Our Services

Correcting Military Records

Errors in your DD214 or military service records can affect VA eligibility, employment, and more. We assist veterans in identifying errors and pursuing corrections through the appropriate administrative channels.

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Why Military Records Matter

Your DD-214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) is one of the most important documents you will have after military service. It establishes your service history, character of discharge, awards, occupational specialty, and more. Errors on the DD-214 — or in your underlying service records — can affect VA benefit eligibility, civil service preference, state veterans’ benefits, and employment.

Errors range from simple clerical mistakes (wrong dates, misspelled names, omitted awards) to substantive errors that mischaracterize service or exclude periods of active duty. The correction process depends on the nature and age of the error, and which military branch is involved.

Common Corrections We Assist With

  • Incorrect character of discharge or reason for discharge
  • Missing or incorrect service dates, component, or occupational specialty code
  • Omitted awards, decorations, or citations
  • Incorrect disability rating at separation through IDES/LDES process
  • Missing combat service designations or foreign service entries
  • Errors in narrative reason for separation that affect benefit eligibility
  • Upgrades to general or honorable discharge (overlaps with discharge upgrade petitions)

Correction Forums

The primary forum for correcting military records is the Board for Correction of Military Records (BCMR) for Army, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard veterans, and the Board for Correction of Naval Records (BCNR) for Navy and Marine Corps veterans. These boards have broad authority to correct any military record when necessary to correct an error or remove an injustice.

For clerical errors that have no dispute about the underlying facts, a simpler request to the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) or the relevant branch may suffice. We assess which avenue is most appropriate for your situation before investing time in the more extensive BCMR/BCNR petition process.

Relationship to VA Claims

Sometimes a military record correction and a VA claim proceed in parallel — or a favorable BCMR/BCNR decision creates retroactive VA entitlement. For example, if the BCMR corrects a record to show that a veteran was medically retired rather than administratively separated, this creates a basis for VA disability compensation dating to the original separation. We consider these downstream effects when advising on whether and how to pursue a record correction.