Trump Bans Transgender Individuals From Military Service

President Trump made the announcement with a 3-tweet statement …

The announcement represents a major shift in US military policy; the decision will affect nearly 150,000 active and/or retired/veteran people on service in the US military.

The DoD’s response to the Trump tweets: “Call the White House.”

Meanwhile, GLAAD calls Trump’s announcement “a direct attack on transgender Americans.”

Trump’s decree could be a problem if this number is right:

The Defense Department estimates as many as 7,000 transgender troops serve in the active-duty force of 1.3 million.

President Obama’s final defense secretary, Ash Carter, issued a directive last year that permitted transgender troops to serve in the military, and to undergo reassignment surgery. That step left a decision for Trump Secretary of Defense James Mattis to make a decision on whether to allow new transgender troops to enter the military.

It wasn’t immediately clear what Trump’s announcement would mean for the approximately 250 transgender people now serving openly in the U.S. military.

Here is one Delta Force Operator’s reality check (via IJR.com)… All soldiers in the U.S. Army are now required to take a 50-minute training course on transgender sensitivity. Independent Journal Review wanted to know what veterans who have trained thousands of soldiers to fight in combat think about the news.

We spoke with U.S. Army Master Sergeant (Ret.) and Delta Force Operator Dale Comstock. Comstock has seen more war than the average American can wrap their head around. In fact, he’s served in every major campaign from Grenada in 1983 to present-day conflicts.

Comstock said:

“This whole political-social experiment is not helping. The reality is, it’s in the Army, it’s in the Navy, it’s in the military. And unless Mattis and Trump rescind all these policies and stop this madness, it’s here to stay.

It affects morale and combat readiness on many levels. At the end of the day, war fighting is about one thing: Killing people. It’s about bringing home our guys alive. It’s not about being sensitive to a transgender. This isn’t corporate America, this is the military.

You can’t just put some policy in place because you want people to feel equal. Most guys who join the military, especially special operations forces, were the boys who had dirt clod fights on the playground, wrestled and fist fought, stole each other’s girlfriends, and pledged allegiance to the flag. And that same spirit and apex predator mindset goes with us into the military.”

For those curious, here is a full breakdown on Transgender in US Military Service from the Williams Institute: