" An officer, however, remains an officer for life unless he resigns his commission or gets into trouble. An officer who does not resign (or lose) his commission would never be discharged.
Do you know when Kerry resigned his commission?"
This lends even more credence to the idea that he was involuntarily separated. He would never have resigned his commission on his own.
Kerry's Military Discharge. What's Kerry Hiding?
Significant documents from Kerry Campaign website, each of which is clearly an official US Navy Record document ..
http://www.johnkerry.com/pdf/jkmilservice/Request_For_History_of_Service.pdf
24 May 1986 Request for documentation of Naval Service
Lists following significant dates:
18 Feb 1966 Enlisted as an OCSA (E-2) - USNR Inactive
19 Aug 1966 Commenced active duty as an OCIU2 (E-5)
16 Dec 1966 Honorably Discharged as OCIU2 to accept commission in the United States Naval Reserve
16 Dec 1966 Accepted Commission, Ensign, United States Naval Reserve, continued active duty
16 Jun 1968 Date of Rank as Lieutenant (Junior Grade) (O-2), United States Naval Reserve
01 Jan 1970 Date of Rank as Lieutenant (O-3), United States Naval Reserve
03 Jan 1970 Released from Active Duty, Transferred to the Naval Reserve (inactive)
01 Jul 1972 Transferred to the Standby Reserve (inactive)
16 Feb 1978 Honorably Discharged from the United States Naval Reserve as a Lieutenant (O-3)
Detached 1600, 2 January 1970 ... upon the expiration of which at 2400, 3 January 1970, you will regard yourself released from all active duty and transferred to inactive duty in the US Naval Reserve
4. A review of your service record indicates that your membership in the ready reserve will soon expire. In view of this, you are strongly encouraged to complete enclosure (1) and return it via the command maintaining your service record. This should be done prior to 1 April or 1 October, whichever occurs first after the date of this correspondence.
5. b. If you do not submit enclosure (1) at this time, your transfer to the Standby Reserve-Inactive (USNR-S2) will become effective on 1 April or 1 October of this fiscal year.
The effective date of transfer to the Standby Reserve-Inactive as indicated in reference (a) is hereby modified to read 1 July 1972 vice 1 April 1972.
Prepared February 16, 1978 (effective date of discharge)
The Navy Department at this time expresses its appreciation of your past services and trusts that you will continue your interest in the naval service.
WHERE IS PAGE ONE OF THIS DOCUMENT?
July 13, 1978
The Commanding Officer, Naval Reserve Personnel Center, desires to add this expression of appreciation to that of the Secretary of the Navy and offers his best wishes for success in your future endeavors.