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AUSTRALIAN female soldiers are already serving on the front line and here is the photograph to prove it. As the debate rages about lifting the ban on women serving in combat roles, small numbers of female soldiers, such as army medic Jacqui de Gelder from Canberra, are already doing the business. She was on her first combat foot patrol in the village of Chora in Afghanistan just two weeks ago. The younger sister of navy clearance diver Paul de Gelder, who lost his foot to a shark attack in Sydney Harbour, spent the previous day treating victims of a suicide...

WOMEN should be able to serve in all frontline combat units of the Australian Defence Force, including the SAS and commando units, under a controversial plan that could avert a looming recruitment crisis. The push by Defence Personnel and Science Minister Greg Combet would remove gender as a criterion for selection for specialised categories of military service. The Rudd government wants to lift the proportion of women serving in the defence force from the current level of 13 per cent, as demographic pressures bear down on defence force recruitment over the next decade. Removing any gender discrimination for serving in...

Imagine if you will, a battle scene where you are a Soldier or Marine and you are engaged in a fire fight outside of some remote village in Iraq or Afghanistan -- A fight for your lives. The loud noises, explosions, falling debris, flying shrapnel, shouting, the military radio crackling with current situation reporting and all of sudden the Soldier or Marine next to you takes a round to the shoulder and his blood is splattered on to you -- You have sustained several non life threatening cuts and scrapes that you are unaware of due to the adrenaline coursing...

NEW YORK (AP) — When it comes to dealing with gay personnel in the ranks, the contrasts are stark among some of the world’s proudest, toughest militaries — and these differing approaches are invoked by both sides as Americans renew debate over the Pentagon’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. In the United States, more than 12,000 service members have been dismissed since 1994 because it became known they were gay. Current targets for discharge include a West Point graduate and Iraq war veteran, Army National Guard Lt. Dan Choi. In Britain, on the other hand, uniformed gay and lesbian service...

"Naval Academy Professor Challenges Rising Diversity," ran the headline in The Washington Post. The impression left was that some sorehead was griping because black and Hispanic kids were finally being admitted. The Post's opening paragraphs reinforced the impression. "Of the 1,230 plebes who took the oath of office at the Naval Academy in Annapolis this week, 435 were members of minority groups. It's the most racially diverse class in the nation's 164-year history. Academy leaders say it's a top priority to build a student body that reflects the racial makeup of the Navy and the nation." Who can be against...

(AP) — WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama's national security adviser says allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military is in the early discussions. But retired Marine Gen. James Jones says it's very preliminary in a very busy administration. Jones said Sunday he's not sure if the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy would be overturned, although Obama has said he wants it eliminated. Jones said the decision to go forward lies with the president.

Elaine Donnelly, President of the Center for Military Readiness, predicted today that efforts by liberals in Congress to repeal the 1993 law regarding homosexuals in the military would not succeed. “Members of Congress are starting to take this issue seriously,” she said. “Indications are that repeal of the 1993 law would hurt the ‘Three R’s,’ recruiting, retention, and overall readiness in the volunteer force.” On Monday Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-CA) announced that she will soon re-introduce legislation to repeal the 1993 law, Section 654, Title 10 click here , which is commonly mislabeled “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” In response, Donnelly...

On Monday, buoyed by a stronger Democratic majority in Congress, Rep. Ellen O. Tauscher (D-Calif.) will introduce legislation to overturn the ban against homosexuals serving openly in the military, a Tauscher aide said. Clinton’s handling of the issue was widely condemned, and the entire fiasco became a textbook example of the sort of avoid-at-all-cost political controversy that can seriously undermine a new president. For Clinton, it knocked him off message, sapped him of auathority, damaged his popularity ratings and left him with a reputation for being wishy-washy that stuck. And it left the military with a policy that no one...

The Obama administration is telling the Pentagon and gay-rights advocates that it will have to study the implications for national security and enlist more support in Congress before trying to overturn the so-called "don't ask, don't tell" law and allow gays to serve openly in the military, according to people involved in the discussions. They said Obama, who pledged during the campaign to overturn the law, does not want to ask lawmakers to do so until the military has completed a comprehensive assessment of the impact that such a move would have on military discipline. Then, the president hopes to...

(CNSNews.com) - Although President-elect Barack Obama has vowed to open the U.S. armed forces to homosexuals, he cannot fulfill this promise unless Congress passes new legislation repealing the existing statute that expressly prohibits homosexuals from serving in the military.   Legislation to do this will be proposed in the current Congress by Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.).   On Jan. 9, the Obama transition office posted a video on its website, Change.gov, showing Robert Gibbs, the incoming White House press secretary, answering a series of questions that had been submitted by the public.    One was about the so-called “don’t...

As Barack Obama prepares to be sworn in as commander in chief on Jan. 20, homosexual-rights activists are gleeful about changes he will bring to the armed services. Based on his campaign promises, Obama is expected to overturn the military's policy regarding sexual conduct. Commonly referred to as "don't ask, don't tell," the military prohibits the service of openly practicing homosexuals. This policy was created early in the Clinton administration after a long and divisive fight, and the hard-fought compromise has drawn the ire of liberals such as Obama ever since. If Barack Obama stays true to his campaign promises,...

WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama will allow gays to serve openly in the military by overturning the controversial "don't ask, don't tell" policy that marred President Clinton's first days in office, according to incoming White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. The startling pronouncement, which could re-open a dormant battle in the culture wars and distract from other elements of Obama's agenda, came during a Gibbs exchange with members of the public who sent in questions that were answered on YouTube.

President Obama will end the 15-year-old "don't ask, don't tell" policy that has prevented homosexual and bisexual men and women from serving openly within the U.S. military, a spokesman for the president-elect said. Obama said during the campaign that he opposed the policy, but since his election in November has made statements that have been interpreted as backpedaling. On Friday, however, Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs, responding on the transition team's Web site to a Michigan resident who asked if the new administration planned to get rid of the policy, said: "You don't hear politicians give a one-word answer much. But...

A conservative military watchdog is very concerned about a recent survey of military personnel that indicates a significant number of service members might leave the all-volunteer force if the ban on open homosexuals in the military is lifted. The annual survey was conducted by the Military Times, which once again asked active duty personnel if they oppose the effort led by Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher (D-California) to repeal the 1993 law -- Section 654, Title 10 -- which clearly states that open homosexuals are not allowed in the military. Approximately 58 percent of the respondents indicated that they were in favor...

A conservative pro-family leader believes the Obama administration will move sooner rather than later to attempt to repeal the law that forbids homosexuals from serving in the military. In recent weeks there have been conflicting reports about a timetable for the new, more heavily Democratic-controlled Congress to try to repeal the 1993 law that bans homosexuals from the military. The Washington Times reported that president-elect Barack Obama will not move for months, perhaps not until 2010, to ask Congress to repeal the ban. The paper quoted two sources who advised the Obama transition team about the potentially explosive issue. But...

President-elect Barack Obama will not move for months, and perhaps not until 2010, to ask Congress to end the military's decades-old ban on open homosexuals in the ranks, two people who have advised the Obama transition team on this issue say. Repealing the ban was an Obama campaign promise. However, Mr. Obama first wants to confer with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and his new political appointees at the Pentagon to reach a consensus and then present legislation to Congress, the advisers said. "I think 2009 is about foundation building and reaching consensus," said Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of the...

With the DNC platform supporting gays serving openly in the military, the question arises, can we afford it? Logically, the number of gays would increase in the military if they could serve openly. With that comes the greater opportunity for AIDS/HIV. Are we prepared to classify AIDS/HIV as a service-related disability and provide a lifetime of treatment for practicing unsafe sex? No doubt, the homosexual lobby will reiterate the lie that AIDS?HIV is not just a gay disease, but anyone with an ounce of sense knows how it is primarily spread. What abour housing for gay couples, the officers and...

Today Congress is holding its first hearing in 15 years on the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy barring bisexuals, gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military. The hearings, called by a House Armed Services subcommittee, are likely to be more notable for the fact that they are being held at all rather than anything of substance they may produce. The simple fact that the hearings are taking place offers the most significant indication yet that the U.S. is finally reconsidering its strange policy of enforced hypocrisy that came to be called "Don't ask, don't tell." The hearings should...

Democrats are preparing next year to lift the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" ban on gays in the military, an uneasy culture-war compromise instituted under the last Democratic administration, should Sen. Barack Obama win the presidency. Rep. Ellen Tauscher, the Walnut Creek Democrat, said a hearing Wednesday by a House Armed Services subcommittee is aimed at educating Congress and the public in preparation for a full-scale push to end the policy, first imposed in 1993 under President Bill Clinton, in the next Congress. By then, Democrats expect to have won the White House and to have expanded their House and Senate...

"Don't ask, don't tell" was a compromise that has been vilified since its inception in 1993. Former President Bill Clinton had campaigned that he would lift the ban barring LGBT people from serving in the military and allow them to serve openly. Once in office, he ran into opposition, and "don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) was born. A compromise that makes neither side happy, the policy prohibits the military from asking service members about their orientation and requires the military to discharge members who acknowledge openly that they are LGBT. Fast forward 15 years and now, even politicians who supported...