so is it possible he resigned instead of a court martial and accepted an other than honorable discharge?
If you go to the NY Sun and clkick on "National" there is a Headline about Kerry's discharge. You need a login to get the story. Is THIS what everyone is waiting for?
I spent 20 years in the Navy and am a retired Navy Chief and you hear stuff from time to time about how the Officers were disciplined. It's suppose to be kept quiet but you know how it is.
There were times when an Naval Officer had really screwed up and the Admiral would have a little talk with him and the word would eventually get out that the Admiral gave him the choice of either Admirals Mast or putting in his papers for retirement. I only know of one who chose Admirals Mast and he wasn't a happy camper when it was over.
In cases where an officer is referred to a court martial, and the offense to be tried is not a class I felony type (murder, robbery and the like) under the UCMJ, the officer can request resignation in lieu of court martial. The officer's DD-214, though, would have a discharge code reflecting that fact.
It would be up to the court martial convening authority, through the local staff Judge Advocate General prosecuting office, to grant that resignation request.
The ultimate punishment for an officer at court martial is to be "dismissed from the service". This is usually an automatic at a General court martial, but not at a Special.
To suffer "dismissal" is humiliating in the extreme. If Kerry was successful at getting the results of any punitive action reversed by either the Court of Military Appeals (the military's "Supreme Court") or a favorable adjudication at the BCNR, a new DD-214 and discharge certificate would have been issued, with the old ones and the paperwork from these proceedings sealed.