DADT discharges: mission-critical troops, women & minorities in disproportionate numbers

[Laughing Mirror]

The Pentagon honorably discharged 428 service members for violating the ban on openly gay troops in 2009, according to statistics reviewed by the nonpartisan Palm Center, a think tank at the University of California at Santa Barbara studying the impact of gays in the military. The figure is down from 619 service members discharged for violating the policy in 2008.

Women account for 14 percent of Army soldiers but received 48 percent of the Army's "don't ask" discharges in 2009, the study said. Six percent of the Marine Corps is female, but women accounted for 23 percent of its discharges. The Navy discharged only two officers for violating the policy in 2009, and both were Asian. The Army discharged five officers -- two were black, one was Asian and two were white, the Palm Center said.

Last year's "don't ask" discharges accounted for about one-tenth of 1 percent of all separations and did not affect the military's readiness, said congressional aides familiar with the matter who were not authorized to speak on the record.
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The Pentagon did not return requests for comment.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/federal-eye/2010/08/post_13.html?hpid=topnews


SANTA BARBARA, CA - August 16, 2010 - The military continued to fire mission-critical specialists for being gay in fiscal year 2009, according to new data released today. The data show that gay discharges included 8 linguists, 20 infantrymen, 16 medical aides, 7 combat engineers, 6 missile artillery operating crew members, and one member of the Special Forces, among others.
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The data confirm a long-term trend, and a 2005 Government Accountability Report found that the military fired 757 mission-critical specialists, including 322 linguists, in the first decade of "don't ask, don't tell." JD Smith, co-Director of OutServe, said that today's news shows how "don't ask, don't tell" jeopardizes the safety of the troops. "These discharges put our lives at risk," Smith said. "As leadership continues to fire gay service members in critical career fields, it is the troops on the ground who will pay with their personal safety." OutServe is the first-ever organization made up exclusively of currently-serving gay and lesbian troops. It now includes more than 500 members.

The new data were collected by the Defense Manpower Data Center and made available by the House Armed Services Committee. They were submitted to the Committee in compliance with current law which requires each of the services to disclose on an annual basis the number of service members who have left the service, why they left and what jobs they performed.

"The next few weeks will determine the future of ‘don't ask, don't tell'" stated Christopher Neff, Palm Center Deputy Director. "After 13,500 discharges, hundreds of millions of dollars and 17 years, it all comes down to the Senate." The Senate is expected to address the policy shortly after it reconvenes from the August recess on September 13.

http://www.palmcenter.org/press/dadt/releases/military_fired_gay_missioncritical_troops_2009_new_data_show

[xchrom]

1. Lol! Somebody unrecd this. Nt