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FPCD-78-52 1 (1979-03-30)

handle is hein.gao/gaobaaywj0001 and id is 1 raw text is: BY THE COMPTROLLER GENERAL Report To The Congress OF THE UNITED STATES AWOL In The Military: A Serious And Costly Problem Absence without leave is a breach of dis- cipline which the military says cannot be tolerated in developing and maintaining an effective fighting force. But, during the 4 years ended June 30, 1977, the military services reported 608,000 AWOLs exceed- ing 24 hours which GAO estimates cost the Government over $1 billion. The prob- lem is likely to get worse. Present practices lack credibility and dam- age the deterrent potential in making AWOL a crime. The system permits severe punishment and no punishment and there is no guidance between these two extremes. AWOL over 30 days--the most serious AWOL offense--is most frequently dealt with administratively by a discharge to avoid court-martial. The broad discretion given to those who deal with the problem results in wide differences in punishments imposed and types of discharges issued to people with similar AWOL records. GAO's recommendations to the Congress and to the Secretary of Defense are directed at developing a more credible approach for dealing with AWOL encompassing 108918 recruit quality, military justice training, jobs, punishment for the offense, and sep- aration of offenders. FPCD-78-52 41cto 'NOMARCH 30, 1979