Honorable Discharge
On November 21, 1969, Kerry requested an early release from active duty in order to become a candidate for Congress. The request was approved and he was released from active duty effective January 3, 1970, and transferred to the Ready Reserve (inactive) . On March 1, 1972, the Navy offered Kerry the option of executing a written request to remain in the Ready Reserve or automatically being transferred to the Standby Reserve - Inactive; Kerry was subsequently transferred to the Standby Reserve - Inactive effective July 1, 1972 . Kerry had no obligation to attend drills or contact the Navy other than to keep his address current .
On February 16, 1978, Kerry received an "Honorable Discharge from the U.S. Naval Reserve," pursuant to former Section 1162 of Title 10 of the U.S. Code and "in accordance with the approved recommendations of a board of officers convened under the authority of Section 1163 of Title 10 of the U.S. Code to examine the official records of officers of the Naval Reserve on inactive duty and determine whether they should be retained on the rolls of the Reserve Component or separated from the naval service pursuant to the Secretarial instructions promulgated in BUPERSMAN 3830300" .
With respect to Kerry's discharge from the Naval Reserve, Rowan Scarborough of the Washington Times wrote:
"A second charge is that Mr. Kerry did not successfully fulfill his time in the Reserves, so a special board had to be convened to determine what type of discharge he should receive.
Navy documents show that in 1978, he received an "honorable discharge certificate" after a board of officers convened and reviewed his record.
Navy officials say today that the board was standard operating procedure at that time for all reservists and does not indicate Mr. Kerry did anything wrong.
After service just short of four years on active duty, Mr. Kerry transferred to the Ready Reserve and then in 1972 to the standby Reserve. He was not required to attend drills under those two designations, says a Navy official who asked not to be named."
Read more about this topic: Military Career Of John Kerry
Famous quotes containing the words honorable and/or discharge:
“A life spent in making mistakes is not only more honorable but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)
“It is wonderful when a calculation is made, how little the mind is actually employed in the discharge of any profession.”
—Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)