Mar 13, 2009  |  By: John Shields  | COMMENTS     

JUST BECAUSE THE flight engineers joke with you because you don’t date women doesn’t mean you have to leave the military,” my squadron commander said to me in June 1990.

I told him that wasn’t the only reason I needed to leave. I “figured out” I was gay while in the military and the institution’s gay ban precluded me from even displaying a photo of a partner on my desk.

That was more than two years before Bill Clinton was elected president, promising to end the ban on gays serving openly in the military — and the day I submitted my papers to resign my officer’s commission.

That was also two months before Saddam Hussein rolled his tanks into Kuwait. Months later came Operation Desert Shield, followed by Desert Storm, followed by the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
And “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” didn’t exist.

I was what they refer to as the “top of the pyramid,” training and evaluating aircrew members in what was called “The Purple Force,” an elite special operations unit comprised of members from across the military spectrum. We were testing GPS systems while most Americans barely knew what a mobile phone was. We were readying the United States military to fight the wars of the 21st century.

Back to reality: According to the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, since “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was enacted in 1993, more than 12,500 service members have been discharged from the United States military for being gay or lesbian.

Bill Clinton’s inauguration brought feelings of good will from many gays, partly because of his promise to end the ban on gays serving openly in the military. He forgot one thing, a concept from the ancient Chinese strategist Sun Tzu: Keep your friends close, and your enemies even closer.
Clinton’s good intentions were torpedoed by the likes of then-Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) and then-chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell.

Both Nunn and Powell now say the United States should “revisit” “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” That’s Washington-speak for “We screwed up, it should be rescinded.”

WHERE DOES THAT leave us today? Shorthanded and out-manned by our own bigotry and prejudice. Nations from Argentina to Great Britain and Colombia to Australia have found that gays serving openly in the military do not, in any way, compromise unit integrity or the mission.
Numerous studies have concluded that gays and lesbians openly serving do not undermine unit readiness, troop morale or national security.

I sometimes wonder, as I watch and write the news, if Sept. 11, 2001, would have happened if the Pentagon would have allowed the dozens of gay and lesbian translators in the military do their jobs, openly and proudly. Experts, including those on the 9/11 Commission, have identified the shortage of Arabic translators as a contributing factor in the failure to thwart the attacks. 

Maybe just one or two of those gay translators could have deciphered the intelligence before terrorists hijacked four aircraft and used them as missiles to take out the World Trade Center towers, a chunk of the Pentagon and kill thousands. We will never know, as they were discharged under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

AND NOW THE Obama administration is considering a “study” to analyze whether the law should be overturned. It is the only federal or state law that requires employers to fire employees for being openly gay or lesbian.

We have fought this fight — there is no need for contemplation or for a “study.” Most Americans agree, as do most members of the United States military that the policy is outdated and must go. One Washington Post poll shows 75 percent support a repeal. It does not matter what the sexual orientation is of our fighting men and women — it’s what they bring to the fight. Courage, honor, integrity and bravery are what count.

It is time to end this. Enough is enough. Not after we get the economy back on its feet, not after we
end conflicts across the planet, not when a sensible health care policy is enacted.

I’m not suggesting the Obama administration tackle this nightmare in the next few months. But waiting until 2010 (another election year) is a recipe for a political disaster.

SLDN says there is a “window of opportunity later this year” for the Obama administration to end the ban. I would suggest the administration seize this opportunity and make good on its promise.

Traditions, whether right or wrong, are steered like battleships — over time.

It is time to steer this particular battleship. It is time to end “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” And it’s time to let service members, straight or gay, place a picture of a loved one on their desk, whether stationed in a foreign land, or in an office at the Pentagon.

It is time to end this. Otherwise, we are only fighting ourselves.