Military Ins and Outs

When a group of soldiers, furious that their duty tours had been extended, sued to get out of the military on the same day last week that a dozen former soldiers who had been bounced just because they were gay sued to get back in, it didn’t take a four-star general to see the irony -- and the waste.

The Pentagon’s troop strength increase in Iraq to 150,000 means more “stop-loss” orders. That’s the Army’s euphemism for “forget Christmas at home and don’t count on Easter either.” Grumbling in the barracks has now moved to the courthouse, where eight active-duty soldiers are arguing that the stop-loss policy is a breach of contract, extending their tours without consent.

As a Washington, D.C., federal judge considers that claim, a Massachusetts federal judge is mulling the request of the 12 former soldiers who want reinstatement. Among them is James Pietrangelo II, a decorated fighter and military attorney who served in Iraq in 2003 and volunteered for a second tour before the Army discharged him for his relationship with another man. Air Force physician Monica Hill was bounced when she requested leave to care for her terminally ill partner of 14 years, a leave automatically granted to straight soldiers.

Under the 10-year-old “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, gay soldiers can serve -- if they do not reveal their sexual orientation or engage in gay sex. The Pentagon has drummed out nearly 10,000 men and women under this bigoted policy, brushing off their commitment and squandering often costly training.

Researchers from UC Santa Barbara’s Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military have found that many gays and lesbians, including Army Ranger Brian Hughes, who helped rescue POW Jessica Lynch, served openly in Iraq and Afghanistan without problems from their comrades. The study involves a small sample, but its results echo others. Surely those findings ought to torpedo a policy that drains skilled and willing soldiers even as generals force weary and reluctant ones to stay.