Characteristics of Participants in the DoD Special Discharge Review Program
Abstract
This report presents a study to describe participants in the Department of Defense Special Discharge Review Program (SDRP), and to determine the extent to which (1) the eligibles were typical of soldiers serving during the Vietnam Era, and (2) the participants were representative of the overall eligible group. The eligibles (both General Discharge (GD) and Undesirable Discharge (UD) holders) were contrasted with soldiers in general who had received Honorable Discharges (HDs) during the same time frame. The characteristics of program participants, in turn, were contrasted with those of the eligibles (i.e., who had GDs or UDs from the same era but had not participated). Persons who received either GDs or UDs during the Vietnam Era (and were thus eligible for the SDRP) were different from those receiving HDs on 8 of the 16 variables measured. Among GD and UD holders, SDRP participants were different than eligibles on 3 of the 18 measures examined: length of service, pay grade, and current age. The GD participants served longer, rose higher in grade, and are currently younger than eligibles, in general. The UD participants served longer, rose higher in grade, and are currently older. Early participants in the USAF analyses resembled early SDRP participants. With the exception of date of discharge, data from the shortened eligibility period yielded essentially the same results as that from the entire era. The USAF analyses increase our confidence that the findings reported here hold for the overall program.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 1978
- Accession Number
- ADA076709
Entities
People
- D. B. Bell
Organizations
- U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences