Box Turtle Bulletin
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobby“Now you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife…”
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobbyNovember 17th, 2008
More than 100 retired generals and admirals called Monday for repeal of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on gays so they can serve openly, according to a statement obtained by The Associated Press.
“As is the case with Great Britain, Israel, and other nations that allow gays and lesbians to serve openly, our service members are professionals who are able to work together effectively despite differences in race, gender, religion, and sexuality,” the officers wrote.
I don’t know how many retired generals there are, but Wikipedia indicates that the number of generals at any given time is restricted so this may well amount to a sizeable percentage. In any case, it is a significant increase in support from prior years.
The list of 104 former officers who signed the statement appears to signal growing support for resolving the status of gays in the military. Last year, 28 former generals and admirals signed a similar statement.
President-elect Obama has promised to lift the ban. However, this is unlikely to occur early in his administration. In latest news reports he indicated that this is not a high priority item for and that he will only act after there is concensus within military leadership.
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Bill Ware
November 18th, 2008
When it comes to senior rank in the military, and how many generals / admirals there are on active duty, it all comes down to slots available. Each job description includes the anticipated rank of the person who fills the position.
While I was in the Air Force during the Vietnam era, I served as a Squadron Flight Safety Officer with the rank of Captain, while my superior, the Wing Flight Safety Officer was a Major.
On a larger scale, the head of the Tactical Air Command as it was constituted at the time was a Brigadier (one star) General, no one else in TAC held a similar rank.
As a person was promoted to a higher position or retired, then the slot and its rank would come open to his or her replacement.
As far as retired officers are concerned, there are no restrictions in numbers, a person retires at the last rank held. While a person on active duty may only hold a high rank for a few years, those who retire after 30 years service may only be in their 50’s and continue to live for quite some time, so the number of high ranking retired officers is far greater than the number on active duty.
In any case, since youth are far more accepting of gays and their rights, it does my heart good to see so many of these older retirees supporting the repeal of DADT.
If even they support our position, then the repeal of DADT is assured.
KZ
November 18th, 2008
Repealing DADT is a high priority!?! We’re fighting two wars!!!
Timothy Kincaid
November 18th, 2008
KZ,
Yes, we need every able-bodied willing patriot out there utilizing their skills to help us extract ourselves from these wars with the least damage to the world’s stability as possible.
We need good linguists and medics and strategists and foot soldiers. And if there is anything that DADT has shown us, it’s that gay men and women were among the highest honored and technically needed soldiers we had.
Gay soldiers are needed now more than ever.
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