Judge shows scant patience for military transgender ban

Sir
The amount of money spent trying to fix troops that we break in the performance of their duties is already eating into budgets and many never get the correct or long term treatments they deserve or need. To take on additional medical and financial debt just to check a PC block is wasteful and disrespectful to those that get hurt while deploying and doing their daily duties.

They spent a good deal fixing me up after I got messed up overseas. We don't need to be brining in those front loaded with medical costs of any kind. The damage many of us take during service is costly enough financially.

CPT Zachary Brooks - Sir, not sure where you are getting your data but it is not correct. I recently underwent chest masculization surgery at NMCSD (aka FTM top surgery). I was on con leave for 3 weeks. I chose to take another 3 weeks personal leave on top of that. At 6 weeks I am cleared to RTD with ZERO restrictions (had I gone back at 3 weeks, I would have had minimal restrictions). I could deploy if tasked. In total, I have spent ZERO days on a profile/duty limitation during my transition. In 10 years, the only profile I have ever been on was for just under a month after having a mole removed from my face & biopsied. If allowed to continue to serve, I will be a SNCO in July & have 10 years of aircraft maintenance experience over 3 different airframes, to include depot level experience. You do the cost/benefit analysis.

As I stated, the information I was quoting was from the official Army training I received at Walter Reed last year. It appears they have updated the requirements to having a "must be set to deploy" within a year after I left there.

It appears there has been an update on that policy in the last month:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2018/02/15/pentagon-targets-non-deployable-troops-for-removal-in-new-effort/?utm_term=.b488fa0a5a1e

"Gleason said the new policy on non-deployable service members applies equally to transgender troops, meaning that someone who pursued gender reassignment surgery must be ready to deploy within a year."

SSgt Addison R. - Have there been completed studies on what causes gender dysphoria? Is it a difference in the hormones or something similar? Is it something we could treat without transition, which in many cases leads to many medical problems?

We both agree on the "be stable and transitioned before you join" point of view. At that point I feel it's essentially moot. I've been mad about the people who join solely for education benefits and work out ways to not deploy, I could see the same thing here.

Join
See doctor to get dysphoria diagnosis
Transition
Find a way to not meet deployment standards within a year
Get pushed out

That is another piece that does bug me because there will always be people who have no desire to serve, but want the benefits of school being paid for, health care, and now potentially this.

SSgt Addison R. - Considering MOST transitions are M to F and all embryos start out as female (hormones change the functions), is it not possible that an issue with the internal hormones creates the differences on feeling like the opposite sex? Meaning that the development of the physical body and the sex may in fact be right, but the internal hormones got a bit messed up (alternatively the opposite may be true as well).

This could also explain all other manner of "deviancy from the norm" such as homosexuality, asexuality, pedophilia, etc. Could just be a hormone screw up somewhere in the womb or during puberty.

SSgt Addison R. - For things such as pedophilia, we can see it as a control issue in some ways. Also consider that drug addicts, gambling addicts, etc have similar tendencies and make ups.

There might be something to point to what makes a specific person attempt to become a pedophile. Could it be a desire for control? Does the same time of person become an abusive parent or spouse?