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"The way I've heard it from Freepers who've served is that if John Kerry was honorably discharged then he was not an officer when he left the Navy. Officers are not honorably discharged. They retire or the resign their commission."

Wrong. Dead wrong.

Officers who leave the service received discharges with "HONORABLE" on them unless they resigned in disgrace (OTHER THAN HONORABLE) or as a result of court martial (DISHONORABLE).

[Delta Dave]

You are correct. Everyone who separates from Active Duty (officers, warrant officers and enlisted) all get a DD214 on separate for whatever reason--retirement, discharge, resignation, etc.

The DD214 serves two principle purposes -- Characterizes your services; Provide the Veterans Administration with information about your service that determines what benefits, if any, you are entitled too.

The key to determining the exact reason for issuance of the DD214 is a 3 digit alpha-numeric separation program number (SPN) code.

For instance: SPN 238 - Service retirement in lieu of other administrative action

Check here for numbers and definitions:
http://www.dallassecurity.com/Investigative_Services/investigative_services.html