All's Fair...

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Fort Dix, New Hanover Township, New Jersey…

“You’re still here?” Capt. Davis raised an eyebrow. “I would have thought you’d have joined the rest of the folks running in the other direction." Tony laughed as he sat down in the chair next to the desk where Davis sat.

“We’re joined at the hip, Kacey! You go? I go.” He shook his head. While that was true somewhat, Capt. Kacey Davis’ departure would be given top priority while Capt. Antonin Bartimileo would be wading through red tape for the next several months; even though he’d resigned his commission. Time seems to work in directly opposite proportion of need in the military unless someone above your rank wants something yesterday; especially if they’re way way higher than you are on the protocol totem pole.

“Listen, Tone…there’s plenty of time; you can change your mind. No need for both of us to lose out?” Guilt over something taken completely out of her hands, Kacey nonetheless lapsed into taking responsibility for some else’ behavior. Force of habit, it had served her well when she was a useful part of the military; a true example of general issue…’G.I.’

“It’s the least I can do for the only transsexual who ever saved my life. Hey…come to think of it…you’re the only PERSON to save my life.” Tony attempted to disarm the tension with humor like he always did, but the situation was as serious as things come.

“Damn it, Tone, I mean it! You’ve come too far to turn back now. You owe it to yourself and your dad to stay put.” Kacey sighed and shook her head. Tony’s dad had been so proud when he made Captain. He was on the fast track for Major. At least that’s what it had been. It was hard not to feel guilty when the only thing standing between Tony and a solid career in the Army was his friendship with her.

“Kace…it doesn’t matter anymore. I’m not going anywhere because…” He didn’t want to throw accelerant on her fire of shame, but she would find out sooner or later. He blew out a breath.

“Col. Santangelo grabbed me last night after your hearing.”

“Tony…no…don’t tell me….”

“The fucking powers that be have decided that you’re too much of a liability for me…no matter what you end up doing. The only way I get any higher in this man’s army is if I stand on top of the Capitol building and wave. Besides, I was really getting tired of Camo, you know?”

He laughed at his own joke, but Kacey shrugged her shoulders. Two tours of duty in Afghanistan with valorous service made no difference to them regarding her disposition. How does that old saying go about the wheels of progress…that they turn exceedingly slow? Don’t bother to ask ‘cause we’re not gonna tell you anything?

No one could argue that Kacey wasn’t a born leader. No one could say that she wasn’t brave or strong of character. She might have been a soldier’s soldier, but then again rules were rules, even if more folks were ‘included’ in the big invisible tent that covered the Pentagon, they still ‘currently’ didn’t make room for her.

“It’s not fair, Kace…they’re just fucking wrong!” Tony shook his head. For a man who had seen enough battle to last a lifetime and a half; performing meritoriously above and beyond any call of duty, he surprised the hell out of her cried a lot, blinking back angry tears over the loss of service of the best officer he had ever shared a life with.

“We…at least we’ll always have Paris.” She joked, but to Tony it had become more than a serious matter, even if he had never spoken it to her. He was torn in half, since part of him really wanted the head honchos to change their minds; at least until she had a fair hearing. That wasn’t going to happen, and the only thing that kept her on base was that her car was in the shop and the cab hadn’t arrived.

But part of him was relieved. It’s awfully hard to get killed if you’re not being shot at, and you likely aren’t going to be shot at if you’re not in a helo hovering over a drop site. And words can’t express a single damn thing if they aren’t written down or if they never get past the thought process down into the voice box. Tony was practically paralyzed in that regard. A man who takes a bullet for a fellow soldier isn’t scared, is he? Well, to be truthful, he was just as scared as the young man whose life he saved, but he acted in spite of his fear. Could he speak now in spite of the greatest fear he had ever known. He would never be put to that test, however. At least in ‘going first.’ The phone on the desk rang, and Kacey picked it up.

“Yes…Oh…okay…I’ll be right there.” She sighed and bit her lip. She was no stronger than her best friend, but unlike him, she had anticipated the tears and steeled herself to holding on until the ride out to the airport in the cab; almost like a castoff on a reality show, but with real departures and sadness. She blew out a nervous breath and went to speak.

“Tony.”

“Kace?” The two spoke almost simultaneously.

“You go first…” they said at the same time, followed by nervous laughter. Tony went to speak, but the words didn’t come…at least not in time enough to be the first to speak plainly. Kacey laughed and smiled.

“I….I’m going to take a few weeks to think about what to do next. No need to hurry.” The haste had already done its damage in that she had lost her commission and was being asked to leave. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out? That was the easy part.

“We’ve known each other since the academy. We’re best friends, and that will never change, unless what I have to say next changes everything.” She stared out the window. Tony stepped closer and stood face to face with her, his hand held out in farewell. She looked down out his hand and frowned.

“Oh…okay. I guess this is it, then.” She went to shake his hand, the frown on her face a look; not of disapproval but of disappointment, having hoped for so much more. Tony proved then just why he was always known to his friends as a man of few words; well, at least not as many as most.

“I sorta lied, Kace. I hope you don’t mind.” Even at that moment he was making a joke like he always did. She frowned at him; not for the ‘lie’ but for his habit of minimizing the serious all the time. He lowered his eyes and spoke again.

“The Colonel was relaying the info, but not because of you, but because of me. I told him last week to tell the brass if they couldn’t see their way clear to keep you in, then they could just …well, let’s just say I gave insubordination a whole new twist.” Kacey continued to frown, but she softened as he finished.

“I told them that I couldn’t let them mess with my best friend. That they had no business treating you the way they did, and that they could form an exploratory sub-committee to come up with new S.O.P. to kiss my ass!” He laughed, evoking a smile from her. He stepped closer and gathered his best friend in his arms and kissed her. She went to pull away but he held her tightly and kissed her again; this time with little resistance, though she tried her very best. He won that skirmish easily....they both did, actually.

As the old saying goes, “All’s fair in love and war.”

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Comments

Thank you 'Drea,

An excellent story,I hope that you go on from here,you are a lady of
such expression and feeling.

ALISON

Intriguing... More...

Ole Ulfson's picture

I hope you'll go farther with this as the military could use some light shined up it's collective a**es. How did the first government institution to integrate the races become so backward when it comes to gender issues? It's shameful!

Ole

We are each exactly as God made us. God does not make mistakes!

Gender rights are the new civil rights!

I though that

In a number of countries if you are diagnosed as TS then they treat it as a medical issue provide facilities for transition. I think I have read about cases of this in both UK and Aussie services.

This is correct.

And, it's not just the UK and Australia. Last I checked, I think it was up to at least six of our allies (including Canada) that supported their transsexual service members. (Note: I think it's important - in this context - to clarify that... These countries are recognizing "Transsexual" as a medical condition and treating it, etc. But, I believe that most of them still do not accept most of the other groups that get lumped under the "transgender" umbrella.)

Annette

Re: Alls fair ... Too much lady and the Tiger

Too many unanswered questions.

Where is she in her transition?

I cannot imagine her having gotten as far as surgery while still in the Service.

She'd need to have undergone a real life test/experience, and probably hormones to get as far as surgery.

No reputable surgeon would accept her as a patient without that much sign of commitment.

SO while a nice, feel good story, this doesn't ring true, even for today.

Holly

It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice.

Holly

I don't completely

I don't completely agree, Holy.

No, she'd not be anywhere near HRT/Surgery. But she could have had RLT/RLE. I had quite a bit of time out as "Annette" in '85/86... While it's probably much more difficult to get on/off base "en-fem" (without someone else with ID to run interference at the gate). But, going off base, changing, living, changing, returning. Yeah, that works still.

Annette

Some relationship...

Some relationship to reality there... Perhaps a lot.

First - before I get into my "thoughts" on how much reality. I liked the story, and could see such a scene unfold... (The only bit that I'm unsure of is the final kiss, unless they were "gay" mates prior to one being found as TS and turning into a straight couple.) I've known officers that felt that strongly about their fellows that they could and occasionally did put their own career on the line for another. No question that can and does happen (usually to the loss of both, but not always). So, yeah... This felt real.

Now, some guesses and then thoughts on the event in question.

They're both in the Army or USMC... Since they both went to the academy I'm guessing Marines (since the Army officers I've known didn't tend to refer to it as "the academy". some called it "the point", etc. Okay, I don't know THAT many. But, almost universally Annapolis is referred to as "the academy" and that's one source of USMC officers.) This bit's not that important, but my experience is that USMC officers would be MORE likely to pull the above kind of action than their Army counterparts. In any event, this isn't really important to your story.

The more interesting bit is the reaction to one being TS... A couple of things can happen when one is found to be TS in the Military, and surprisingly or not, it's not changed a whole lot in a quarter century. 1) Court Martial (many grounds). 2) Medical Discharge. 3) Allowed to "Resign" (this can take 9 months or more!). 4) Allowed to remain on active duty (in birth assigned gender). Which of these actions taken depends a LOT on the individual, the individual's CO (Commanding Officer) (or CO's CO...) and how they both react as well as where you are, how well you do your job, how easy you are to replace and many other factors, but personality is the key... That last item (#4) is very rare. (Are we surprised?)

One thing that may surprise you (as it did surprise me) is that there have been KNOWN TS people on active duty... Even Post Op! I know one person who was able to "retire" early on a medical retirement. The Docs knew about her TS condition as well, and didn't do anything (negative) about it... She got called back to duty twice (pre transition) and has been called back to active duty once post transition/post op! And served each time with no friction (to hear her tell the story)... Apparently the second call back - was after going full time. She reverted for the period of the call back, but stayed on HRT...

The Captain... If he actually took the actions he said he did, he could actually have ended up in MORE trouble than the girl as hard as that may be to believe.

Important to keep in mind that each service is different, AND life in the service is way different from Civilian life!

Thanks for catching so much "reality" in this short piece.

Annette

Thanks

First I enjoyed Andrea's story.

Annette's explanation help clarify some issues, so thank you for your comments.

I do not know if this will be continued. Discussing life after the service, would be interesting bu not unique. Finding a way to fight the discharge would be interesting.

With the military now placing woman into combat situations and opening up most jobs to women (they have even open up sumarine service) it would be concern over the reaction of the other woman, the transitioning soldier would have to live with that would be the problem.

I do not know if it has been discussed much here, but what is the reaction of woman when they learn that a transgeneder indidual is sharing a toilet or locker?

Rami

RAMI

I don't know...

To be honest, my personal experience to date is that women are more accepting than guys... With a few exceptions, most of the ladies that have known me are fine. It's the guys... They seem most disturbed with the thought that "you want to cut that off" ewww... And the more common macho bigotry. That said - these are generalizations.

So far - none of the ladies that I've come out to - and needed to share facilities have had any issue once they know where I am in my "road". Doubt they (or I) would want to undress in an open locker bay, but most places I've been have private changing facilities.

Annette

Perhaps...

Ole Ulfson's picture

It's not the female officer who's TG... Maybe that's not why she's being drummed out of the corps, so to speak... You never know where Andrea's going to take you! Does that open other lines of speculation?

Ole

We are each exactly as God made us. God does not make mistakes!

Gender rights are the new civil rights!

Damn it, Drea, you did it again. 2 Whole boxes of tissues.

The United States government is over 200 years old, and still has not grown up. I was in Australia for 8½ months from October 2, 2007 til June 12, 2008. In that time I learned that there are open transgendered and gay throughout the whole of government; police, legislature, doctors, nurses, highway maintenance and assorted sundry positions like secretaries and such. Nobody gives a care, either. They do their jobs and whatever they do after they are off duty is their own affair. Only the U.S. government is sexually ill. Discrimination, homophobia, bigotry, prejudice and hate of anybody who is "different".

This story had me crying and angry at the same time. It is time that we all marched on Washington not only to protest but to let our elected representatives know that we are very tired of their antics against the people of the United States regardless of sex, sexual orientation or sexual identity.

IT IS TIME PEOPLE TO TAKE A STAND ... NOW!!!!!!!

"With confidence and forbearance, we will have the strength to move forward."

Love & hugs,
Barbara

"If I have to be this girl in me, Then I have the right to be."

Apochryphal

joannebarbarella's picture

I have no idea whether this story could be true in the modern American military, but I think the point is that it MIGHT be.

In any case it is a lovely story of love and loyalty between friends and that stands it on its own,

Joanne

thanks again 'Drea...

for raising (and stirring) discussion about a world of which (the Forces) I know nothing. positive comments for Australia (and good ol' England) in the discussion. Nice Ginger