Speaking of double standards….

| June 6, 2011

Yesterday, Secretary of Defense told a Marine Sergeant that he couldn’t opt out of his military service because he disagreed with the repeal of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy;

A Marine sergeant asked Gates, on a farewell tour, about the policy during a question and answer session at a base in southwestern Helmand province.

“Sir, we joined the Marine Corps because the Marine Corps has a set of standards and values that is better than that of the civilian sector. And we have gone and changed those values and repealed the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy,” the sergeant told Gates during the question and answer session, according to Reuters.

“We have not given the Marines a chance to decide whether they wish to continue serving under that. Is there going to be an option for those Marines that no longer wish to serve due to the fact their moral values have not changed?” he asked, according to the article.

“No,” Gates responded. “You’ll have to complete your … enlistment just like everybody else.”

“The reality is that you don’t all agree with each other on your politics, you don’t agree with each other on your religion, you don’t agree with each other on a lot of things,” he added, according to the release. “But you still serve together. And you work together. And you look out for each other. And that’s all that matters.”

Late last week Stars & Stripes reported that a gay Airman outed himself as a gay so he could get out of his military obligation;

“In this instance, the airman first class made a statement that he was a homosexual,” Air Force spokesman Maj. Joel Harper said Friday. “After making the statement but prior to the commander initiating separation action, the airman wrote the secretary of the Air Force asking to be separated.
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“After the separation action was initiated, the individual was informed of the current status of the repeal of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’ and he reaffirmed to the [Air Force secretary] that he desired his separation action be expeditiously processed.”

Defense Department General Counsel Jeh Johnson and Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Stanley Clifford also signed off on the dismissal.

“Each of these officials evaluated the case carefully, and concluded that separation was appropriate,” Harper said.

So, I guess there are standards for release from the service before a service member has finished their term of service as long as their reason is politically correct.

Category: Military issues

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Doc Bailey
CRaissi

The only “values” I know of in the Marines are Honor, Courage and Commitment. WTF does DADT have to do with those?

DaveO

Some of y’all are, or have been recruiters. Isn’t there a clause in the enlistment contract that say Uncle Sam can change the deal at any time?

In the case of the airman, were his papers signed off because of other chapterable reasons?

NHSparky

DaveO–yes, the ever popular, “Convenience of the government” bit.

defendUSA

Yep, double standard, indeed. And it PMTFO!

NHSparky

Nothing new here actually, folks. Estimates are that 75-80 percent of the DADT discharges are people trying to avoid deployment, etc.

Doc Bailey

remind me again why DADT was SUCH a big deal, that it HAD to go?

UpNorth

It was such a big deal, because O had to have some accomplishment to point to, in 2012. After all, wrecking the economy, slipping the knife to Israel, and generally dissing our allies and emboldening our enemies might not be quite enough to get him all of the votes from the “progressives”.

Doc Bailey

I didn’t see a problem with the policy as stated. Besides you’ve all see some of the Whales a PVT will bring home, even when they’re heterosexual, most of the time you DON’T WANT TO KNOW who your troop is boinking.