Military Law & Life Matters

Listen to this podcast to learn about cases decided by the Naval Discharge Review Board. Boards of Review Reading Rooms website below: https://boards.law.af.mil/

Listen to this podcast to learn about cases decided by the Army Discharge Review Board in 2022. Boards of Review Reading Rooms website below: https://boards.law.af.mil/

MLM 117 - Cases decided by the Air Force Discharge Review Board (AFDRB) related to COVID-19 Vaccine Refusal. Listen to this podcast to learn why the Air Force upgraded Veterans' discharges who were discharged with general discharges (under honorable conditions) for refusing the Covid-19 Vaccine. Read cases decided by the Service Discharge Review Boards in the Boards of Review Reading Rooms web...

Learn how two lawsuits against the Air Force and the Department of Defense may impact your discharge and DD Form 214. 1) The Air Force lawsuit "challenges the AFDRB’s systemic denial of discharge status upgrades to Air Force veterans who (1) served during the Iraq and Afghanistan era, (2) received less-than-Honorable discharges, and (3) incurred service-connected mental health conditions such...

Military Discharge Upgrades Knowledge is Power. If you are thinking about trying to upgrade your discharge and want to learn the basics on how to go about the process, take a look at Episode # 106. This episode and its shownotes give you a synopsis of all of the MLM episodes I have done in the past several years that discuss Discharge Upgrades. You may decide to prepare the application yourself af...

Attorney Pete Faerber has a long history of military service. He was commissioned into the United States Marine Corps as a 2nd Lieutenant in 1992 and served as a pilot on active duty for 10 years, with the most flight time in the AH-1W Supra Cobra. After ten years on active duty, Pete attended law school and then served as a judge advocate in the Marine Corps, retiring in January 2021 as a Lieuten...

Attorney Davis Younts talks about how the January 10, 2023 Secretary of Defense Rescission of the COVID Vaccine Mandate affects Military Members & Veterans. Davis Younts is an experienced military law attorney with 20 years of legal experience.  He is a former active duty Judge Advocate who served as the Chief of Military Justice at the Air Force JAG School and as the Staff Judge Advocate...

Attorney Shannon James is an attorney who focuses her law practice on the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. As one of America's seven uniformed services, the Commissioned Corps is an elite team of more than 6,000 well-trained, highly qualified public health professionals dedicated to delivering the nation's public health promotion and disease prevention programs within the nation's fe...

The ends don't always justify the means - the Story of an Airman who got Justice This is the story of an Airman who got justice. He started his journey at the Air Force Discharge Review Board and then took his case to the Air Force Board for Correction of Military Records where he got justice.  Remember, never ever give up; there is always hope!

The Department of Defense (DoD) Discharge Appeal Review Board (DARB)  DARB affords Service members the opportunity to request an  upgrade to the characterization of a discharge or dismissal that  was not granted by their Service Discharge Review Board (DRB) and the  Board of Corrections of Military/Naval Records (BCM/NR).  ** Note that the DARB only applies to discharges o...

A question that Veterans ask is where do they submit an application if they want to change their Reenlistment (RE) code so they can reenlist. There is some confusion because there is some guidance out there that informs Veterans to submit an application to the Board for Correction of Military or Naval Records.  This is not necessarily true. The service websites below include language regardin...

Attorney Tommy Gregory is a retired USAF Judge Advocate (JAG), a civil litigation lawyer, a Florida State Representative, a small business owner, a native of Florida and a proud American. He attended the United States Air Force Academy, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and graduated with military distinction. He also earned a law degree, with honors, from the University of Texas. T...

Ms. Hillary Walsh is an immigration lawyer and the Chief Executive Officer of New Frontier Immigration. She is also a former foster care and juvi-kid turned award-winning lawyer who has a passion for helping immigrants live free in the United States. In addition to being the CEO of her law firm, Hillary is also an adjunct law professor and an avid Phoenix Suns fan. In the past 10+ years of practic...

Military Law & Life Matters Podcasts that discuss Military Discharge Upgrades:   Episode 4:  I discuss the Discharge Review Board (DRB).  The DRB gives former military members the chance to request a review of their discharge  within 15 years of the date of separation.  The DRB reviews a veteran's  administrative discharge and can legally change the veteran's disc...

Attorney Rupe Gill is a retired USAF Judge Advocate (JAG) who is now an Estate Planning Attorney.  Upon graduation from college, Rupe joined the US Air Force and served as an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) launch officer.  In 1990, he was among a few select officers selected by the Air Force to attend law school. After Rupe completed Law School, he continued to serve in the Ai...

Meet Attorney Maren Calvert. Maren is a partner at the firm, Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt where she focuses on Real Estate and Construction Law in Vancouver, Washington. Maren attended the United States Air Force Academy where she was a Distinguished Graduate. She graduated from UCLA law school and had a very distinguished career in the USAF as both an active duty and reserve Judge Advocate (JA...

BLUF:  An Officer Grade Determination (OGD) is a very serious matter. You should definitely begin preparing before your Commander serves you the OGD notification memorandum and preferably before you submit your retirement request.  https://ferahozbek.com/ https://ferahozbek.com/officer-grade-determinations-ogds/ https://ferahozbek.com/officer-grade-determinations-the-tangibles-and-intang...

*A lawsuit was filed alleging that since the start of military operations  in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Navy and Marine Corps discharged thousands  of Sailors and Marines with Other Than Honorable ("OTH") or General  (Under Honorable Conditions) ("GEN") statuses due to misconduct  attributable to post-traumatic stress disorder ("PTSD"), traumatic brain  injury ("TBI"), mil...

Mr. Rudy Lopez never gave up and his resilience and persistent paid off.  He filed his own petition in the Court of Federal Claims and was awarded a military retirement that was unjustly stolen from him while he was on active duty.  This is Rudy's story.  Rudy is retired from the United States Navy where he served as Special Amphibious Reconnaissance Corpsman. During his impressive...

Attorney Mark Bridges Colonel (US Army, retired) opened his private law practice — Law Office of Mark A. Bridges — after a rewarding 30-year career as a military attorney in the US Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps.  Mark is a recognized expert in military justice and criminal litigation and his law practice is exclusively focused on legal representation of Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, M...

Attorney Trevor Orsinger discusses the history of VA home loans, who qualifies, and the pros and cons of a VA loan. Trevor also explains that Veterans need to check with their states as many states provide huge benefits to disabled veterans as it pertains to property tax exemptions.   Trevor Orsinger is the managing attorney of the Orsinger Law Group, P.C., a boutique litigation firm. The fir...

Michael Macomber is a partner and CEO of Tully Rinckey PLLC, a national law firm that specializes in Federal Employment Law, Military Law and Security Clearance representation.  In addition to being a Partner and CEO at Tully Rinckey PLLC, Michael is the Section Chair of the firm’s New York State Employment Group. He focuses his practice on federal and private sector employment law claims, in...

While Patrica Navarro is not an attorney, as an Army Veteran, she is a fierce advocate for Veterans by helping them navigate the VA claims process. Ms. Navarro has been working with Mr. Barry Allen, a VA Disability Law Attorney for 9 years where she specializes in Veterans' Benefits Claim Appeals--helping Veterans get the benefits they deserve! http://www.yourvaadvocate.com/ Links to the sites Pat...

Attorney Scott Friedman is a litigator based in Cleveland, Ohio. He is a former officer in the U.S. Army JAG Corps who served as a military prosecutor in Fort Hood, TX; a civil litigator in the Army’s Environmental Law Division in Fort Belvoir, VA; and deployed to Iraq as a Rule of Law and Claims attorney. After five years of active-duty service as a Army JAG, Scott entered private practice, worki...

Antoinette (Toni) O'Neill is a retired Air Force JAG who is a Partner at Parlatore Law Group, a cloud based national law firm.  She focuses her practice on the representation of military members facing adverse actions.  Toni has had enormous success in military courtrooms across all the branches, securing acquittal after acquittal for her clients. While on active duty with the Air Force,...