Johnson Air Force Settlement

What happened

The Air Force discharged thousands of military service members with Other Than Honorable or General service characterizations since 2001 due to misconduct attributable to post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, military sexual trauma, and other behavioral health conditions. The lawsuit alleges veterans with these conditions were systematically denied discharge upgrade status by the Air Force Discharge Review Board. The Air Force agreed to settle while denying these allegations.

Do you qualify?

Air Force, Space Force, Air Force Reserve, and Air National Guard members and former members who served during the Iraq and Afghanistan eras (October 7, 2001 through the settlement effective date) and received General or Other Than Honorable discharges; who submitted at least one discharge upgrade application on or after September 13, 2006; who have not received upgrades to Honorable; and who have diagnoses or evidence of PTSD, traumatic brain injury, other mental health conditions, military sexual assault, or sexual harassment under the Kurta Memo standard.

What you can claim

Read from the official settlement notice.

• Automatic Reconsideration of Discharge

  The AFDRB will automatically reconsider discharge decisions for qualifying applicants who submitted applications between September 13, 2015 and the Effective Date of Settlement and did not receive a full upgrade to Honorable, provided the denial was not based on the discharge date being more than 15 years before the application date. These applicants may submit additional evidence within 60 days.

• Video-Teleconference Personal Appearance Hearing

  All AFDRB applicants who request a Personal Appearance Hearing will be able to choose to participate by video-teleconference from their personal residences or other location of their own choice.

• Free Legal Representation and Medical Services Referral

  Eligible applicants are provided referral information for potential free legal representation and medical services to support their discharge upgrade applications.

Who is in the class

Members and former members of the Air Force, Space Force, Air Force Reserve, and Air National Guard who served in the military during the Iraq and Afghanistan eras, defined as those with discharge dates from October 7, 2001 through the Effective Date of Settlement, and who: were discharged from the Air Force, Space Force, Air Force Reserve, or Air National Guard with the following service characterizations: Under Honorable Conditions (General), or Under Other Than Honorable Conditions (UOTHC); but not the following service characterizations: Bad Conduct Discharges (BCDs), Dishonorable discharges, Uncharacterized discharges, or Dismissals; who, if they submitted a previous discharge upgrade application or application for reconsideration, submitted at least one such application on or after September 13, 2006; have not received upgrades of their service characterizations to Honorable; and have diagnoses of post-traumatic stress disorder ("PTSD"), Traumatic Brain Injury ("TBI"), or other mental health conditions, or have experiences of sexual assault or sexual harassment, or records documenting that one or more symptoms of PTSD, TBI, other mental health conditions, or experiences of sexual assault or sexual harassment existed/occurred during military service, under the Kurta Memo standard of liberal consideration.

Quoted from the settlement notice.

How to file

Class members in the Automatic Reconsideration Group (applications submitted September 13, 2015 to settlement effective date) will receive automatic Air Force Discharge Review Board reconsideration and can submit additional evidence within 60 days. Members from the 2006-2015 period can reapply to the AFDRB or Air Force Board for Correction of Military Records. Free legal representation and medical services information will be provided with notices.