The following article describes recent trends and directives regulating the types of discharge from the U. S. Air Force, and compares the number of less than honorable discharges from the various services. We are grateful to an Air Force officer for this first hand information.

UNDESIRABLE DISCHARGE

from the Air Force.

Typical Undesirable Discharges

Here is a breakdown on 818 typical undesirable discharges:

Total Army

Navy

AF

MC

818

395

124

250

49

Homosexual

59

12

40

Fraudulent enlistment

33

20

5

6

7 2

.......

Civil court conviction (incl. J. D.)

143

26

38

59

20

Repeated offenders ....

.....

144

31

41

59

13

Desertion-a.w.o.). trial waived

3

1

Unclean habits (incl. repeated V.D.) Habitual shirker .:..

23

4

19

28

6

22

Antisocial/amoral trend

41

17

21

Drug addiction

.....

Drunkenncas intemperate use of alcohol Bad checks, indebtedness, etc. Others

1

1

.....

42

37

17 284

272

17 10

Discharges from the military service have been revised with the recent unification of the services under the Depart ment of Defense. Under the new rules governing release, not all references to sexual inversion automatically draw undesirable discharges. Some will now draw either General or Honorable Discharges depending mostly on the individual's record otherwise.

However the active invert is still doomed to being continually sought out by the services for undesirable discharge without most benefits of federal service.

Prior to the Unification Act, each service dictated its own rules on "other than honorable" discharges. The new rules set down by DOD will standardize the regulations involved making them applicable to all services.

In short, the three basic categories of homosexuals remains unchanged: Category I, a person having latent or obvious homosexual tendencies; category II, a person associating with known homosexuals; and category III, an active overt homosexual. In the past, all ser

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vices gave all three categories undesirable discharges for the most part. Under the new regulations, the first two categories (latent tendencies and association) will now receive either general or honorable discharges, depending on the previous effectiveness reports, etc., of the individual involved.

Personnel classed in the third category of overt homosexuals are still to be sought out and given undesirable discharges. This fact remains ominous even though the person involved may never have become overt except for his military experience.

It is interesting to note that only a small percentage of the total undesirable discharges are given for homosexual reasons. Of a total of 138,789 discharges given by the services in 1958, here is the general breakdown: Honorable General (Honorable Conditions)

115,130

Undesirable Bad Conduct

12,664 8,300.

2,267

Dishonorable

428

mattachine REVIEW

A breakdown of 1,000 less than honorable discharges considered to be a quality sample shows 122 were bad conduct and 818 undesirable.

Back to the overall picture of less than honorable discharges, the new regulations include:

1. Restrictions against considering activities a man engaged in before entering service. Only the person's military record will be used when figuring his type of discharge, except when preservice activities included misrepresentation or omissions in connection with the actual enlistment.

2. Power to give honorable discharges to men otherwise ineligible if they have received a personal decoration or line of-duty disability.

3. Right of the individual to make a statement on his behalf when he is recommended for unsuitability discharge. (Isn't this guaranteed in our Constitution?)

4. An undesirable discharge may be given only by an officer with general courts martial jurisdiction or higher authority. Also, the individual man must have prior notice of the action against him and a chance to ask a board hearing.

Summing up, Defense says honorable discharges are dependant on a person's proper behavior, proficiency, and performance.

Other provisions in the new rules which were effective April 15, 1959 include new possibilities of changing old discharges, upgrading them to either general or honorable discharges. However, a primary reason for the slightly more liberal attitude on less than honorable discharges is to reduce the number of them and as well, the number of them upgraded at a later date....a few less bad discharges now and less chance to upgrade the bad ones given.

This is progress, slight as it may be and as long as it has been in coming. However your author sincerely believes in the day when all discharges of inverts from the military service will be honorable for medical reasons, excepting the ones involving crimes of violence, crimes against property and certain public acts regarded as intolerable. It is interesting to note the number of less than honorable discharges given by the various services in relation to the total discharges given.

For the Navy, it is one in every 27 19