Ex-military officials sign on to oppose Trump's transgender troops ban

BY MORGAN CHALFANT
07/04/18 12:24 PM EDT
TheHill.com

http://thehill.com/policy/defense/395513-former-military-officials-sign-on-to-oppose-trumps-transgender-troops-ban

Nearly three dozen retired military officers and national security officials are speaking out against President Trump's ban on transgender people joining the military, pressing a federal appeals court to uphold an order blocking it.

"The President's actions here continue to reflect a sharp departure from decades of military practice across multiple administrations regarding considered policy-making on major questions of military readiness," the former officials wrote in a brief filed Tuesday.

"Excluding transgender individuals from patriotic service that they are trained and qualified to give based on group characteristics, rather than individual fitness to serve, undermines rather than promotes the national security interests of the United States," they wrote. . . .

I worked for one of those Generals once.  He was a great guy!


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You can read the full brief (35 pages) submitted to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals here:

https://www.lambdalegal.org/sites/default/files/legal-docs/downloads/karnoski_wa_20180703-retired-military-officers-amicus-brief.pdf

Here are the officers and officials who signed on to oppose the transgender ban:

1. Brigadier General Ricardo Aponte, USAF (Ret.)

2. Vice Admiral Donald Arthur, USN (Ret.)

3. Michael R. Carpenter served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine, Eurasia from 2015 to 2017.

4. Brigadier General Stephen A. Cheney, USMC (Ret.)

5. Derek Chollet served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs from 2012 to 2015.

6. Rear Admiral Jay A. DeLoach, USN (Ret.)

7. Major General (Ret.) Paul D. Eaton, USA

8. Brigadier General (Ret.) Evelyn "Pat" Foote, USA

9. Vice Admiral Kevin P. Green, USN (Ret.)

10. General Michael Hayden, USAF (Ret.), served as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 2006 to 2009, and Director of the National Security Agency from 1995 to 2005.

11. Chuck Hagel served as Secretary of Defense from 2013 to 2015. From 1997 to 2009, he served as U.S. Senator for Nebraska.

12. Kathleen Hicks served as Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Policy from 2012 to 2013.

13. Brigadier General (Ret.) David R. Irvine, USA

14. Lieutenant General Arlen D. Jameson (USAF) (Ret.), served as the Deputy Commander of U.S. Strategic Command.

15. Brigadier General (Ret.) John H. Johns, USA

16. Colin H. Kahl served as Deputy Assistant to the President and National Security Advisor to the Vice President. Previously, he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East from 2009 to 2011.

17. Lieutenant General (Ret.) Claudia Kennedy, USA

18. Major General (Ret.) Dennis Laich, USA

19. Major General (Ret.) Randy Manner, USA

20. Brigadier General (Ret.) Carlos E. Martinez, USAF (Ret.)

21. General (Ret.) Stanley A. McChrystal, USA, served as Commander of Joint Special Operations Command from 2003 to 2008, and Commander of the International Security Assistance Force and Commander, U.S. Forces Afghanistan from 2009 to 2010.

22. Kelly E. Magsamen served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs from 2014 to 2017.

23. Leon E. Panetta served as Secretary of Defense from 2011 to 2013. From 2009 to 2011, he served as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

24. Major General (Ret.) Gale S. Pollock, CRNA, FACHE, FAAN.

25. Rear Admiral Harold Robinson, USN (Ret.)

26. Brigadier General (Ret.) John M. Schuster, USA

27. Rear Admiral Michael E. Smith, USN (Ret.)

28. Brigadier General (Ret.) Paul Gregory Smith, USA

29. Julianne Smith served as Deputy National Security Advisor to the Vice President of the United States from 2012 to 2013. Previously, she served as the Principal Director for European and NATO Policy in the Office of the Secretary of Defense in the Pentagon.

30. Admiral James Stavridis, USN (Ret.), served as the 16th Supreme Allied Commander at NATO.

31. Brigadier General (Ret.) Marianne Watson, USA

32. William Wechsler served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Special Operations and Combating Terrorism at the U.S. Department of Defense from 2012 to 2015.

33.  Christine E. Wormuth served as Under Secretary of Defense for Policy from 2014 to 2016.

If anyone is curious why only retired officers signed the paper its because Military Law prohibits active duty from becoming involved in political matters.


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