Question about Kerry's DD214

Kerry Campaign ^ | unk | usnavy

[Stopislamnow]

Some sharp cookie at Ted Nugent's site brought this up.

Why does J Effin Kerry's 214 indicate he was discharged as an Ensign, wasn't he a LTJG?

Someone? Anyone?

[Gibtx]

reduction in rank for conduct un becoming an officer

[Old Sarge]

PING?

[Faeroe]

Regular Navy rank vs. reserve rank?

[gortklattu]

ping

[Stopislamnow]

agreed, I'd go a step further and say treason, but the point is, this is from his site. Need to find quotes by him stating what rank he left the service as.

[kilowhskey]

I suspect that the 214 in question is the 214 he received when he left the enlisted reserves after completing OCS.

[TADSLOS]

Regular Navy rank vs. reserve rank?

Most probably.

[Stopislamnow]

ah, that must be it, false alarm, damn

[Mike Fieschko]

This is not a discharge.

This is the DD214 issued to Kerry when he completed OCS. He was commission as a LTJG.

Ensign is a commisisoned officer in the Navy, BTW.

Please also note that the document on Kerry's web site that you have excerpted is TWO separate DD214s, the first (which you have excerpted) from 1966, the second DD214 (page two of the two page document on Kerry's web site) is from 1970, when Kerry left active duty.

[counterpunch]

So he went from O-2 to O-1...
Interesting.
It looks like he was demoted.

[Stopislamnow]

no, his "medals" including the silver star with V are on it also.

I always was under the impression that reserve ranks were usually higher than active duty. At least in the army that was mostly the norm.

[Jewels1091]

I'm going to email my cousin who just got out of the Navy after 20 years and ask him....

[Stopislamnow]

thanks for clearing that up

[Polybius]

That particualr DD-214 is the one that Kerry recieved when he left Officer Candidate School (OCS).

He was then discharged from the enlisted ranks as an Officer Candidate (the equivalent of an enlisted E-5 rank) in order to be commissioned as an Ensign.

The record on Kerry's web page is far from complete and is designed to baffle the reader, not educate him.

Kerry Deceives News Media About His Navy Discharge on JohnKerry.com

[GoLightly]

I think that's for the end of his officer training, not the end of his active service.

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

January 1, 1970 Kerry was promoted to (full) Lieutenant, USNR

http://www.archive-news.net/Kerry/JK_timeline.html

I have no idea what this could mean.

Officers don't end up "losing rank"

[Polybius]

So he went from O-2 to O-1... Interesting. It looks like he was demoted.

No. In that particular DD-214, he went from OCS Officer Candidate (E-5) to Ensign (O-1).

See Post 15.

[investigateworld]

Looks more ( in military lingo) "discharged to accept commission".
Old rules about being enlisted vs. and "officer and a gentlemen".
Keep looking though, the dates on what the Goofus has released aren't kosher so to speak.

[kabar]

This is from Kerry's first DD214, which was issued on December 15, 1966 when he was discharged as an OCIU2 (E-5) to accept a commission in the United States Naval Reserve. Kerry accepted his Ensign Commission on Dec 16, 1966.