God forbid an American be allowed to serve their country at all, or in a capacity for which their demonstrate the capability to serve (e.g., women Rangers).
I thought mental illness was a disqualification for service?
Just to be clear in my opinion, I am happy that ALL Americans have the opportunity to serve our country.
My fear is that this particular directive will have unintended consequences, that the Commanders and First Sergeants will have to deal with. How will they deal with Airman Numb-Nuts, after he decides that since he is failing his PT test as a "man", he wants to retest as a "women"? Stuff like this, and a hundred other issues will have to be addressed. My concern is anything that takes away from the "Mission Focus" and "Good Order and Discipline" is going to be a distraction, which will reduce unit mission effectiveness.
I included the picture of Chelsea/Bradly Manning because she/he thought she/he was a special snowflake and transmitted 3/4 of a million of pages of classified material to Wikileaks.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelsea_Manning
I thought mental illness was a disqualification for service?
My fear is that this particular directive will have unintended consequences, that the Commanders and First Sergeants will have to deal with. How will they deal with Airman Numb-Nuts, after he decides that since he is failing his PT test as a "man", he wants to retest as a "women"? Stuff like this, and a hundred other issues will have to be addressed.
I suspect most transfolk would be just as pissed at anyone trying to "jump to the other team", so to speak. I suspect if there are trans recruits, they'll make their preferences known upfront and stick to them. That's not a guarantee, as during my time in the service, I saw at least one man suddenly claim to be gay in order to get out. And this was only after being in 2 months.
Now, tell me about those dozens of other issues. Other nations have addressed the gay and trans issues without losing "Mission Focus" or "Good Order and Discipline". Some even go so far as to allow long hair!!
1. Which uniform will a trans man wear? Male uniform or female uniform?
2. Uniforms are tailored differently. A female uniform may not be available for a 6'4" John Kerry looking cross-dresser. Would that be discrimination?
3. What is going to happen when a guy shows up at formation with makeup? Different standards now for males and females. Will the each branch be forced to re-write Dress and Appearance standards?
4. Where do we billet them when only open bay tents or barracks are available while on deployment? They are usually split up male/female.
5. Military service can and is an emotional pressure cooker with a suicide rate among active duty personnel of 19.9 per 100,000 members.
DOD: Among services, Army had highest suicide rate in 2014 - News - Stripes
The latest stats show that 41% of Transfolk have attempted suicide.
Transgender Suicide Attempt Rates Are Staggering
Is this really the best environment for them to serve in?
6. We have troops deployed to Islamic nations. Some of those nations DO NOT ALLOW openly Gay of Transfolk within their borders. (Been there and seen it myself). This puts a burden on commanders to back-fill vacant positions with other members, who meet the standards of the host country Status of Forces Agreement. It also puts a stigma on the member who did not deploy, which adds to their stress level, (see #4 above).
Do we really want to force these issues in a brutally harsh military environment?
8. Which fitness standard is used for PT tests and weigh in?
9. Which standards are used to discharge members who fail PT or Weight standards?
10. How do commanders decide which bathroom is used and who watches them during mandatory urinalysis tests?
11. What happens when a Transgender wants to go Transsexual and make the change permanent? Who pays for the hormone therapy, counselling and surgery?
12. Will TriCare and VA pick-up the tab for gender reassignment?
This list may seem trivial in a civilian setting. But in the crucible of a war zone, the stress and aggravation of these issues are amplified a 1000 fold.
I am retired from military service and served with people from all walks of life. I am "PRO" anybody who wants to serve our country and carry out their duties and obligations as a professional. I had the honor of serving with members who were straight, gay, and everything in between. The key difference was that there were specific standards that we all adhered to. Now, that is all up in the air. We are going down a new uncharted road.
As for what "other nations" do... screw them.
I still stand behind my previous comments in other threads. Gender identity issues are mental issues.
This should exclude you from military service. WTF is happening to our military? It once was the greatest military power in the world. It's like they are trying to turn our military to the laughing stock of the world.
I doubt this would ever fly in Russia.
Are you an expert on gender issues? Mental issues?
Citations, please.
That's what was said about de-segregation.
Who cares what they do?
Latrines won't dig themselves.
The far left has a long and disgusting history of despising our military, and now those same leftists have the perfect tool to reduce that military into nothing more than yet another giant social experiment, plus make it such an unattractive option for most of those who would join that it'll be nearly impossible for recruiters to do their jobs.
The far left would call that a twofer.