Lets say you join the military and then you reenlist. During the reenlistment you get a discharge for misconduct characterized as other than honorable. Do you still get VA benefits? Normally you do because they were earned in the first period of service before your reenlistment began. How about if you come back in as a reservist and are kicked out for not coming to drill or AT? Again your performance in the second period should not cost you benefits that you had already earned.

The federal law most often relied on in that situation is 38 U.S.C. § 101(18), together with 38 U.S.C. § 5303 and the implementing VA regulation, 38 C.F.R. § 3.13. These provisions can allow a veteran to receive VA benefits based on an earlier period of honorable service, even if a later period ended with a bad discharge.

Here's how they work:

• 38 U.S.C. § 101(18) defines a "discharge or release" for VA purposes. If a service member was eligible for an unconditional honorable discharge at the end of an initial enlistment but reenlisted instead, the VA may treat that first period as a separate, qualifying period of service.
• 38 C.F.R. § 3.13 implements this rule. It explains when a reenlistment is considered a "conditional discharge" and when VA can recognize the first enlistment as honorable for benefit purposes, even though the final discharge after the second enlistment was other than honorable or worse.
• 38 U.S.C. § 5303 lists the statutory bars to VA benefits, such as discharge by general court-martial, desertion, or certain lengthy AWOL periods. If none of those statutory bars applies, the VA may still grant benefits based on the earlier qualifying period of service.

Example

Suppose someone:

• Enlists for 4 years.
• Completes those 4 years honorably.
• Reenlists without receiving a DD-214.
• Receives an Other Than Honorable or Bad Conduct discharge during the second enlistment.

If the person had already earned an unconditional honorable discharge at the end of the first enlistment, the VA may recognize that first period as qualifying service. Disabilities incurred during that first period may be eligible for VA compensation, even if the second period is not.