NAVY GOOD CONDUCT MEDAL

is small. The Board is not interested in your civilian life, but how you performed while in the Navy. When you leave the Navy, you want to do so with an honorable discharge. An honorable discharge has many advantages for you throughout your life. Some of the immediate advantages are the entitlements to various veterans’ benefits and rights. When you apply for a job or for entry to a school or college, you will find an honorable discharge is advantageous, and, in many instances, an absolute necessity. Most important of all, and vital for your future self-respect and peace of mind, is the knowledge that your service to your country was up to standard. Receiving an honorable or general discharge makes you eligible for all federal benefits (and they are considerable). Receiving a dishonorable or bad conduct discharge by a general court-martial disqualifies you for any benefits. A bad conduct discharge from a special court-martial even disqualifies you for any military benefits such as transportation home or payment for accrued leave. A bad conduct discharge bars you from receiving civil service employment preference, reemployment rights, or other related benefits. The Veterans’ Administration decides your entitlement to veterans’ benefits on an individual basis. Failing to receive an honorable discharge also has consequences of a more personal and far-reaching nature. You bring shame to your family. You will have difficulty explaining your dishonorable or bad conduct discharge to friends who have honorable military service. You will have difficulty getting good jobs and getting accepted into good schools. Everybody knows the Navy does not give bad conduct discharges except for serious or repeated offenses. Thus, you may have a hard time proving that people can trust you as a friend or to do a job. Receiving an honorable discharge means you can face the world proudly and secure in the knowledge that your years served in the Navy were well spent. On the other hand, receiving a dishonorable or bad conduct discharge means you must admit to wasted years in the Navy. It means you failed in your duty to your country and in meeting the high standards of the Navy. NAVY GOOD CONDUCT MEDAL Learning Objective: When you finish this chapter, you will be able to— Identify the requirements for the Good Conduct Medal. You may earn many awards while you are in the Navy. One of the most important of these awards is the Navy Good Conduct Medal. That medal is the highest precedence award among the campaign and service awards. Make every effort to earn the Navy Good Conduct Medal. Earning that award can affect your promotion. Meeting the requirements for the Navy Good Conduct Medal means you also meet the requirements for reenlistment, overseas duty, certain Navy schools, and Navy commissioning programs. Your CO can recommend you for a Navy Good Conduct Medal as a reward for 3 years of good conduct. REVIEW 9 QUESTIONS Q1. List the five types of discharges the Navy gives. a. b. c. d. e. Q2. When getting out of the Navy with less than 8 years of service, you are _________ from naval service instead of discharged. 16-32 Student Notes: