Faux Military Concern at The Washington Post

Posted on August 16, 2006

Today, The Washington Post expressed its “faux concern” on the U.S. Military meeting its end strength:

“Military recruiters are cutting corners to meet goals. So why do the services keep kicking out gay men and lesbians?”

From the tone of the Washington Post, you would think that “kicking out gay men and lesbians” was the number one reason for attrition in the military.

Because The Washington Post is especially concerned with the “U.S. military fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan,” here are the U.S. Army discharge statistics for 2003 that I had readily available. These are solely for the U.S. Army, they are not total Department of Defense:

US Army 2003 Discharges

Physical Disability (less than 30%) 4,929
Entry Level Training Failures 3,808
Drug Abuse 1,857
Sole parent/no care plan 1,851
Unsatisfactory Performance 997
Weight 880
Homosexuality 384
Physical Fitness Test Failure 352

For every Soldier that is discharged for homosexuality, four Soldiers are discharged for weight and physical fitness test “failures.”
Today we are losing 27 year old men that are 5′ 9″ and weigh a “porky” 180 pounds. We are losing 27 year old men who can “only” do 38 push ups and run two miles in 17 minutes 12 seconds. These soldiers that marginally fail the weight standard and/or phsysical fitness test are still very capable at performing many, if not all military occupational specialties. Further, male soldiers that are doing the identical job, in the identical office in the same unit as female soldiers are not treated the same on physical fitness tests as female soldiers and are being discharged because of a “test” that has no bearing on their job duties. Male soldiers serving in Combat Service Support and Combat Support jobs are clearly being discriminated against and they are being discharged because of it.

If The Washington Post is really are concerned about military attrition and losing fully trained soldiers, lets stop this “faux concern” and start with the biggest losses and work down.