Editorial: ‘Don’t ask’ inherently unjust for U.S. troops

Yet another decorated, dedicated member of the military is under the threat of expulsion because of the nation’s asinine and counterproductive “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

Air Force Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach has never admitted to being gay. The military won’t allow that. But he was accused of sexual assault by a man in Boise two years ago. Fehrenbach, who is based at Mountain Home Air Force Base, cooperated with a police investigation that determined the allegation was unfounded. However, Fehrenbach did admit to sleeping with the man. Unbeknownst to him, Air Force investigators heard this confession and then launched an inquiry into his sexuality.

Think about that for a moment. Fehrenbach could have lied to police investigators and that would have kept the Air Force at bay. Instead, he told the truth, and it could cost him his career and retirement benefits.

Fehrenbach has flown nearly 90 missions in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo over his 19 years of service. He is one year shy of qualifying for retirement benefits, and he fears that he will soon be discharged. He has been forced to take a desk job but would love to be deployed again. His attorneys estimate that the military has spent $25 million training him over the course of his career.

This is not the portrait of a worker any employer would want to dump.

Fehrenbach is fighting back and could succeed, thanks to a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in the case of another stellar service member, Maj. Margaret Witt. She was discharged two years short of retirement when the Air Force learned of her relationship with a woman with whom she shared a house in Spokane. It didn’t matter that she was a decorated flight nurse at McChord Air Force Base in Tacoma. She sued, and the court established the “Witt standard,” which forces the military to prove that continued service would be a detriment to unit cohesion, military readiness and other factors that the “don’t ask” policy was designed to protect.

On Sept. 13, a federal judge in Tacoma will oversee a trial that will attempt to apply the standard to Witt herself. If Witt prevails, that will be good news to Fehrenbach, because Idaho is covered by the 9th Circuit. However, gay military members in other jurisdictions will not benefit.

That’s why Congress needs to end this discrimination. The House has passed an end to the ban as part of a larger defense bill. The Senate hasn’t done anything. Meanwhile, the Pentagon is conducting an insulting survey of how homosexuality affects heterosexual service members and their spouses as part of a larger study of the issue. Sample question: “If a gay or lesbian service member lived in your neighborhood with their partner, would you stay on-base or would you try to move out?”

Whether someone is discharged should be determined on a case-by-case basis, not on a presumption that a particular sexual orientation is intrinsically corrosive. The exemplary careers of Witt and Fehrenbach demonstrate why.