That resulted in his discharge, says Daryl Gandy, who was a technical sergeant until September, because he is gay.

He disputes an Air Force inspector general's report that concluded that Col. Bruce Brown, commander of the 15th Air Base Wing at Hickam Air Force Base, used proper procedures to investigate allegations of homosexuality at the base last year.

Gandy, 35, said the military's policy was intended to stop witch hunts. "I did not 'tell,' but was, nevertheless, a victim of a very real witch hunt. The Air Force 'asked' and pursued."

A highly decorated noncommissioned officer, Gandy said the incident left him bitter. He lost retirement benefits and wonders if his future has been tarnished by the Air Force's actions.

Since his discharge, Gandy has been working as a waiter and is contemplating finishing his college education on the mainland.

Gandy was one of five Air Force members - four enlisted and one officer - who were named by Senior Airman Bryan Harris as people Harris had sex with.

Gandy and three other airmen were honorably discharged last year. The officer, Capt. Robert Saragosa, faces a court-martial March 5 on charges unbecoming an officer, fraternization and sodomy.

Gandy said he intended to make the Air Force a career and his record until then was flawless.

Most of his co-workers at Hickam and Wheeler Army Air Field knew that he was gay, but Gandy said he wasn't inclined to tell anyone of his sexual orientation, and under military policy, he didn't expect the Air Force to ask him or others.

Gandy and the Servicemembers' Legal Defense Network - a civilian gay rights organization - maintain that the Hickam investigation intruded illegally into the personal lives of the five Air Force members named by Harris.

Gandy, an Air Force Russian linguist with the 324th Intelligence Squadron, said his "co-workers were asked questions like: 'Would you be surprised to learn that Daryl is gay?' and 'Does anyone in your office know that Daryl is gay?' 'Does Daryl have a girlfriend?' 'Does Daryl frequent Hula's (a Waikiki gay bar)?'"

"None of the questions dealt with conduct," Gandy said, "but all the questions were about trying to prove that I was gay."

The inspector general's report says the interviews were held in preparation for the administrative discharge hearing for one of the individuals named by Harris and those being interviewed may have been confused by the questions.

"The Air Force inspector general pretends that these questions were not illegal attempts to learn my sexual orientation," Gandy said. "My co-workers who were questioned know better."

Hickam officials maintain that the "don't ask, don't tell" policy doesn't stop the military from investigating alleged homosexual conduct if there is credible evidence that such conduct occurred. Homosexual conduct, even if consensual, can be basis for discharge.

Harris, 26, who convicted Jan. 30, 1996, of sodomy, assault, indecent assault, and asking squadron members to lie about his sexual orientation, was sentenced to 30 months in the brig. Harris offered Hickam investigators the names of 17 service men with whom he had sex,including three Army soldiers and eight Navy sailors and Marine Corps members. Because he provided the names, his sentence was reduced. He was paroled on Jan. 7 after serving less than a year in the Ford Island brig.

But Gandy questions why the Air Force was the only military service that chose to pursue the matter. Gandy believes the Army, Navy and Marine Corps did not follow up on Harris' statements because "they knew it was a violation of the ("don't ask, don't tell") policy."

Maj. Joe Davis, Hickam public affairs spokesman, said this week that "the Air Force does not seek information on the sexual orientation of its members.

"However, when specific information on homosexual conduct is brought to our attention, as it was in this case, we will evaluate to determine a proper course of action in accordance with the Uniform Code of Military Justice."