to spread the news to as many Veterans as possible.

This initiative was one of many in recent years aimed at improving the review process and guidance available to veterans who believe they may have been unfairly discharged or received an unfair discharge characterization. The Department issued special guidance in 2011 for veterans discharged under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” or its predecessor policies. Also, the Department issued guidance related to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) in 2014.  Most recently, in February 2016, the Department redoubled its efforts to ensure veterans received the benefit of the latest guidance and statutes of limitations were liberally waived in such cases.  Subsequently, in December 2016, the Department launched an internal review of its policies and procedures. That review disclosed some gaps and confusion in the previous guidance.  In August 2017, the Department issued significant guidance clarifying how review boards will consider cases involving mental health conditions, including PTSD, TBI, sexual assault, or sexual harassment.

Mattis, Vietnamese Defense Minister Discuss Security, Other Issues

DoD News, Defense Media Activity

Defense Secretary James N. Mattis and Vietnamese Defense Minister Ngo Xuan Lich met today in Hanoi to discuss regional security issues, Pentagon chief spokesperson Dana W. White said in a statement.

At the meeting, the two leaders committed to enhance defense cooperation based on the three-year plan of action agreed upon in October, with a focus on maritime security, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief as well as peacekeeping operations, White said.

Mattis is in Vietnam to meet with leaders to discuss security challenges and shared interests as part of a trip that previously took him to meet with senior leaders in Indonesia. He will conclude his trip tomorrow in Hawaii, where he will meet with the commander of U.S. Pacific Command as well as with South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo.

Growing U.S.-Vietnamese Relationship

Consistent with the growing defense relationship between the U.S. and Vietnam, both leaders agreed to work toward a visit by the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson to Da Nang in March, White said.

They also noted recent progress on the Cooperative Humanitarian and Medical Storage Initiative and robust Coast Guard cooperation, including the arrival of a former United States Coast Guard cutter in Vietnam in December, she added.

Mattis highlighted the 2018 National Defense Strategy, which reaffirms the United States' commitment to work with partners such as Vietnam to sustain the rules-based order in a free and open Indo-Pacific region, White said.

The secretary said the United States would continue to assist Vietnam's efforts to deploy a medical unit to the U.N. Peacekeeping Mission in the South Sudan later this year, she said.

Mattis also expressed appreciation for Vietnam's close support to the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Accounting Agency mission in Hanoi, White said, as it works to recover U.S. personnel missing from the war. The secretary committed to working with Vietnam to address remaining legacy of war issues, White added.

The two leaders agreed that a strong U.S.-Vietnam defense relationship promotes regional and global security, she said. This relationship is based on mutual respect and common interests, including freedom of navigation, respect for international law, and recognition of national sovereignty.

White said this is the sixth visit to Vietnam by a U.S. of defense secretary and follows Lich's official visit to Washington in August.

Former Contractor at Military Sealift Command Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy, Bribery, and Honest Services Fraud

A former contractor at the Military Sealift Command (MSC) pleaded guilty today for accepting bribes totaling approximately $2.8 million in the course of a bribery and fraud scheme that lasted more than a decade.

Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Dana Boente for the Eastern District of Virginia; Special Agent in Charge Martin Culbreth of the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Robert E. Craig, Jr. of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) Mid-Atlantic Field Office and Special Agent in Charge Clifton J. Everton, III of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS)’s Norfolk Field Office, made the announcement.

Scott B. Miserendino, Sr., 58, formerly of Stafford, Virginia, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lawrence R. Leonard of the Eastern District of Virginia to an indictment charging him with one count of conspiracy, one count of bribery, and three counts of honest services mail fraud.  Sentencing has been scheduled for May 8 before Chief District Court Judge Rebecca Beach Smith.

For more than a decade, Miserendino was a contractor at the MSC, an entity of the U.S. Department of the Navy that supports and supplies the Navy and other U.S. military forces in their global warfighting and disaster relief missions.  According to the plea agreement, Miserendino and Joseph P. Allen, the owner of a government contracting company, conspired to use Miserendino’s position at MSC to enrich themselves through bribery.

Specifically, beginning in about 1999, Miserendino used his position and influence at MSC to help Allen obtain and expand commission arrangements with a telecommunications company from which MSC purchased maritime satellite communications services.  Through these arrangements, Allen received a commission based on the amount of services that MSC purchased from the telecommunications company.  For more than a decade, Miserendino then used his position and influence at MSC to perform official acts to benefit the telecommunications company, which through the commission agreement also benefitted Allen and his company.

Unknown to MSC or the telecommunications company, throughout the scheme, Allen paid half of the commissions he received from the telecommunications company to Miserendino as bribes.  In total, Miserendino received almost $3 million in bribes from Allen between 1999 and 2014.

For his role in the scheme, Allen, 56, formerly of Panama City, Florida, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery in April 2017, and was sentenced on July 28, 2017, to five years in prison by U.S. District Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen, in Norfolk.

The FBI, DCIS and NCIS are investigating the case.  Trial Attorneys Sean Mulryne and Molly Gaston of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Haynie for the Eastern District of Virginia are prosecuting the case.