So the lesson is, do good time. The thing is, it’s not that hard. You don’t have to be an exemplary soldier/sailor. I’ve seen some real screwheads get an honorable discharge. They screwed something up badly and the military said, “It wasn’t malicious, so take your honorable and we don’t want to see you again.” From what I’ve seen, you have to really do something maliciously to get an OTH. Even going to NJP/Captain’s Mast isn’t bad enough to get you an OTH if you do it as an E-1/2/3 and keep your nose clean for the rest of your enlistment.
Bottom line: don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time.
OTH is actually pretty hard to get; considering some of the crap I pulled while active.
Mines HONORABLE, and my DD-214 is clean.