Separation Boards

What a separation board is called, and whether you get one at all, depends on rank and branch. For enlisted service members, the proceeding is an Administrative Separation Board (also called an Administrative Discharge Board), typically triggered when a commander initiates separation and the member is entitled to a hearing, generally after six or more years of service, or any time the proposed discharge characterization is Under Other Than Honorable. It runs under AR 635-200 in the Army, AFI 36-3208 in the Air Force and Space Force, the MILPERSMAN 1910 series in the Navy, MCO 1900.16 (the MARCORSEPMAN) in the Marine Corps, and COMDTINST M1000.4 in the Coast Guard. For officers, the proceeding is a Board of Inquiry, the "show cause" board, convened on one of three statutory grounds: substandard performance of duty, misconduct or moral or professional dereliction, or derogatory information. Army officers appear under AR 600-8-24, Air Force and Space Force officers under AFI 36-3206, and Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard officers under SECNAVINST 1920.6-series regulations. Medical separations run on a parallel track: the MEB/PEB process under the Legacy or Integrated Disability Evaluation System (LDES/IDES).

At each phase of the proceeding, we work to defeat the separation outright. Where separation is inevitable, characterization becomes the whole fight, and the record built for the board (mitigation, context, character evidence) is what determines the discharge that follows the client home. Our work spans investigating the record before the board convenes, drafting written matters, calling and cross-examining witnesses at the hearing, and preparing the client to testify.