Care to arm wrestle ?
Posted on 04/17/2006 11:58:44 AM PDT by DBeers
In 1993, Maj. Margaret Witt was a poster woman for the Air Force's flight nurse recruiting program.
In her career of 18-plus years, the decorated, 42-year-old operating room and flight nurse from McChord Air Force Base earned stellar reviews for her work.
In 2003, President Bush awarded her the Air Medal for her Middle East deployment and, later, the Air Force Commendation Medal, for saving the life of a Defense Department worker.
Less than a year later, following an Air Force investigation, Witt, a reservist, was drummed out. Her offense: a committed relationship, but with another woman, a civilian, from 1997 to 2003.
On Wednesday, Witt challenged her forced discharge in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Tacoma against Air Force officials and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. The lawsuit, filed with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington, seeks to prevent Witt's discharge, citing her First and Fifth Amendment protections of free speech and due process.
"I've been a proud Air Force nurse and officer for the past 19 years," Witt said, appearing in uniform in Seattle. "My objective is to go back to my unit and serve my country and help the injured troops — who need me at this time."
A Pentagon spokeswoman said Wednesday the Air Force could not comment on the suit.
Air Force Instruction No. 36-3209, section 2.20, says service members "shall be discharged" if they "engaged in, attempted to engage in or solicited another to engage in a homosexual act or acts" or "made a statement that he or she is homosexual or bisexual."
Congress, in enacting the 1993 law that President Clinton called the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, claimed that gay service members would hurt unit cohesiveness and readiness.
Witt said she was stunned when suddenly confronted in November 2004 following an Air Force investigation begun that summer into her relationship.
After 18 years of service, Witt was told she could no longer report for duty, no longer be paid and no longer earn points toward retirement. Her promotion to lieutenant colonel was moot.
Last month, the Air Force, which has unfilled positions of flight nurses, sent her final discharge papers.
All that, court papers say, despite performance reviews that lauded her performance. One review called her an "outstanding squadron and Air Force representative."
In 1993, the Air Force used her photograph in brochures used to recruit nurses.
Witt said she decided to sue after receiving her discharge letter March 6.
"I did my job to the best of my ability. I did it well," she said. " ... It's just a waste of a good nurse, particularly now."
As anyone who has seen lesbians in the Military, it is frightening to the eyes, and produces nightmare flashbacks...kinda when you saw the first picture of Helen Thomas.
Not everyone is physically, mentally, or morally fit to serve in the US armed services.
That might seem unfair to some, but we'd rather have a military that can win wars as opposed to one that's "fair!"
Congress, in enacting the 1993 law that President Clinton called the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, claimed that gay service members would hurt unit cohesiveness and readiness.
When will the powers that be get some backbone and dump the politically correct policy of "don't ask, don't tell"?
Until the fact of who she sleeps with was announced, apparently everyone, including the President of the United States thought she was more than fit to serve.
Actually looks like she started "blowing" it 8 years before retirement....
YOu know what you are getting into, especially in regard to this topic when you sign up.
I'm sure she's a fine nurse, and if that's true, she'll have no issue finding work elsewhere.
The Military is not a social experiment.
I don't know about her case, but I've heard of a few other cases, and the people involved were pretty much in-your-face about their homosexuality...essentially activists first and servicemembers second. Besides being in clear violation of the AFI, she is also (obviously) guilty of making fraudulent statements because the military used to ask people if they were homosexuals prior to enlistment or commissioning.
The same could be said of Benedict Arnold.. up until West Point... is there a point to this? Other than touchy feely nonsense?
Care to arm wrestle ?
Agreed.
Uh, that's not a feature that's distinct to Military Lesbians... those hottie "lipstick lesbians" you see in porn and TV shows... are largely a myth.
Look at the dates- her relationship ended in '03, then at the bottom of '04 they called her on it.
I wonder if her ex dimed her out.
I would give him her the benefit of the doubt.
And to treat those who become injured in the process. According to the article, she did a pretty good job at that.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.