Military gay dismissals down

[JoFerret]

http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,FL_gay_032404,00.html

WASHINGTON - The number of gays dismissed from the military under the Pentagon's "don't-ask, don't tell" policy has dropped to its lowest level in nine years as U.S. forces fought in Afghanistan and Iraq, according to a report by an advocacy group.

The military discharged 787 gays and lesbians last year, according to the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, which attributed the decline to the importance of U.S. operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The figure marks a 17 percent decrease from 2002 and a 39 percent drop from 2001, just before the conflicts began in Afghanistan and Iraq.

"You have to ask yourself, and you have to ask the Pentagon, why are the discharges going down?" said C. Dixon Osburn, executive director of the advocacy group and one of the report's authors. "When they need people, they keep them. When they don't, they implement their policy of discrimination with greater force."

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[bushisanidiot]

1. 10,000 Gays kicked out of the military so far

with the military stretched as thin as it is now, we sure could use an extra 10K troops.

REPUKES ARE HYPOCRITICAL IDIOTS.

[Florida_Geek]

2. While the Air Farce and Navy could be different

The Army needs every body it can get now.

[LagaLover]

6. That's Air FORCE

...Geek! :-)

[DarkPhenyx]

3. Um, duh?

This is also why the military uses a stop loss program.

Can we please try and not be intentionally dense?

[Free_Thinking1]

4. I wonder if.......

....it is a matter of them keeping people when they need them or gay servicemen and women not "outing" themselves in order to stay and serve their country (not trying to hijack this to pro/anti-war).

Another thing to consider is the fact that there may be a large number of fraudulent claims of homosexuality. I know when I was in we had at least one guy that I know of who was straight but claimed to be gay just to get out. People doing stuff like this make it so when someone really is gay, their claim is ignored.

Of course, I am sorry if I offend anyone, but I often wonder about a person who joins the military knowing that there is a don't ask don't tell policy and then tries to get out because they are gay. I am seriously asking for flame free answers to my question of why this would happen.

[Gildor Inglorion]

5. Serious answer...

people change their minds. Once such a person discovers how un-glamorous the military life is, then any excuse to get out might be justified in his or her own mind. I contemplated such a move many years ago (long before the "don't ask, don't tell" policy was implemented) but decided against it because I knew I could never go home again. I've often wondered if I made the right decision. I suppose I did, all things considered, but I'd never blame anyone else who decided differently.