Buzz from articles like this have started to make people nervous about the possibility of the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy coming back, even after it has been rescinded. I’ve heard talk like this from some members of Congress on Capitol Hill for a while, and have been both curious and concerned about the logistics of reinstating the policy.
As I mentioned in my post from last Friday, I expect there to be a significant number of gay and lesbian troops who come out on or after 20 Sep, but not everyone will. If the ban on open service is reinstated, would there be any legal justification to remove someone like me from the service, who did everything as the letter of the law states and waited until it was legal to come out?
The training I went through to become a pilot cost the government approximately $1 million. That would mean $1 million lost plus the cost of inflation to replace every pilot we lose (not to mention the hundreds of other career fields who would be losing personnel).
But let’s assume they let me stay. Would the entire DoD be forced to just pretend the time when gays served openly never happened? It would be suspicious to say the least if on the day gays and lesbians were no longer able to serve openly, we all just showed up and said “Gotcha, I was just kidding before” and went back to playing straight. If not, would every gay soldier be forced to enroll in one of these types of re-orientation camps that tries to straighten out gays?
Luckily Aubrey Sarvis, the executive director of the Servicemember’s Legal Defense Network (SLDN) assures us the repealing of the repeal of DADT is very unlikely. I just get concerned when bold statements are made concerning national defense policy while putting little thought into the logistics or the consequences.
- Officer X is a young, gay military officer who is currently serving on active duty despite the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” ban on open service. He is a pilot and regularly flies throughout the world both in and out of combat. His views are his alone and do not reflect the opinions of the U.S. military, its branches, or any organization. Follow him on Twitter @TIMEOfficerX or email him TIMEOfficerX@gmail.com
