DADT Question?

[sentientcitizen]

Ignorant Canadian with a question about the whole "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" thing. If someone in the USAF - from somewhere in the airmen tier, say - suspected that one of their superiors - a company or field grade officer - was a homosexual/engaged in homosexual acitivities, what would they do? File a complaint? Request a meeting with their superior

Comments

[michelel72]

I know this is late, random, and not exactly on point, but I thought I'd record it here in case anyone else needs the info for the latter parts of the process.

The news show I'm watching at the moment (The Rachel Maddow Show of Wednesday 11 August 2010), in a segment introducing additional information about Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach, offers this summary for what happens once the accusation is reported formally: Here's the way it works now if you are a US Air Force pilot getting fired by your Commander in Chief, Barack Obama, from the military under the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy. Here's how it works: Whether somebody outs you or you out yourself, whether the accusation is true or not, your case goes to a review board. Now the review board makes a recommendation on whether or not you should be fired; and if you are a particularly high-ranking person being fired from the military by Barack Obama because you are gay, that recommendation will go to - if you're in the Air Force - it will go to the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force. At that point, once the recommendation is received, the clock starts ticking. There is a ten-day period, a ten-day window, for one of three things to happen. The Secretary of the Air Force can reject the review board recommendation and say no, actually, this person is going to stay in, we are not going to separate them from the military because of this policy. So that's one option. Or, the Secretary of the Air Force could accept the recommendation and say yes, all right, we're going to kick that person out. Or, the Secretary of the Air Force could do nothing, in which case ... the review board decision stands and the person still gets kicked out.
She then observed that Fehrenbach's lawyers first learned the recommendation had reached the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force last Wednesday; they were never formally notified of the start of the ten-day period (which I mention because that presumably means such notification isn't required).

That anonymous comment above always bothered me; it suggests that the hundreds (thousands?) of military members who have been outed by third parties and separated from the military aren't more important than homophobia, no matter how highly decorated or importantly skilled so many of them have been. Sorry to vent, but the suggestion that a DADT-themed story would be unrealistic for the reasons given is one I find both inaccurate and offensive .... :(

Anyway. sentientcitizen, I know your story was about the very first part of the process rather than the elements I'm reporting here, but I hope it may prove helpful for other stories and writers.