Enter your DD-214 information and get a complete breakdown of every benefit you earned — VA healthcare priority group, GI Bill tier, home loan eligibility, state benefits, federal employment preference, and the key deadlines you must not miss.
The DD-214 — officially the Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty — is the single most important document a veteran will ever possess. It is the federal government's official record that you served, how long you served, and under what conditions you were released. Without it, you cannot file a VA disability claim, access VA healthcare, use the GI Bill, obtain a VA home loan, claim federal employment preference, or qualify for most state veteran benefits. Every benefit you earned in uniform flows through this one document, which is why losing your DD-214 can feel like losing your entire service record. Treat it accordingly.
The DD-214 contains 30 numbered blocks, but a handful determine the majority of your benefits eligibility. Block 12 captures your dates of service: 12a is the date you entered active duty, 12b is your release date, and 12c calculates your net active service — this is what the VA uses to determine your basic eligibility period for VA healthcare and GI Bill entitlement. Block 13 lists decorations, medals, badges, citations, and campaign ribbons; these are used to verify Combat Veteran status, which grants five years of cost-free VA healthcare enrollment for any condition. Block 18 (Remarks) contains important annotations including any documented combat service, Reserve or Guard activation orders, and characterization exceptions that can affect eligibility. Block 24 is the character of discharge — this block alone controls whether you unlock full federal benefits or are partially or completely locked out. Block 26 is the Reenlistment Eligibility (RE) code, which determines whether you could return to military service and, for some federal hiring programs, affects your veteran preference tier.
Block 24 is where many veterans unknowingly lose benefits. An Honorable discharge is the baseline for full benefits: VA healthcare, disability compensation, GI Bill (all chapters), VA home loan guaranty, federal employment preference, and virtually all state programs. A General discharge Under Honorable Conditions still qualifies you for VA healthcare, VA disability compensation, the VA home loan, and most state benefits — but it bars you from Chapter 33 (Post-9/11) and Chapter 30 (Montgomery) GI Bill education benefits under current law. An Other Than Honorable (OTH) discharge is presumed to be a bar to most VA benefits until the VA conducts a Character of Discharge determination; some OTH veterans do qualify, particularly if the discharge is connected to military sexual trauma (MST), PTSD, or Traumatic Brain Injury. A Bad Conduct Discharge issued by a Special Court Martial may still allow some VA healthcare access; one issued by a General Court Martial typically does not. A Dishonorable discharge is an absolute statutory bar to all VA benefits. If your discharge characterization is anything other than Honorable, speak with an accredited VSO or attorney before assuming you are ineligible.
Block 26 contains a Reenlistment Eligibility code that describes the conditions under which you left service. RE-1 means you are fully eligible to reenlist in any branch with no waiver required. RE-2 codes vary by branch but generally indicate conditional eligibility. RE-3 means you are not eligible to reenlist without a waiver — some federal law enforcement and defense contractor positions screen for this. RE-4 is a bar to reenlistment that is rarely waivable and can close certain federal career doors. Your RE code does not appear on the copy of the DD-214 issued to the veteran (Copy 1, which omits Block 26 and Block 13 for privacy); the certified long form (Copy 4) includes all blocks and is what federal employers and the VA require.
This decoder reads the key data fields from your DD-214 — dates of service, character of discharge, decorations, RE code, and component — and maps them against current VA eligibility rules, GI Bill entitlement periods, federal employment preference tiers, and state-level benefit programs. The output tells you specifically which benefits you are eligible for, which require additional steps or documentation, and which deadlines you are approaching. It removes the guesswork that causes veterans to miss benefits they earned.
Request at least three certified copies from the National Archives through milConnect (milconnect.dmdc.osd.mil) or by submitting a Standard Form 180. Store originals in a fireproof location and provide copies — never originals — to employers, state agencies, or county recorders. Many counties allow veterans to record their DD-214 with the county clerk's office at no cost, creating a retrievable public record if all other copies are lost. Digital certified copies are also available through the National Personnel Records Center and are accepted by the VA for most purposes.