Expert: Rod Powers - 2/15/2006

Question
Rod,

A while back you told me that service members are usually investigated to verify their claims of homosexuality when they are seeking a discharge, just to make sure they are not trying to end their service early.

Charles Moskos, a professor at Northwestern University and an architect of DADT, told the Washington Post a few days ago that he believes many DADT discharges are the result of service members simply claiming homosexuality to get out early.

But based on your statement about investigations, how can this be true?  Wouldn't an investigation reveal that military personnel falsely stating their sexual orientation be discovered and denied discharge?  Are most DADT based on more thorough evidence, and therefore actually based on a person's sexual orientation?

Thanks.

Stefen Styrsky


Answer
Hi Stefen,

The professor may be right, and many such discharges may be a result of false claims.  Such investigations are not an exact science. I have personally been involved in dozens of such investigations, myself.

With that being said, it is a tricky matter to investigate.  Discharge does not require that the member had actually engaged in previous homosexual acts, when they make a DADT statement, just a sense that they are telling the truth.  The commanding officer has to make a "judgement call" about this, once he/she receives the investigation results (the investigation is not conducted by military law enforcement officials, but rather an informal "fact gathering" by a senior NCO, such as the First Sergeant, or an officer in the unit).

The investigation (inquiry might be a better word) would cover several areas, such as interviews of friends and co-workers (with consent of the member), whether or not the member had applied for other methods of discharge, recently, whether or not the unit or member had been notified of an upcoming deployment, etc.

Hope this helps!

Rod Powers
http://usmilitary.about.com