By Nathan Barton

Recently, the establishment is resisting the recent announcement by the current Commander-in-Chief that “transgendered” people will NOT be allowed to serve in the military.  This came up the end of August as it became clear that bureaucrats (and bureaucrats pretending to be soldiers) have “suspended” the executive order to discharge currently-serving transgenders and stop enlisting them.

As a lover of liberty, an anarcho-capitalist (who more and more infrequently refer to myself as a Libertarian), who am also serving and have served in the military, I am going to step on a whole lot of toes with this commentary.

The purpose – the legitimate purpose – of the military is to defend the liberties, lives, and property of the community.  Whether that community is a rural district, a town, a city, a state, or a nation (a confederation or union).  Nothing should distract from, or damage the ability to carry out, that mission.

That is why we must discriminate in the military.  That is why the uniformed services, whether they are volunteer “unorganized” militia or paid, professional part-time (Reserve or National Guard) or full-time (Regular) forces – or even privpol (private police) or security or peace officers, are not “equal opportunity employers.”  We cannot afford them to be.

To put it another way, nobody has a “right” to serve in the military. If we are to have effective forces capable of defending our liberties, our lives, and our property, we must have military forces that regularly and consistently demonstrate a bias against many people in society – even the society that they are defending.  Even if that bias, that discrimination, rejects many different groups.

There is no place in combat arms, or even in combat support and combat service support, for men or women who do not meet minimum qualifications: physical, mental, emotional, and social.  Yes, and even moral qualifications. Those qualifications may vary, based on the duties assigned, the units, and the ability of the forces to train and supply, but there are ALWAYS qualifications which must be met which will preclude many people from military service.

Even our degraded system of Federal and State forces today still do this.  Some of these qualifications are disguised or confused by legal requirements, but they are still there.  Virtually every one of these prohibits parts of society from serving.  Are you too short?  Too tall?  Too fat?  Too thin?  Too old?  Too young? (That is one of those exclusions that is also a legal issue: heaven forbid that “children” be allowed to serve.)

Do you have six fingers? Or just four?  Really poor eyesight (and remember that pilots and certain other duties require “perfect” 20-20 eyesight) or just one eye?  Were you given Ritalin for ADHD as a child? Flat feet?  Bad teeth? Poor hearing or hearing damage?  Are you missing a limb because of a traffic accident when you were a child?  All of these physical restrictions mean that you are NOT capable of functioning in the military – despite modern technology and warfare.

There are more physical limits: can you not run fast enough? Do enough sit-ups? Push-ups?  Can you not lift a certain weight, perhaps because of a bad back or just because you do not have enough upper-body strength? Do you have permanent medication requirements that will cause problems (or death) if you do not take them regularly?  Do you have drug addictions? Do you require more sleep than average? Sorry, even if there are ways that you can function in modern society, you are not going to be able to serve in military forces without so many “accommodations” that the mission will be threatened.

Social and emotional restrictions also abound.  Do you have a criminal background? Do you have too low an IQ?  Are you subject to anxiety attacks? Do you have phobias, for example, fear of heights or confined spaces? Do you have a history of severe migraine headaches?  Do you hear voices?  See fairies?  Think you are a homo superior? Have a problem getting up in the morning? Cry when you are criticized? Demand a ten-minute explanation of every order you are give? We don’t want you in the military.

And moral qualifications?  We already talked about criminal records, but there are more things.  If someone can’t keep his or her pants zipped, or is a “natural” rapist, we don’t want them.  Are you a kleptomaniac and do not control it? A uncontrolled firebug?  An uncontrolled alcoholic? Do you torture small animals for fun?  If it was overlooked when you were enlisted and trained, but found later, you get discharged.  Usually with a less than honorable discharge.  Because the military can’t afford to have you. (I am not, in this commentary, implying anything about the morality of transgenders, just pointing out that morality is an example of how the military must discriminate.)

Oh, my.  “That isn’t fair!” the snowflakes scream (not that we see any of them volunteering to serve, as a rule).  Life isn’t fair.  And war – even community defense war – is very, very unfair.

In the second part of this, I’ll look at the impact of transgendered persons on the military and military operations, and vice versa.

Mama’s Note: I hadn’t thought of a lot of those things! Since I was a Marine “brat” and a Navy wife for much of my life, I’ve had a good look at military people in general, and there have always been plenty of them with moderate to serious problems meeting at least some of these criteria. Alcoholism was an especially prevalent problem. We’ve all heard about the drunken sailor, and it’s no joke.

They are, after all, simply human beings. But, with the very obvious deterioration of much of the population in most of the things you list, it would seem the military will have to choose between lowering their standards and simply going out of business.

Which is why, of course, we now have women (unqualified physically at the very least) going into combat positions. Not that this has been successful. Recruits can now join even if they have some criminal history, it seems. In any case, recruiting is not as easy as it once was.