What's this " Bad Conduct " discharge ?

Is this some new special discharge for War criminals that were just following orders ?

Is it the same as a Dishonorable discgarge ?

Also why no mention here about the " Special " court martials ?

Is this right , a " special court martial" is special because the max penalty is oinly a year in jail ?

So They went with " Special " so they could say they gave the max. punishment ?

beating iraqis to death or building them in naked piles.

Not as bad as a dishonorable discharge but will not be able to get the "benefits" of an honorable discharge... I knew several people that got these in Nam...

Now only a BDC or Dishonorable given by a General Courts Martial bans all benefits.

With a Special, Sivits can still apply but it would be up to the VA to decide whether or not he gets anything.

There are 3 types of courts martial.

Special

General

Summary

In a special courts martial the most prison time that can be given is 12 months. Sivits received this type of trial because he made a deal to testify against three others. Because Sivits received his BCD from a this type of trial the VA will decide whether he qualifies for any
VA benefits. But this is till listed as a felony conviction, and will always be on his record, unless he wins an appeal.

The next set will be General courts martial, the sentence is longer and the they will lose all VA benefits. Again they will have a felony conviction on their records.

Summary is the most serious of the three, if I remember correctly this is the type of trial in the military where the death penalty can be applied as punishment.

if the discharge was given by a board of officers, not a general or special court martial, can it be upgraded?