DD-214 Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty

The DD Form 214, usually referred to as the DD214, is a United Sates Department of Defense document issued upon a military service member's retirement, separation or discharge from active military duty. EVERY prior military person was issued a DD Form 214 upon separation. If it lost, the member may request a copy from the National Personnel Records Center.

There are 8 copies of the original DD Form 214; the two issued to members are the Member 1 copy, usually referred to as the "short copy," which omits the characterization of service and reason for discharge, and the Member 4 copy (if requested), usually referred to as the "long copy," which incudes the characterization of service and reason for discharge. Therefore, a person who does not want you see his or her reason for separation or discharge will only show you the Member 1 short copy.

The DD Form 214N Report of Separation From Active Duty is issued when the member is immediately reenlising after completion of an enlistment.

Be careful, like everything else, DD-214 may be altered or complete fakes.

Items show on the DD-214 Member 4 long form that are omitted from the Member 1 short form

Block 23. Type of Separation

Provides the type of separation, such as discharge, retirement, transfer to reserves, etc.

Block 24. Character of Service

Provides the character of service:

Honorable. To receive an honorable discharge, you must have received a rating from good to excellent for your service. Even though you may only qualify for a general discharge, you may receive an honorable discharge under two circumstances:
- When you are separated because of a disability incurred in the line of duty.
- When you receive any awards for gallantry in action, heroism, or other meritorious service.
General (under honorable conditions). You receive a general discharge when you separate from the service, under honorable conditions, without a sufficiently meritorious military record to deserve an honorable discharge. This means that, although you have not been in any serious trouble, you just cannot “hack it” in the military or maintain its standards of conduct or professionalism. Some think because a general discharge is given under honorable conditions, it is as good as the honorable discharge itself. However, it is not. A general discharge indicates satisfactory service but not to the established standard of the military. After this point, you can say you were once in the military service, but you are not considered a veteran.
Other than honorable (OTH). You receive an other than honorable discharge for misconduct or security reasons. This discharge may be issued administratively without approval of a general or a special court-martial.
Bad conduct (BCD). You receive a bad conduct discharge when you separate from the service under conditions other than honorable. It may only be issued as a part of an approved sentence of a general or a special court-martial, which is equivalent to a federal criminal conviction.
Dishonorable (DD). You receive a dishonorable discharge when you separate from the service under dishonorable conditions. It may only be issued as a part of an approved sentence of a general or a special court-martial, which is equivalent to a federal criminal conviction.

Block 25. Separation Authority

Provides the regulation that authorizes the separation, such as MILPERSMAN 3855180.

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