‘This is wrong’
don’t ask don’t tell
BattlelandVeterans
“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”: External Pressure or Internal Struggle?
The end of the 60-day waiting period for the full and final repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is rapidly approaching. On September 20, the first day I can legally be “out,” I have a feeling it will initially feel just like any other day. At this point, I have no idea what country I will be in, but when the alarm on my cell phone …
BattlelandNational Security
60 Days and Counting
Thursday evening I had a series of emails sent directly to my phone. I was out with some of the members of my squadron who do not know I’m gay, so as usual I held my phone in a way that didn’t allow the screen to be read by others. The emails all said certification of the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was expected to occur on Friday,
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BattlelandNational Security
Mutual Respect and `Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’
Within minutes of my blog going live yesterday, Secretary Gates made a public statement that he was not going to certify the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) before he leaves his post on June 30. To be honest, I was crushed. I don’t understand what benefit there is in delaying the process any further.
BattlelandNational Security
Blackmailed
We are entering the final days of command under Sec Gates. The certification of DADT’s repeal is practically sitting at his desk, and I know more than a few of my brothers in arms who are anxiously waiting for him to sign it. If it doesn’t come before he leaves office on 30 June, I know all of us would appreciate the incoming …
BattlelandNavy
Can’t Tell? Then Publish!
In buildings on military installations, it is common to see a rack of news papers and magazines as you walk in. On a few of those racks now lays a magazine put out by an independent network of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered servicemembers known as OutServe.
This is the organization’s second issue of the magazine and so …
BattlelandNational Security
"Nobody Cared…"
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=220hCk1Omw0&feature=player_embedded]
…that U.S. Army Cpl. Andrew Wilfahrt, 31, of Minnesota was gay, his mother says. You should care that he was killed in Afghanistan on Feb. 27 by an improvised explosive device. And maybe watch this video of his proud parents.
BattlelandNational Security
"Don't Ask, Don't Tell…Don't Kill?"
Two of the most vexing issues in today’s Army clash in the lead article of the latest issue of its senior professional journal: letting openly gay men and women serve in uniform, and the shooting, allegedly by Army Maj. Nidal Hasan, at Fort Hood that left 13 dead in November 2009.
The link between the two? …
BattlelandNational Security
Marines Handling "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Repeal Smartly
The Marines declared themselves, in a Pentagon survey conducted last year before the congressional vote to end “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” to be the service most opposed to letting openly gay men and women serve in uniform. It’s amazing what a little leadership can do. Friday morning, the Marines’ top officer declared his 200,000-strong …
BattlelandNational Security
The Way The Military Is Supposed To Work
[youtube = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPn3V3KuhaM]
It was just over a month ago that Gen. James Amos, the Marine commandant, was fretting that repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” could be a “distraction” that could get his Marines killed on the battlefield. “I don’t want to lose any Marines to the distraction,” he said of openly gay …
BattlelandNational Security
"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Repeal Plan Rolls, Slowly, Along
The Pentagon, in its own slow way, is grappling with the coming end of the 18-year old “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy that bars openly gay men and women from serving in the U.S. military. Top defense officials held a briefing today where they put a little bureaucratic meat on the bones of the change. But they refused to be pinned down …
BattlelandNational Security
The Financial Cost of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"
The Government Accountability Office has concluded it cost U.S. taxpayers nearly $200 million to oust 3,664 service personnel for violating the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law between 2004 to 2009, years when the U.S. military was fighting in both Afghanistan and Iraq. The law, recently repealed by Congress, barred openly gay men and women …
BattlelandNational Security
And You Thought That Fight Was Over…
The Republicans on Capitol Hill are of two minds on the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” now underway:
Sen. John McCain – a vocal opponent of repealing “don’t ask, don’t tell” – said on Thursday that he will “do everything he can” to make sure the policy change to allow gays to serve openly in the military is a success