‘Obama’s Military’ End Days
Space Force Col. Bree Fram
Transgender Troops, Confronting Shifting Policies of Acceptance, Just Want to Serve
By Steve Beynon, Thomas Novelly and Patricia Kime
Bree Fram was an Air Force major in 2016 when word came down that the Obama administration would soon be lifting its ban on transgender troops serving in the military following a yearlong study and orders for commanders to educate themselves and their units on integrating transgender personnel.
It was during President Barack Obama’s first term in 2011 that “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the then-nearly 18-year-old ban on gay and lesbian troops serving openly, had ended. Despite some resistance in Congress, the intervening five years had gone smoothly, with few noteworthy hurdles for units adjusting to the more tolerant stance. Now, the administration wanted to open up service further.
Moments after the new policy supporting trans service members was approved, Fram sent an email to her colleagues and posted to Facebook disclosing that she identified as a woman. After clicking send, she got up from her desk, bolted to the gym and hopped on an elliptical in the lower levels of the Pentagon to work off the adrenaline, unsure of exactly what the response would be.
“I went nowhere faster than I’d ever gone in my life with all that nervous energy that I had,” she quipped.
Whenever policies tied to who can serve and how have changed in the military, be it the ending of segregation in the ranks or inclusion of women in new specialties, there were warnings from those opposed that troops wouldn’t accept their fellow service members and that unit cohesion would suffer.
But when she got back to her desk after the workout, Fram started to get a steady stream of colleagues stopping by. They shook her hand and told her, “It’s an honor to serve with you.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~
For many of the nine transgender service members who spoke with Military.com — their ranks spanning from junior soldiers to senior officers — their experiences have generally been positive. While some acknowledge the possibility of occasional mockery behind their backs, they said the overall treatment from their peers and commanders has been respectful, and they feel accepted within their formations.Yet, despite this camaraderie, some transgender service members believe that their careers may face obstacles. A number of them suspect that they have been sidelined from key training opportunities, prestigious assignments or advanced schools, with some of these setbacks seemingly stemming from commanders — often older officers — who may not have ever met a trans person before.
Career path not up to expectations for military transexuals, and it’s the commanders and doubtless SNCOs who are at fault. The same folks who remember when the US military was not a hollow shell run by DEI sycophants of far-left globalists. This doomed social experiment has gone on far too long and the fix is simple. Want to enlist and serve? Pass physical, mental and educational requirements, attend basic training and then wear the uniform correctly for starters.
No one cares what occurs off-base between consenting adults right until it becomes an on-duty problem, and then is dealt with swiftly. This impending return to sanity is long overdue.
Category: Diversity, Mental Health, Reality Check, The Stupid is Strong
