I was a scrawny, timid 17-year-old when I walked into the Air Force recruiting office in Colorado Springs. I remember the recruiter scratching out the last question on the initial application with black ink. It asked if I was a homosexual. I was glad I didn’t have to answer.
Not long after that, I signed my life away to four years of military service (without my parents’ knowledge). I remember a strange mix of excitement and apprehension that first night of basic training. It quickly turned into terror when the TI (Training Instructor) singled me out as soon as we got off the bus. I remember him screaming at me, his face bright red as the brim of his hat hovered only a few centimeters in front of my forehead.
It was that first night that I learned the three core values of the Air Force. We had to repeat them every day. Instructors would ask us at random, trying to catch us off guard. And woe to any unfortunate recruit who didn’t answer correctly:
Integrity first. Service before self. Excellence in all we do.
This month marks the one-year anniversary of the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. DADT was first signed into law by President Clinton in 1993. The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network estimated that over the period of 18 years, 14,500 military personnel were discharged because of their sexual orientation. The SLDN also reported the Pentagon spent more than $363 million dollars implementing DADT.
In 2010, with wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and key personnel (such as Arabic translators) getting kicked out under DADT, Chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen and other military leaders stated publicly that it was time to put an end to DADT.
“I cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens,” Mullen testified before the Senate Armed Service Committee in February 2010.
And the American public agreed, with 74 percent supporting a repeal of DADT that same year.
However, the proposed legislation unearthed an abundance of doomsayers. In December of 2010, Sen. John McCain walked to the podium on the floor of the Senate. “I hope that, when we pass this legislation,” McCain said, “we will understand that we are doing great damage, and we could possibly and probably harm the battle effectiveness which is so vital to the survival of our young men and women in the military.”
On this anniversary of the repeal, a newly released study from the Palm Center revealed just the opposite, reiterating what every LGBT servicemember already knows: “The repeal of DADT has no overall negative impact on military readiness or its component dimensions, including cohesion, recruitment, retention, assaults, harassment or moral.”
The report goes on to state that the repeal has in fact “enhanced the military’s ability to pursue its mission.”
The repeal enhanced battle effectiveness, though the battle for equality is far from over. Transgender servicemembers are still banned from serving openly. Same-sex partners cannot receive military benefits. And I personally know several veterans fighting to upgrade their discharge statuses so they can wear their uniforms again.
I was a not-as-scrawny, confident 18-year-old when I graduated basic training. I could march flawlessly, fold my underwear into perfect six-inch squares, and recite the three core values of the Air Force in my sleep:
Integrity first. Service before self. Excellence in all we do.
There are now an estimated 66,000 gay military members who no longer have to violate that first core value. There are more than one million gay veterans who wish they didn’t.
It’s integrity that helps hold a squadron together. And it’s because of the repeal of DADT that our military is stronger than ever.
