Appeared in OUTLINES, Lambda Publications ( which is now Windy City Media Group ) , Oct. 28, 1998
by Bob Roehr
The number of gays and lesbians kicked out of the military climbed to 1,145 in 1998, even while the overall size of the military continues to shrink. It is the highest number of discharges in more than a decade.
'Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Pursue' was adopted in 1993. President Bill Clinton pitched it as 'compromise' allowing gays to serve in the military. But this marks the fifth year in a row that the number of discharges has grown under that policy, as administered by his appointees.
Discharges under 'Don't Ask' soared last year from 309 to 414 in the Air Force and from 197 to 310 in the much larger Army. The Navy showed a decrease from 413 to 345, while the Marines dipped from 78 to 76.
Release of those numbers comes on the heels of a letter by Marty Meehan, D-Mass., Connie Morella, R-Md., and 22 other members of the House to Secretary of Defense Bill Cohen, on Jan. 19. They said continued increases in discharges 'should set off alarm bells as to whether 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' is working properly.'
'These numbers are shameful,' said Dixon Osburn, co-executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network ( SLDN ) . 'Military leaders have turned a blind eye to the continued asking, pursuit, and harassment of gays, lesbians, and bisexuals serving our country.'
The Pentagon tried to downplay media coverage by releasing the numbers late on Friday afternoon, Jan. 22. DefenseLINK, the official web site for the Department of Defense and the starting point for finding U.S. military information online was last updated on Friday at 13:36. Thus, it carried no information on the discharge figures over the entire weekend.
A search of their web site using the key words 'Don't Ask' resulted in the cryptic message: 'Server error. An unexpected error occurred while running your search.' That message was repeated for each of the 14 sub-directories that the engine searches.
Flying Low
The worst offender this year is the Air Force. An article in the San Antonio Express News, which prompted Pentagon release of the discharge figures, showed that 'a record high 414 airmen' were sacked last year under 'Don't Ask.' It is the highest number for that branch of the service in more than two decades. Lackland Air Force Base, a training facility near San Antonio, accounted for 65 percent, or 271, of the discharges.
An Air Force review concluded that most of the discharges were 'unsolicited and voluntary.' It suggested that young service members were using 'Don't Ask' to get out without blemishing their record.
But Michelle Benecke isn't buying it. 'There is something terrible wrong at Lackland Air Force Base,' said SLDN's other co-executive director. The group is calling for 'in impartial investigation ... something the Pentagon itself admitted that it has no mechanism to do.'
SLDN requested a meeting in a Jan. 22 letter faxed to Lackland's commander, Brigadier General Barksdale. Later that same day Whit Peters, Acting Secretary of the Air Force, countered with an invitation to meet with him at the Pentagon on Thursday, Jan. 28, and subsequently with the general at Lackland.
'Our concern is to get to the bottom of this as quickly as possible,' said Osburn, 'But also make sure that we are being thorough and accurate about it.' He is hesitant to define exactly what an 'impartial investigation' might look like, but agreed that either an individual or a group could conduct the investigation.
Among those who might be considered is Northwestern University professor Charles Moskos. He has conducted extensive surveys of attitudes within the military and is known as 'the father of don't ask, don't tell' for his work with Congress in drafting that legislation.
Former Congresswoman Patricia Schroeder, who served on the House Armed Services Committee, is another possibility.
Naval Maneuvers
Some observers believe that the decline in Navy discharges is, at least in part, because of the bad press the Navy took over its bungled attempt to discharge petty officer Timothy McVeigh. A federal court found that Navy investigators illegally obtained McVeigh's American Online account information and violated 'Don't Ask' procedures. It ordered him retained by the service.
There are anecdotal accounts of other seamen being allowed to resign under different provisions rather than be prosecuted under 'Don't Ask.'
But the official discharge figures are only the tip of the iceberg of the impact of 'Don't Ask' in driving gays and lesbians from the military.
'I'm fed up with having to hide,' an anonymous Marine told The New York Times Magazine in a cover story on gays in the military, last June. Captain Richard Merritt, a 12-year veteran of the Corps, has since left the service. His story is a common one.
SLDN says it will cost $34 million to 'replace' those drummed out of the service last year under 'Don't Ask.' They base the calculations on estimates made by the General Accounting Office in the early 1990s.
That does not count what Osburn calls 'the huge hidden costs' of gays and lesbians who feel pressured to either resign or not reenlist despite a love of the service and financial incentives to stay.
'The military is wasting a lot of money and resources declaring war on gay men and lesbians who have served their country honorably,' said Winnie Stachelberg, political director of the Human Rights Campaign. She decried 'the increase in discharges [ which ] shows how this dismal policy continues to ruin lives.'
All of this is occurring in a context of a military increasingly unable to fulfill its needs for new recruits. Earlier in January the Joint Chiefs of Staff were before the Congress pleading for more money for pay increases and improved facilities. They did not mention ending anti-gay harassment as a way to recruit and retain more qualified personnel.
Still, one wonders, perhaps it is no coincidence that it is the Navy that has seen a decline in anti-gay discharges. That service has by far the greatest recruitment problem, a 12 percent shortfall in the last fiscal year. It recently suspended weight standards and will no longer discharge people for being overweight.
'The needs of the service' may be helping to put a dent in anti-gay practices. Historically, the military has often turned a blind eye to overt homosexuals in times of war and other emergencies, only to revert to old bigotry when those needs recede.
