Last week, I posted on a hagiographic press release sent out by the US Army Sustainment Command on Major Rachel Jones. Jones, who, according to the Army, is living life “authentically,” is a man masquerading as a woman who spent well over a decade in open violation of Army regulations about transgenderism; see Our ‘Not a Woke Army’ Lauds Transgender Officer Who Broke Regulations for a Decade for ‘Living Authentically.’ At a minimum, “authentic” has now become a meaningless word.
Above and beyond the corruptness that allowed this to happen, many noted that Jones could not possibly pass the height-weight standard.
As it turns out, Major Jones may very well be exempt from all physical fitness and height-weight standards.
Here is where we get to the caveats.
I can’t find the original document for the quote. I have no reason to believe it does not exist as it comports with DoD transgender guidance.
DoD TG Handbook 9-4-20 by streiff at redstate on Scribd
That manual says
Physical Fitness Testing
Physical fitness is a fundamental requirement of your service. You are required to meet the physical fitness testing standards based upon your gender marker in your Service’s personnel data system and in accordance with Service regulations. If temporarily unable to meet the standards, it may be necessary to request an ETP or medical waiver.
While the 6-month exemption from physical fitness standards is not unusual for servicemembers undergoing rehab after an injury, applying it to someone for failing to make height-weight standards is bizarre. Further, awarding that rehab period for what is essentially a self-inflicted wound is, in my view, an offense against good order and discipline.
Given what I’ve seen of the command climate in the military today, I really have to question whether any commander wishing to stay in command or get promoted again would really feel they have the authority to process a transgender person for discharge for failure to meed height-weight or physical fitness standards no matter how many six-month exemptions they had to grant. I would be willing to bet that for most units containing transgender personnel, the exemptions are of indefinite length unless they wish to conform to standards.
More than the exemption from the height-weight standard, the standard for deployability makes the system manifestly unfair. A transgender can’t be assigned anywhere that doesn’t provide the level of medical/psychiatric care they are receiving. If a transgender undergoes surgical mutilation, the chances of them ever being deployed to an austere environment or remote locations is probably zero. So while healthy men and women have their lives interrupted by serving in unpleasant places, the Full Monty transgender doesn’t have that problem.
The bottom line, if I can say that in a post of transgenders, is that there is no reason for the military to accommodate transgenders. Any contribution they make is more than offset by their drag on unit efficiency and esprit. President Trump was right when he pulled the plug on this nonsense, and we need to go back to that standard when we get a sane president.