Describing an Other Than Honorable Discharge
We frequently get calls from vets who confuse their administrative discharge “Under Other Than Honorable Conditions†(OTH), with a “Dishonorable Discharge.†Not at all the same. Getting a Dishonorable Discharge requires being court-martialed and found guilty at the highest level which is General Court Martial. (Not all convictions at that level even result in a Dishonorable Discharge) However, just being late several times can result in an OTH. Nobobdy is brought up on General Court Martial charges for that. You can see the big difference in severity.
But because of the confusion, many folks are walking around representing themselves as convicted felons, when in reality they just got fired for doing a bad job. Your military records are not publicly available and don't show up on background checks so the only way for someone to see them is if you share them or give them written permission to request a copy from the military. So mostly people only know what you tell them.
So what are some ways to more accurately describe an OTH. If you received an OTH you might not even what to use the words "other than honorable." Most people mistakenly believe there are only two options, Honorable, and Dishonorable. And because other than honorable sounds more like the latter that's what people often incorrectly assume when they hear other than honorable. Insted you can honestly tell people that you received an “administrative†discharge. If they ask whether it was honorable or dishonorable, you can explain that many people don't know that there are several other options besides those two. You could say the military wasn’t your thing so when they offered you an administrative discharge, you took it. Sounds a lot better.