How convenient the discharge of gays in the military coincide with drops in military recruitment?

Rumsfeld took one look at the #'s and simply gave the order to halt the witch hunts,, for now. When recruiting goals are again met, it'll be business as usual.

Don't Ask, Don't Tell

What I found interesting in the article was the comments by the military "expert" professor who originally helped draft the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy. He attempted to write off the drop in gay discharges as due to less service members "openly" admitting (to a military authority) their sexuality. That's apologetic speak for, there never was any over-reaching witch hunt for gays on the part of the military to begin with.

This is BS for a couple of reasons.

First, since it is stated in the official DoD regulations that all that is required as proof of homosexuality is a confirming statement from a service member, you can damn well be sure - considering the unpopularity of war in genral, and this one in particular - that many legitimate (and not so legitimate) service men and women have attempted this escaping "out" (pun very much intended) method, only to be denied because the need for body-fodder is now great - and increasing... So the "good" professor can kill that noise.

Secondly, it's common knowledge if one does the math that the military, suffering woefully in the recruitment and re-enlistment departments, have officially instituted a "back door" (pun not intended) draft, by keeping active duty, National Guard and U.S. Reserve personnel past their original agreed upon enlistment periods... But the key here is, it's only desired for the undereducated, lower ranking non-commissioned enlisted personnel - the body-fodder I mentioned earlier. To back this position up, I point to the fact that many military sources concerned about personnel shortages often state that they are more worried about keeping well stocked the specialized position within the armed services. They feel they need more linguist, technicians, etc. Yet, despite this apparent need, these are many of the positions the military has most recently focused on with regard to trimming the gay fat from it's already thinned flanks... Only homo-hatred would drive you to such self-injurious behavior. Despite all this deceptive nonsense however, the low ranking military person can probably claim to be as gay as Ms. Chi Chi Rodriguez and still find themselves with a rifle forced into his/her hands and one at their head.

[ February 13, 2005, 04:03 AM: Message edited by: Lil J ]

A story about the recruitment of gays by the British Royal Navy appears in todays New York Times.

Hope this influences DADT cases here. SDLN must be cheered at the very least. I know I am.

Seems oddly relieving yet unsettling reading that they actually have a gay man who speaks officially for the Navy in support of things like equal access to housing for married couples.

If appears we might be inching closer to some kind of military "altercation" with Iran...so, the obvious question is how does Dubya expect to keep his promise of not bringing back the draft under his "reign" when the military is already stretched to the brink? Also, how would the military ever keep something like "don't ask, don't tell" in place if a draft were started again? Lots of people (gay & straight) would be pulling out the gay card to get out of service...

I am genuinely curious about something: do you American guys and girls think a draft for middle east service would work? I just can't see it myself, but God knows I've been wrong before...

Front page of the NY Times reports today that the British military is actively recruiting gays and lesbians, five years after lifting a ban(I think that's the correct number of years). I haven't read the article yet, just saw the majoy headline and that it's a large story.