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#26: Separation Code. This coincides with section #28 (Narrative Reason for Separation) and typically refers to the expiration of a veteran's term of service, but other reasons include pregnancy, parenthood, disability, hardship and early release to attend school.

A Form DD 256 is a certificate of honorable discharge utilized by the U.S. Department of Defense and the different branches of military service. An honorable discharge occurs when a service person successfully completes a term of duty with one of the military branches.

Most individuals and employers want to see an Honorable Discharge indicated in line 24's Character of Service in the DD 214. This type of discharge also is key to being eligible for a host of veteran's benefits provided by federal, state and sometimes even local governments.

Normally, it is mailed (certified) to your home of record within 90 days of your ETS date along with your DD-214. If this is not the case, you can go to www.archives.gov and put in a request for any military documentation you require, but it will take some time (30-90 days).

Like the DD214, the NGB22 provides all of the pertinent information about an individual's military career, including the nature of discharge. A DD256, on the other hand, is basically just a statement confirming the individual served and was discharged under honorable conditions.

The veteran must have served on active duty for more than 180 days (i.e., for other than training purposes) in a branch of the U.S. armed forces. The term training purposes means active duty for training ( ACDUTRA ) in a Reserve or Guard component, or initial training (e.g., boot camp) in an active component.

The DD Form 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, generally referred to as a "DD 214", is a document of the United States Department of Defense, issued upon a military service member's retirement, separation, or discharge from active duty in the Armed Forces of the United States, e.g., U.S. Army, ...

What Does a DD Form 256 Look Like? This certificate has a coat of arms of a specific military institution and contains basic information about the veteran: their name and date of honorable discharge.