Separation for fitness-test failure is an administrative separation, and for a soldier with otherwise solid service it is typically characterized as Honorable or General (Under Honorable Conditions). Which one you receive matters enormously, because a fully Honorable discharge preserves Post-9/11 GI Bill eligibility and a General does not.
If you are still in and this separation is pending, the time to act is now, not after the paperwork is final. If your fitness failures happened while you carried a documented medical profile for injuries, that is exactly the situation the Disability Evaluation System exists for. Ask, in writing, for evaluation of whether your conditions meet medical retention standards, and raise it with your provider, your chain of command, and if available a soldiers counsel or legal assistance office. Being tested on days you were briefly off profile, when a year of documentation says you could not meet the standard, is a fact pattern worth putting in front of someone with authority before separation executes.
Official 2026 VA monthly compensation, including the 2.8% COLA increase.
Dependent add-ons start at a 30% rating. Child-only and dependent-parent rates: see the full 2026 pay chart.
| Rating | Monthly (2026, incl. 2.8% COLA) |
|---|---|
| 10% | $180.42 |
| 20% | $356.66 |
| 30% | $552.47 |
| 40% | $795.84 |
| 50% | $1,132.90 |
| 60% | $1,435.02 |
| 70% | $1,808.45 |
| 80% | $2,102.15 |
| 90% | $2,362.30 |
| 100% | $3,938.58 |
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Analyze my claim free →If the discharge has already happened, two tracks remain. First, characterization: if you received a General rather than Honorable, the Discharge Review Board (DD Form 293) can upgrade a characterization that was inequitable given documented medical limitations. Second, and independent of characterization, file your VA disability claim. VA benefits eligibility turns on your character of service, and both Honorable and General discharges qualify for VA health care and disability compensation. Your profile history, treatment records, and surgical records are in-service evidence of the very injuries that ended your career, which is the core of a service-connection claim.
The concrete next step: if you are within 180 days of separation, file through the Benefits Delivery at Discharge program; if you are already out, file the claim now with your service treatment records, and get an accredited VSO to review whether the characterization itself is worth challenging.
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