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The poster who said this issue should be dealt with on an individual basis? Well, I can kind of agree with that.
I ASSUME at least SOME Transgender people need hormones and if they have had a sex change operation they will need special treatments. On a battlefield it’s difficult enough to get ammo and food to soldiers. Hormones and treatments are simply not happening. Thus these soldiers cannot even serve in combat units or up close to the fighting without suffering. Even extended training sessions can cause them to miss treatments which could have serious ramifications.
If they do not take hormones or have a sex change operation, there’s no reason they cannot serve. To serve openly however is, probably at the expense of the US government who’ll be forced to pay for those treatments and sex change operations and psychological counseling that comes with all of that.
Also, in an ideal world, everybody should just join hands and sing 'Kumbaya', but in reality world, military has an unique warrior culture. They need to mesh with the infantry brotherhood, and most importantly, others need to feel comfortable serving with them. It is going to be challenging, and it perhaps is not worth it. Soldiers (especially combat soldiers) bond with each other through brotherhood, training, experiences, and sometimes, hazing. You don't want to be "different", it does you NO good being different in the military.
It's miserable being the outsider. On ships, I ended up being the "shi**y little jobs" officer. I got the collateral duties, the watch positions that no one else wanted. I counted controlled drugs, did physical fitness testing, ran the "fat boys" remedial morning runs, freed up other officers by going to briefings and coming back with the knowledge, wrote lesson plans for the Captain; was forever on shore patrol and did a very lonely dock watch in a foreign port.
Now, I did learn a lot and it did put me in an excellent position to get my provost marshal post (where I excelled)..................
...................but I don't dare go to ship reunions.
It's miserable being the outsider. On ships, I ended up being the "shi**y little jobs" officer. I got the collateral duties, the watch positions that no one else wanted. I counted controlled drugs, did physical fitness testing, ran the "fat boys" remedial morning runs, freed up other officers by going to briefings and coming back with the knowledge, wrote lesson plans for the Captain; was forever on shore patrol and did a very lonely dock watch in a foreign port.
Now, I did learn a lot and it did put me in an excellent position to get my provost marshal post (where I excelled)..................
...................but I don't dare go to ship reunions.
well, I admire you.
Most of my friends are E5, my brother was also an E5. I notice they address each other by rank and last name even in the civilian world. lol
Most of my friends are /were with the 1st and 2nd Recon Battalion. (They call themselves the fewer the prouder lol) I have a friend who was a purple heart recipient, and he was with 1st battalion, 5th Marine. (hardcore infantry guy. He is in my opinion, a true hero) He does not hang out with my other friends because they belong to the different battalion. They are all bad ass, but no, they don't share the "bond" because they belong to different units.
Like you said, being an outsider is miserable. But it is what it is.
Last edited by lilyflower3191981; 07-02-2017 at 10:07 AM..
Most of my friends are E5, my brother was also an E5. I notice they address each other by rank and last name even in the civilian world. lol
.........
That's one of those things. People are often surprised to find that I'm a Vet because I give off nothing of the usual signs. Even my "marching steps" have been long replaced by my dance moves, something I started doing when I started doing military police work.
But to take it back to the subject, what I ended up doing worked for me but it was more that I found the niche that worked with the type of person I was.......and it was the niche that the Navy needed done.
Had some interesting situations, came across some interesting situations. For example, the command started offering an extra 30 minutes at lunch to work out and one of the sailors said she would take that time to nap in her room. Her boss, retired officer now civilian, laid it out for her. When the Navy gives you time for something, you use that time as stated or not at all.
One of my patrolmen was going around that if Stevie Nicks was a witch (t'was in those Rumors album days), why couldn't he? Me: Because you are a US Navy sailor! (and not a rock star).
Had a dispatcher who somewhere in between when she was dancing to The Escape Club's "Wild, Wild West" in the office and when I ran into her a year later, she had become much more serious.
Long story short, there is room for "looseness" in the Navy. Part of that gets into "the harder you let them play, the harder they will fight"......................
.........................but there are limits as well.
That's one of those things. People are often surprised to find that I'm a Vet because I give off nothing of the usual signs. Even my "marching steps" have been long replaced by my dance moves, something I started doing when I started doing military police work.
But to take it back to the subject, what I ended up doing worked for me but it was more that I found the niche that worked with the type of person I was.......and it was the niche that the Navy needed done.
Had some interesting situations, came across some interesting situations. For example, the command started offering an extra 30 minutes at lunch to work out and one of the sailors said she would take that time to nap in her room. Her boss, retired officer now civilian, laid it out for her. When the Navy gives you time for something, you use that time as stated or not at all.
One of my patrolmen was going around that if Stevie Nicks was a witch (t'was in those Rumors album days), why couldn't he? Me: Because you are a US Navy sailor! (and not a rock star).
Had a dispatcher who somewhere in between when she was dancing to The Escape Club's "Wild, Wild West" in the office and when I ran into her a year later, she had become much more serious.
Long story short, there is room for "looseness" in the Navy. Part of that gets into "the harder you let them play, the harder they will fight"......................
.........................but there are limits as well.
Medical readiness are the key words. Nothing discriminatory about it. Many people have been medically forced out for conditions that came up while already serving too - and for the same reason (medical readiness).
Don't expect the military or the taxpayers to provide hormone therapy or gender reassignment surgery to its actively serving personnel. What is next? boob job?
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