As military recruiting numbers plummet, the Biden Administration doubles down.
Some may remember when the Left first pushed back against military policies opposing gays in the armed services.
Regulating homosexuality began in the early 1920s and involved spotting effeminate characteristics during recruitment or conflicts arising between gay and straight soldiers; this led to the discharge of gay soldier. However, “Wikipedia” reports that homosexual discharges decreased during wartime.
In 1993, President Bill Clinton instituted the “Don’t ask, don’t tell,” policy. If a gay soldier kept his or her sexual orientation under wraps the military had no beef. Homosexuals could fight and bleed just like heterosexuals.
Those issues led to a greater awareness of homosexuality, prompting many gays to “come out of the closet,” whether military or civilian. That helped the eventual “healing” of families dealing with the discovery of a homosexual son or daughter.
The military was slow to accept gay soldiers because of its mission as a combat organization. For similar reasons, women in the service were also restricted in their duties.
Over time, the gay and feminist movements swayed the Pentagon to accept all able-bodied recruits as combat ready. The litmus test was passing a rigorous physical fitness test, but that held for heterosexuals as well. So, in the interest of declining recruitment numbers, the military softened its standards and placed combat readiness on par with making the high school soccer team.
But tying homosexuality to feminism was an apples-and-oranges mix. Even the Spartans of ancient Greece had that one figured out.
The issue tended to fade as technology slowly transitioned the military from hand-to-hand combat into highly sophisticated weaponry. Those who could fly a jet, operate a drone, serve on a nuclear submarine, or guide a missile were in. Thanks to computer-generated war games, recruiting went up.
Still, there was a need for down-in-the-dirt, mud-in-your-eye combat units. That led to the formation of Marine Special Forces, Green Berets, Navy Seals, and the like. Women and gays could still apply, but were cautioned not to expect special favors.
The military rolled along pretty well that way, until transgender entered the picture. A favorite GI Joe-to-GI Jane story involved Christine T. Jorgensen. Originally birthed as George William, Jorgensen entered the service as a clerical worker during World War II. After discharge, she opted for sex reassignment, but not at taxpayer’s expense.
Now, thanks to broadminded Joe Biden (no pun intended), the president has swung the military gates wide open for transgender soldiers. Besides sex reassignment therapy and surgery at taxpayer’s expense, there are other TG perks courtesy the combat services: 1) Waivers where grooming and uniform standards are required; 2) waivers for physical fitness training (waiver renewable every six months); and 3) non-deployment for up to 300 days while taking transition hormones (as reported by zerohedge.com).
Great careers in military recruiting have also come to the forefront.
For anyone expecting the Department of Defense to develop the 101st Special Forces Rainbow Berets, just be advised, the 101 will likely stand for the total number of soldiers participating and they only deploy stateside.