Unfriendly Fire by Dr. Nathaniel Frank

Author:Dr. Nathaniel Frank
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780312368111
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group

UNDER THE POLICY, when a commander is faced with evidence of homosexual conduct that he or she deems “credible,” the service member is notified and given the opportunity to accept the charge or go before a hearing. The hearings are held before an administrative discharge board or, for officers, a board of inquiry, presided over by a three-member panel of appointed officers. The panel makes a recommendation to the service secretary, who decides whether to separate or retain the service member. Most such discharges are characterized as honorable; the phrase (depending on the circumstances and service branch) “homosexual conduct,” “homosexual act,” “homosexual statement,” or “homosexual admission” is stamped on the service member’s discharge papers. If the violation was conducted in certain circumstances, such as by force, with a subordinate, on a ship, or in public, the discharge can be characterized as “less than” or “other than” honorable.

The policy became law in November 1993. From the moment it took effect, on March 1, 1994, homosexual discharges began to increase. In 1994, 617 service members were discharged for “homosexual conduct.” The next year, 772. In 1996, 870 got the boot, 1,007 in 1997, 1,163 in 1998, 1,046 in 1999, and 1,241 in 2000. In 2001, a record 1,273 service members were discharged under the policy, a figure nearly double the discharge rate of 1992, the year before the law was passed. Since 2002, the first full year the United States was at war, discharge figures have dropped nearly every year. From their peak in 2001, the number slid to 906 in 2002, 787 in 2003, and 668 in 2004; it swelled to 742 in 2005, dropped again to 623 in 2006, and reached 627 in 2007. Despite the overall plunge in discharges, a total of 4,353 troops have been ousted under the policy just since 9/11. Since 1994, that number has passed 12,342. The cost to taxpayers of discharging and replacing these troops has been at least $364 million, enough to supply about 2,500 uparmored Humvees.2

The discharges covered 161 different occupational categories, including intelligence personnel, engineers, medical professionals, administrative specialists, transportation workers, and military police. Over 300 of those lost were language specialists, and more than 750 of the casualties had “critical occupations,” according to the GAO. In the summer of 2004, the Pentagon announced it would issue involuntary recalls to thousands of civilians with these same occupational specialties as the ones just wasted by firing gay and lesbian troops. It was one among countless indications of just how the anti-gay policy directly affects the capacity of the military to retain the expertise and troop strength it needs to fight in the Middle East.3

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