Trans Military Policy

It has been rumored in reports that Trump may ban transgender people from serving in the military.
 

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., applauded the report that President-elect Donald Trump is poised to — once again — reinstate a ban on transgender people in the military, telling Newsmax on Monday that the Biden administration's policy is "total hypocrisy."[1]
 
"We want killers. We want people who are meant for combat," Mace said. "If you're on these gender hormones, you're not deployable. So why are we bringing people into the military you can't deploy? I'm scratching my head. We're better than this, we're stronger than this."[1]

This issue encompasses political, sociological, psychological, and practical aspects.  I’m going to discuss the practical aspect of this which, assuming Mace is correct, is that people going down this path may not be deployable for significant periods of time.  It is mandatory to recognize that the military is not a medical service for people to change lifestyles and genders; it is a killing machine and that requires that all personnel be deployable at all times, barring unavoidable medical illness which is only a very temporary condition.
 
The starting point in this discussion is the recognition that the entire transgender issue in the military is predicated on a faulty basis as demonstrated with this statement:
 

Service members with a diagnosis from a military medical provider indicating that gender transition is medically necessary will be provided medical care and treatment for the diagnosed medical condition … [2]

This statement pre-supposes that gender transition is a medical necessity rather than a choice.  A medical necessity is, by definition, a procedure or treatment that, if not administered, will threaten the life of the patient.  A desire to change gender is not a medical necessity.  Failure to do so does not threaten the life of the patient.  Thus, again by definition, it is a choice and the military should not be in the business of providing elective procedures that are not medically necessary.
 
The following passage from a DoD handbook on the subject demonstrates some of the impacts of gender transitioning on military service.
 

Transitioning gender may have an impact on several different aspects of your career including deployability, assignment considerations, medical classification, and aspects of individual readiness (e.g., physical fitness, body composition assessment, and professional military education attendance). Since the impact to your career could be significant, it is strongly recommended you discuss this with your commander and/or mentor.[3]

There is no logical rationale for the military to assume the responsibility for a voluntary, life-changing medical process.  Service members wishing to undergo such a process should be given the choice of serving out their term and beginning the process in the civilian world upon discharge or taking a less than honorable discharge (for failure to serve out a contractual term) to begin the process in the civilian world immediately.  In no case should the military bear the financial brunt of an unnecessary medical procedure that results in a non-deployable service member for a period(s) of time.
 
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Note:  If you wish to comment, tread carefully.  I have limited the discussion to the practical aspects of the issue as it impacts military service.  We are not going to debate the sociological, mental, or emotional aspects.  There are other blogs for that.

 

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[1]Newsmax website, “Rep. Mace to Newsmax: Trans Military Policy Is 'Hypocrisy'”, Mark Swanson, 25-Nov-2024,
https://www.newsmax.com/newsmax-tv/nancy-mace-transgender-military/2024/11/25/id/1189368/
 
[2] Transgender Service Member Policy Implementation Fact Sheet
https://dod.defense.gov/Portals/1/features/2016/0616_policy/Transgender-Implementation-Fact-Sheet.pdf
 
[3] Transgender Service in the U.S. Military - An Implementation Handbook, 30-Sep-2016, p.21,
https://dod.defense.gov/Portals/1/features/2016/0616_policy/DoDTGHandbook_093016.pdf