Soldier dismissed after revealing he's g
Find a Conversation
| Mon, 06-21-2004 - 11:46am |
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
Monday, June 21, 2004 · Last updated 5:09 a.m. PT
Soldier dismissed after revealing he's gay
By BETH FOUHY
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
SAN FRANCISCO -- Brian Muller, an Army bomb squad team leader who served on a security detail for President Bush, said he was dismissed from duty after deciding to tell his commander he's gay.
"I didn't do it to get out of a war - I already served in a war," Muller, 25, said in an interview. "After putting my life on the line in the war, the idea that I was fighting for the freedoms of so many other people that I couldn't myself enjoy was almost unbearable."
The exodus of soldiers like Muller continues even as concerns grow about military troop strength, according to a new study. Some 770 people were discharged for homosexuality last year under the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.
The figure, however, is significantly lower than the record 1,227 discharges in 2001 - just before the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. Since "don't ask, don't tell" was adopted in 1994, nearly 10,000 military personnel have been discharged - including linguists, nuclear warfare experts and other key specialists. (me: And yesssss...I realize that Clinton signed this...and no, I did not agree with him!)
The statistics, obtained from the Defense Manpower Data Center and analyzed by the Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military at the University of California at Santa Barbara, offers a detailed profile of those discharged, including job specialty, rank and years spent in the service.
"The justification for the policy is that allowing gays and lesbians to serve would undermine military readiness," said Aaron Belkin, author of the study, which will be released Monday. "For the first time, we can see how it has impacted every corner of the military and goes to the heart of the military readiness argument."
"Don't ask, don't tell" allows gays to serve in the military as long as they keep their sexual orientation private and do not engage in homosexual acts.(me: And yet...we have so many female soldiers returning home pregnant???)
The study, which analyzed discharges between 1998 and 2003, found the majority of those let go under "don't ask, don't tell" were active duty enlisted personnel in the early stages of their careers.
Of the nearly 6,300 people discharged during that six-year period, only 75 were officers. Seventy-one percent of those discharged were men.
The study found that the Army, the largest of the services, was responsible for about 41 percent of all discharges. About 27 percent of the discharges came from the Navy, 22 percent from the Air Force, and 9 percent from the Marines.
Hundreds of those discharged held high-level job specialties that required years of training and expertise, including 90 nuclear power engineers, 150 rocket and missile specialists and 49 nuclear, chemical, and biological warfare specialists.
Eighty-eight linguists were discharged, including at least seven Arab language specialists.
Elaine Donnelly of the Center for Military Readiness, a conservative advocacy group that opposes gays serving in the military, said the loss of gays and lesbians serving in specialized areas is irrelevant because they never should have been in those jobs in the first place.(me: {{taking a deep breath to calm myself}} Excuse me???)
"We need to defend the law, and the law says that homosexuality is incompatible with military service," Donnelly said. "There is no shortage of people in the military, and we do not need people who identify themselves as homosexual."(me: Oh really...and is that why they are in such dire straights that they are requiring reserves & others to extend tours of duty? When they are offering large incentives to either stay in the military or remain active reserves???)
There are currently about 1.5 million people serving in active duty in the military, and another 1 million in the Reserves.
---
On the Net: http://www.gaymilitary.ucsb.edu







For whatever reason, the 'edit' refused to work...so here's the link for the article.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apwashington_story.asp?category=1152&slug=Military%20Gays
The whole "don't ask, don't tell" is ridiculous, IMO. Why should it matter if someone is gay, straight or sexually ambiguous? As long as they're qualified to perform their job.
People need to
It is pretty stupid to me too.
We have made so many advancements in many areas during the history of this country, but on some issues, there are some things that still puzzle me.
Was it to bring attention to the issue? Unlikely he is one of 1000s that have been dismissed.
Was it an issue of not having equal rights?
Not really. Short of gay marriage he can do anything any single male in this country can.
If it was an issue of rights, why now develop this "moral conscience"?
He mentions he served in a war, he doesn't say which.
Maybe he wants out and this was a sure way to acheive it.
The thing I love about the military is that political correctness still has little effect on it. They have their rules and if you don't like it, pack it in and get going. Now if they could just fix the lax standards for women. (Figured this was appropriate because I'm neck deep in a discussion about the feminization of America in another post)
Jim
You have to wonder what this guy's motives were.
Quote: "I didn't do it to get out of a war - I already served in a war," Muller, 25, said in an interview. "After putting my life on the line in the war, the idea that I was fighting for the freedoms of so many other people that I couldn't myself enjoy was almost unbearable."