Swords to Plowshares

Veterans Discharge Upgrade Advocacy Project

Location: National

The Veterans Discharge Upgrade Advocacy Project is a partnership between two nationally renowned organizations to enhance national legal expertise on the issue of Discharge Upgrades and create strategic reference materials for legal clinics and attorneys who represent veterans before the service Discharge Review Boards (DRB) and the Board of Correction of Military Records (BCMR). With the Bob Woodruff Foundation grant, Swords to Plowshares (S2P) and Connecticut Veterans Legal Center (CVLC) will dedicate additional manpower to represent 50 veterans with bad paper discharges who have service-connected injuries that led to misconduct, such as TBI or PTSD. This representation will seek access for these men and women to benefits including medical care, GI Bill, and disability compensation. S2P and CVLC will create a best practices manual and online Continuing Legal Education (CLE) courses that reflect the lessons-learned from these cases. This is a strategic investment for BWF, and the resulting materials will be a valuable resource to legal organizations that are serving veterans nationwide.