Transgender Military Service?

Yep,finally transgender military service may be becoming a reality!

WASHINGTON, D.C., August 5, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) – The Obama administration, is prepared to lay out the plan that will allow "transgender" soldiers to serve openly the military.

Secretary of Defense Ash Carter wrote in a public memo last month that those in charge of implementing the new policy "will start with the assumption that transgender persons can serve openly without adverse impact on military effectiveness and readiness unless and except where objective, practical impediments are identified[.]"

The dismantling of the transgender ban officially began Monday, according to USA Today, when higher-ups in the Pentagon met to discuss how best to integrate openly transgender troops into the U.S. armed forces.

Many practical aspects of the change remain undefined, including what uniforms transgender soldiers will be expected to wear and to what sort of health care they will be entitled. Carter has called for a "working group" to sort out these issues by early next year.

The Pentagon announced last month that it would terminate the military's ban on transgender people serving "openly" – i.e., dressing and behaving as members of the opposite sex.

Carter said at the time that "the Defense Department's current regulations regarding transgender service members are outdated," comparing the military's emerging policy on transgender members to its adaptation to the changing strategies of terrorists on the battlefield.

“We must ensure that everyone who's able and willing to serve has the full and equal opportunity to do so," he said.

Wowza!!!! Read more here. Most certainly the health care aspects will be interesting since the Veterans Administration already takes care of a veterans HRT care. (for the most part.) But unless I have been missing something-nothing on SRS. I wonder if it will become an addition as I am a transgender veteran.

One way or another it has been time for the military transgender hypocrisy to go away! 

Courage Under Fire/ Words?

I imagine most of you have worked for a company or were in the military and had a chance to ask a superior a question.  I'm not talking about your immediate boss, but one way up the line. Way back in the day when I was in the Army I was a "Spec 4" so I really didn't register on the radar of anyone of the "full bird" colonel rank or above (general.)  So, I never was able to ask any rhetorical questions such as "Why are we fighting this stupid war in Vietnam-Sir?"

So, I was surprised and pleased when I read this story from the
Advocate :Last Sunday, a young Navy officer serving in Afghanistan made history with an act of bravery that’s made headlines around the world.
It took place during a “commander’s call” in Kandahar, Afghanistan, where the new secretary of Defense, Ash Carter, was speaking to troops on his first visit to the country. When he finished his remarks and called for questions, Lt. Cmdr. Jesse Ehrenfeld of the U.S. Navy Medical Corps raised his hand. He thanked Carter for speaking with them, then asked, “Sir, what are your thoughts on transgender service members serving in an austere environment like this?”

There are yet other positive advances on the transgender military front:  LifeSiteNews.com) – A draft memorandum uncovered by USA Today suggests that the U.S. Army may soon make it more difficult to discharge soldiers who consider themselves transgender, a move reminiscent of policy changes made during the lead-up to the repeal of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” (DADT) policy on homosexuality.
Currently, gender dysphoria – more commonly referred to as “transgenderism” – is considered a psychosexual disorder by the U.S. military and is grounds for being dismissed from service.

Check out the links above for more.