The gay & lesbian military org OutServe-SLDN & the law firm Morrison & Foerster announced that their client former Air Force Major Mike Almy has reached a settlement in his lawsuit against the Defense Department that challenged his 2006 discharge under the discriminatory now-repealed "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT) law. Almy stated, "I appreciate all of those who worked on my behalf to find a resolution & close this painful chapter in my life with a positive ending. America has moved on from this discriminatory law & it’s my hope that one day soon we will realize the vision of full equality in our military." Almy went on active duty in 1993 just as DADT was becoming a law. Stationed in Oklahoma he was named officer of the year for his unit of nearly 1,000 service members. Later he was one of six officers selected from the entire Air force to attend Professional Military Education at Quantico, Virginia. During his career he deployed to the Middle East four times. During a directed search of private emails, messages to his then-boyfriend were discovered & forwarded to his commander. He was relieved of his duties, his security clearance was suspended & part of his pay was terminated. Shortly before he had been named one of the top officers in his career field. During the discharge process he was recommended for promotion to Lieutenant Colonel ahead of his peers. Following a discharge investigation that lasted sixteen months he was given a police escort off the base & the severance pay he received was half of what it would have been had he been separated for any other reason. With the settlement Mike will receive service credit & a cash payment & will finally be able to move beyond his discharge under Don't Ask, Don't Tell nearly eight years to the day after he was fired.
For More Info: outserve-sldn.org
1 comment:
what about the other 17000 soldiers discharged under this horrific law?
many of them lost pensions, bonuses for simply being willing to die for a country that disgraced itself with DADT.
DADT type laws were killed off long ago in all theother nato countries except islamic turkey
Proving once again that right wing xtianity is the curse of America. The same right wingers who made America the second to last nation in the west to end slavery and the only one to need a war to do so.
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