Don’t Ask Don’t Tell

Is Sexual Violence Endemic to the U.S. Military?

Aaron Belkin is at the nexus of the military and its challenges in dealing with sexual matters in the ranks. A professor of political science at San Francisco State University, he founded and directs the Palm Center, a think tank that conducts research into gender and military issues that is part of the UCLA law school.

His new book, …

Is “Don’t Ask” to Blame for Bradley Manning and WikiLeaks?

No single man has made gays in the military look worse than Army PFC Bradley Manning: alleged leaker of hundreds of thousands of classified military and diplomatic documents to WikiLeaks. Anyone found guilty of intentionally weakening our nation’s security is deplorable and deserves harsh punishment. The one thing still irking me about …

The Party

Only a month ago I was unable to disclose my status as a gay man in the military. Fast forward to Tuesday of last week, when I stood as a guest to a party celebrating the launch of the anthology “Our Time“, a collection of stories from other gay, lesbian, and straight servicemembers, negatively affected by the “Don’t Ask” ban on open …

The Story So Far

As of Thursday of this week, “Don’t Ask” has been dead for a month. To this point, the outreach I’ve received from peers and coworkers has been extremely positive, which appears to be the trend across all branches of the services. Contrary to all of the hullabaloo raised by those against the repeal, to my knowledge there hasn’t …

Battleland on NPR

I know I’ve been radio silent for the past few weeks. I’ve been getting my ducks in a row for the post-DADT era. Here’s a look into an interview I had with National Public Radio’s Terry Gross on ‘Fresh Air’ which aired this Wednesday. In the interview, OutServe’s Josh Seefried and I discuss what it’s been like living under “Don’t …

Back to School

Today seems to be military and veterans’ education commentary day. ROTC is back at Harvard, and both Bloomberg News and Holly Petraeus are railing on the for-profit colleges.

First the good news story: after a 40 years hiatus, ROTC is back at Harvard. The death of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell has re-opened doors long closed to the military …

Officer X: Behind the Mask

What a fascinating time to be a gay man in the U.S. military. This time last year, I was sure the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy was here to stay for the next 2 to 3 years.

These initial words from my first post on Battleland are as true today as they were when I first Photoshopped a hastily-taken picture from my iPad, …

Officer X “Comes Out” Thursday

He’s that young U.S. military pilot who has been blogging here on Battleland anonymously since May. Officer X – or Ox, as he’s known around here — has kept his identity hidden because under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” saying he was gay could have ended his military career. That formal ban had been in place for 17 years…ever since …

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