Just a Retired SFC

Things from anywhere and everywhere

ABC: Tracking Wounded Vets Cost Too Much

from TPMmuckraker
TPM alum Justin Rood reports: A proposal to keep seriously wounded vets from falling through the cracks of the bureaucracy was shelved in 2005 when Jim Nicholson took over as the secretary of the Veterans Affairs Department, according to the…

So gay Republicans think Bill Clinton was anti-gay… uh, as compared to who, Barney Frank?

from AMERICAblog by John Aravosis (DC)
I’m getting tired of hearing gay Republicans repeat the mantra that Bill Clinton was a disaster for gay rights, that this proves how much the Democrats have failed us, and somehow this exonerates how hateful the Republican party is to gays. Yes, Clinton screwed us on DOMA, and his wife is following suit. But putting that aside, and it’s a big thing to put aside I admit (and I’ll be addressing it shortly), the gay Republicans are lying to us in an effort to assuage their own guilt at still supporting a party that hates them.
The biggest complaint against Clinton, aside from DOMA, is, seemingly, that he didn’t pass any great pro-gay legislation like ENDA, hate crimes, marriage, etc. Well, that’s all well and good, until you realize that presidents don’t make and pass legislation - Congress’ do. And from 1994 until 2006, the Congress was Republican (albeit we had a brief Dem stint in the Senate when Jeffords defected). So any gay Republican who has a problem that we haven’t had any great gay rights successes at the federal level in 12 years need go only in search of the nearest mirror in order to find who’s to blame.

GOP congressman who was responsible for Walter Reed oversight now says the uproar is just politics More »« Less

Who am I? Just what it says, a retired SFC. Just one of several who work where I do. Although I am pretty sure that I’m the only one who’s gay.

I joined the Army at 17 in 1985 mainly for the college money. 20 years 3 days later I retired. I knew that I was gay when I joined, but didn’t have any concept of what I was getting myself into. But I really enjoyed the job that I was trained for and stayed a little longer than I had planned. The only time that being gay was really an issue was at the 10-year hump. Should I stay or should I go? But this was beginning of DADT. I thought I could do it. Also, I was offered some retraining within my job that I really wanted, so I stayed. (Plus it keeps me employed now.)

I didn’t always live up to the letter of DADT, it’s a pretty unworkable rule. As introverted as I am, I still felt the need to have someone to dicuss things with. I would usually find that person who I thought I could talk to, tell things to, discuss things with. It’s about the only thing that kept me in the Army so long.

The last 5 years were probably the hardest. You see the exit door, but it’s just so far away. But then you reach it, and it’s like “what am I going to do now?” I was very lucky to get the job I did. I walked out in uniform one day and right back in the next as a civilian contractor, doing the same job in the same place for the same people. It made the transition that much easier. But in the 20 months that I’ve been retired, I’ve done the same job for 3 different companies. I worked for the first one for 4 months before they lost the contract (they let it slip thorugh their fingers). The one who got it was bought out by a larger company and I know work for one of the largest defense contractors in the country. Hopefully this will last for at least a little while.

In a nutshell, that’s pretty much it. I’m an Air Force brat that joined the Army, saw the world (well Europe and the Middle East), and made it to the finish line. I have an insatiable desire to learn new things, and a need to keep up on current events. I will probably be using this space to highlight current events that are gay and/or military related. Or it may just be random crap I run across during the day.

I’ll post an intro later today. Off to work making soldiers and keeping America safe. Later