Cost of DOD Homosexual Exclusion Policy]

Because of congressional interest in determining the cost of the Department of Defense's (DOD) homosexual exclusion policy, GAO queried DOD regarding the cost of enlisted personnel recruitment, training, prosecution, and the replacement of active service members found to be homosexual and separated from the military. DOD reported that, during the last 10 years, less than four-tenths of one percent of the almost four million discharged service members were separated for homosexuality. During this period: (1) homosexuality ranked 12th among the 14 discharge categories; (2) the average length of service for all persons discharged was 5.6 years, while the average time in service for persons separated for homosexuality was 3 years; and (3) the average rank of a service member discharged for homosexuality was a grade below the average rank of all service members discharged. The average cost to get a service member to his first permanent duty station is currently estimated to be $12,299. During fiscal year 1983, investigations and prosecutorial activity dealing with homosexuality represented 2.4 percent of the total investigations and 0.5 percent of the total cost of investigations. The average cost of processing a complaint about the homosexuality of a service member was $230 during fiscal year 1983.