The Board has determined that the appellant's discharge from military service was under conditions other than honorable due to multiple instances of being absent without leave (AWOL) for a continuous period of at least 180 days. The Board concluded that these violations do not constitute minor offenses and found no compelling circumstances warranting the prolonged unauthorized absence. As a result, the character of his discharge from service constitutes a bar to VA benefits.
The deciding factor: The appellant's multiple instances of AWOL for over 180 consecutive days without valid legal defenses or compelling circumstances were deemed sufficient grounds to deny VA benefits due to the character of his discharge being under conditions other than honorable.
- Claimed conditions
- Not specified in this decision
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 31, 2000
- Citation
- 0002413
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 0002413.
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