Is Homosexuality in the Military Really That Big a Deal?

I've been kind of aimless in what I want to do with this blog recently. Since leaving the cubicle behind, and working as hard as I want to at jobs I volunteered for, I haven't felt any particular need to vent. I'm not on that edge of aggravation that I used to live on.

Having said that, I want to say a few words about the situation with homosexuals not being able to serve openly in the military. It's been awhile since the Clinton administration enacted "Don't Ask Don't Tell" as a compromise between the then extant ban on homosexuals serving and their being able to serve openly. When people say they want to repeal "DADT" I don't know if they mean they want to go back to the ban or to allow homosexuals to serve openly. Personally, I think the ban should be done away with.

I remember when I reported to the Naval Hospital at Yokosuka, Japan, in September, 1967, and during the check-in process the protestant chaplain spoke at length about being careful because the Naval Intelligence Service (pre-Mark Harmon) periodically swept for homosexuals. I was just two years off the farm, and less than a week out of the US, and had no idea what that had to do with me or the chaplain, or whether or not there was a big homosexuality problem I didn't know about. I did not go to services at the hospital chapel.

Anyway, as I read the Times OpEd by General McPeak that Kay referenced yesterday morning, I was reminded of the denial that the military seemed to live under at the time. There were homosexual sailors at Yokosuka, and in Ranger, and at Miramar, etc., and there probably always had been, but in the "boys will be boys" military of the era there was denial that some of the boys preferred boys.

I always wondered at the degree of homophobia by some of the darnedest people. There was a sailor who worked for me in San Diego who I thought everyone knew and accepted was homosexual, but he was outed when he was arrested for a DUI. One co-worker who shaved his body "to be more aerodynamic while bicycling" - but who never raced on his bicycle - was aghast(!) at the news. Guys in their beers would go on about what they'd do if they were hit on by a homosexual, but I have never to this day been hit on by a guy. Go figure.

It's 2010 and women are serving in ships - submarines now (good luck with that) - and in forward operating areas. Commanders are speaking out on banning pregnancy. It's time to clear the decks and accept that people in the military are sexual beings, set boundaries for their conduct consistent with good order and discipline, and get back to work. There's a freaking war on.

A Few Words for HM2 Jaime Jaenke

I missed the announcement of the death of Jaime Jaenke when it was posted. I know that there are Seabees in Iraq, and I know that they, too, have Corpsmen assigned to them. We just hadn't lost one yet.

Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Jaime S. Jaenke, 29, of Bay City, Wis., died June 5 as a result of enemy action when her HMMWV was struck by an improvised explosive device in Al Anbar province, Iraq. She was assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 25, Fort McCoy, Wis. She had actually moved back home to Iowa Falls last July before deploying.
I'm not very highly evolved. I come from a time before women were getting blown up in their jeeps in forward areas, and seeing the pictures of Petty Officer Jaenke's funeral with her 9 year old daughter following the coffin and receiving the flag... well, I'm not used to it.
Now I read that as a matter of policy her death benefits are to be held in trust for her daughter instead of being used for her rearing as Petty Officer Jaenke had intended. One reads this piece, and hopes that an admiral did not really tell the child's grandmother that in the meantime the child "may have to learn to do without."
It all comes with the territory. People get blown up or beat down or burned out, and some of them now are mothers. You just hope that They know what They're doing this time... against all evidence to the contrary.

A Word About HM3 Lee Hamilton Deal

Petty Officer Third Class Lee Hamilton Deal, 23, of West Monroe, La., died May 17, as a result of enemy action in Al Anbar province, Iraq. He was operationally assigned to Regimental Combat Team-5, I Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), and permanently assigned to 2nd Marine Division Fleet Marine Force Atlantic, Camp Lejeune, N.C.
HM3 Deal had a life... and he might have had a good life.

Semper Fi

Thoughts on Inclusion

As I was browsing MSNBC this item caught my eye and I caught myself asking how "don't ask, don't tell" continues to be relevant.
I transferred from active duty before the "don't ask, don't tell" policy was implemented, and I never served on a... co-ed?... ship. I did serve with a few gay sailors over the years, but their issues generally did not draw attention.
As I understand the policy, the military does not seek to learn of one's homosexuality but if it does or if... heaven forbid... one is homosexual and does not remain celibate, then the crap hits the fan as it has in years gone by. So... they pretend not to care that you're gay so long as you remain deep within the closet? Apart from the dishonesty of that policy, does that not tend to exacerbate the often-used charge that gays are more liable to blackmail?
What is the downside of simply accepting gays in the military? Really now... not the hysterical stuff... What happens if the military just accepts that some of its people are gay?
Back when women remained in the rear and didn't deploy in ships I accepted as a given that having an openly gay guy in a forward outfit could be problematic. Now, in the post-Richard Hatch era, I'm just asking... what's up with that?

Thoughts on Security and Well-Being

Let me tell you, for an old Navy Chief life doesn't get much better than finding out that coffee reduces cancer risk. At least one of my (former) longstanding habits won't hasten my departure from this life.
This morning on my way into work I was reflecting on the nature of military service and the commitment we all shared. People, even in the '60s, came into the service for any number of reasons, but they all showed up... ready and willing to serve. This is one of the reasons I refuse to discuss the nature of military service with people who've never served... because they either never got the call or they chose not to answer it or whatever, but they've never felt that bond between people whose lives depended on the person next to them. We didn't necessarily like one another, but we knew we were all in the same boat.
Who cared about the respective service records of the candidates for President? Well, both Republican and Democratic senators are saying that the 2006 VA budget won't be adequate to maintain current services. The nominal increase of 1% over 2005 dollars won't even compensate for inflation. The proposal eliminates funds for long-term care and cuts about 5,000 nursing home beds. VA medical staff will be reduced by 3700 positions. Quite frankly, I think this is what happens when you elect people you wouldn't trust to cover your back.
Most people don't really care a lot about military people though... I know that and it's okay... but the rest of you can't breathe easy either. David Kuo, the former Deputy Director of the (Bush)White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives wrote regarding the failure of the Administration to fund the initiatives that, "No administration since [Lyndon B. Johnson's] has had a more successful legislative record than this one. From tax cuts to Medicare, the White House gets what the White House really wants. It never really wanted the 'poor people stuff.' "
Do you really want to let this man invest your Social Security funds for you? Never mind whether or not he could actually name five... or three... people he's met who actually need to live on their social security benefits. Do you believe that you can depend on him to be there for you? I knew then and now what a President means when he talks about Defense... Wall Street never made a dime investing in manpower. Why would anyone with sense rely on Bush to manage their social security funds? If your last name isn't Bush then you have to know that it's all about money to be made by someone!
Have you glanced at this article or one like it about the budget projections from 2010 onward?
Honestly... I keep thinking that I must be missing something... a whole bunch of you people are ready to buy (another) used car from this guy, and for the life of me I have no idea why.

Thoughts on Support... and Beer

This has been bugging me for a ltttle while now, and then there was the Super Bowl.
People... I generalize... talk about Support the Troops like they were talking about an object or something... something that meant the same thing to everyone who heard it.
People say that if you don't support whatever war the politicians have us involved in at the moment that you don't support the troops. Hello? Can we get real for a moment? Is this administration in its current budget proposal to Congress not calling for a reduced real-dollar budget for the Department of Veterans Affairs? It's good that, having sent these men and women into harm's way, they are finally seeing fit to provide better support to those in the field; but is that where support for the troops ought to end? In a values-driven society such as ours, what does it say when those troops who do get home come home to long waits for limited services at VA treatment facilities waiting for the budget ax?

Then I hear that some folks are giving Anheuser-Busch crap about their homecoming commercial...
I may be wrong, but I've been under the impression that there are a bunch of people making a decent living from the ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. I don't think the kevlar or the ceramic plates or any of the equipment and munitions are being donated. I don't think the messes are being operated by volunteers serving donated food.
Anheuser-Busch donated a bunch of beer to the troops for the game, and flashed their logo at the end of a spot recognizing men and women coming home. Right back at you, Bud... and thank you.

Priorities

This post has taken me awhile to write... I've started it a few times over a few days, but I go off on tangents.
It bugs me that people who have never served challenge the patriotism of veterans who oppose this war. By not supporting the war I'm not supporting the troops? I can't support one without the other? I would argue that the Administration is supporting the war but not the troops.
Troops aren't stupid! Do you think it's a secret and that Joe will never guess that this whole thing is a crock? Being sent halfway around the world to fight wars that may or may not need to be fought is nothing new. It wasn't even new when I went! Joe's concern is doing the 13 months... a year now?... and getting back home in one piece.
I said earlier that the troops don't pick the wars; you and I do that. I believe that, having committed those souls to combat, we incur an obligation to them... perhaps particularly where our purposes are questionable in the first place.
If Joe can't get home in one piece then he's got to worry about what happens to him and his family now that he's damaged goods... a $12,000 death benefit?... and when the nominee for Secretary of Veteran Affairs is candid about sustaining even the current benefit levels then Joe's got a reason to worry! I don't support the troops? A "success" story like this one gets reported because it's a "man bites dog" story, and Mr. Armour still has to worry about getting rehab and putting food on the table for him and his family. We're closing VA Hospitals? Good grief.
America... or a good part of it... weeps for the 1350+ troops killed in this war. If we abandon the 12,000+ who have been wounded then we should weep for ourselves because we are soulless.

I just want to mention Petty Officer 3rd Class John D. House, 28, of Ventura, Calif., died Jan. 26, in a helicopter crash near Ar Rutbah, Iraq. House was assigned to Naval Medical Clinic Hawaii, Marine Corps Units Detachment, Pearl Harbor.
Rest in peace, Doc.
Semper Fi

A Chaplain's Narrative from Mosul

It's the Holiday Season. Especially this year I'd be the last to try to take anything away from it. That being said I'm also a retired Navy Corpsman who has spent a few holidays eating nasty turkey loaf in a mess tent.
The troops don't pick the wars... you do that... you, through your elected representatives tell us that it's vital to our national interests that we pick up and travel halfway around the world to defend America... that's supposedly why they renamed the Department from the War Department to the Defense Department years back... because we're defending America. Again this year troops are engaged in advancing whatever national objectives took us to Afghanistan and to Iraq... and all the other places we're committed. It isn't politics so far as the troops are concerned... it's their lives.
This link is to the blog of a chaplain who attended to some of the casualties from the bombing of the mess hall near Mosul... 22 dead and 72 wounded. I found it to be a moving but not atypical narrative of a mass casualty evolution. it is real.
Let's try to work it into our Holiday to keep a good thought for the troops. We sent them there.