The Board has determined that the appellant's discharge from service was due to willful and persistent misconduct, which constitutes a bar to receiving VA benefits. The claim is granted.
The deciding factor: The appellant engaged in consistent and serious misconduct throughout his military service, including multiple instances of AWOL, marijuana use, and concealment of weapons, resulting in his discharge under other than honorable conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- Marijuana use, AWOL (Absent Without Leave), Concealing brass knuckles
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 26, 2019
- Citation
- 19149850
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,890 · Granted: 32% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 19149850.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied the appeal as the appellant's character of discharge from service was a bar to VA benefits due to willful and persistent misconduct, and there is no evidence that he was insane at the time of his misconduct.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to incomplete service medical records and additional evidentiary development is needed. The appellant's mental state during service will be evaluated by a VA examiner.
- Granted
The Board has determined that new and material evidence has been received to reopen the appellant's claim regarding his character of discharge. The Board also found that the appellant was insane at the time he committed the offenses resulting in his undesirable discharge, thus removing any bar to VA benefits.
- Denied
The Board has reopened the claim regarding whether new and material evidence supports a finding that the Appellant's discharge from service under conditions other than honorable is not a bar to VA benefits. The claim remains denied as his character of discharge is considered dishonorable.
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