As the military faces a shortage of troops for the ongoing efforts in Iraq, the Department of Defense announced that the Army will call up 5,600 soldiers in the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) beginning earlier this month. Soldiers usually enter the IRR after finishing the active duty portion of their enlistment, incurring an eight-year obligation upon enlisting. Most soldiers, however, serve four years, leaving four years in the IRR.

Two of the most vocal advocates against the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy are now speaking out, criticizing the recall as the military continues to discharge service members for being gay or lesbian. The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), which provides legal representation to individuals who have been harassed or are being discharged under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”, and the American Veterans for Equal Rights (AVER), an organization of GLBT veterans, have both issued statements criticizing the recall.

“It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to kick someone out who is more than willing to serve their country, while recalling someone too old to serve, or someone who may not even want to serve, for that matter,” said Alan Rogue, national president of AVER, in a recent press statement.

A news release published by the American Forces Press Service recently listed Army personnel needs: “The Army needs soldiers as drivers, automated logistical specialists, light-wheeled vehicle mechanics, administrative specialists and combat engineers. The service also needs cooks, carpenters and masonry specialists, petroleum supply specialists and cable system installer-maintainers.”

Both AVER and the SLDN cite statistics showing that close to 700 service members are being discharged annually while, according to Pentagon data, the military has discharged almost 10,000 service members during the past decade for being gay or lesbian.

“There’s always the dueling hypocrisy of gay discharges during a war,” said Bridget Wilson, a local attorney who has extensively researched and spoken on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and military law. “One of the things that we have noticed is that the number of gay discharges in general has gone down. At the same time, when they are discharging people, they are discharging people they need. Discharges have been up for a while, but they have dropped, more than a quarter, since the war started. … [H]ow many of those are in critical military specialties would be interesting to figure out, because any number of them are.”

According to reports published by SLDN and AVER, over the past 10 years “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” has cost the country more than $250 million. However, since the war began, the number of discharges has dropped by 17 percent from 2002 to 2003.

“The Pentagon is sacrificing national priorities for federal discrimination,” said C. Dixon Osburn, executive director of SLDN, in a recent news release. “This administration’s continued refusal to accept the talents of Americans who want to serve is irresponsible and has dire consequences. Repealing the gay ban is essential to preserving the fighting ability of our armed forces.”

In a recent report, the Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military (CSSMM), a research initiative at UC-Santa Barbara, found that “the military discharged gays and lesbians serving in 161 different occupational specialties between 1998-2003,” including warfare specialists, medics and motor transport specialists, many in positions similar to those now being recalled to service in the IRR.

“At a time when the military is forced to recall previously discharged service members on an involuntary basis, these data show that ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ has undermined readiness by depriving the armed forces of mission-critical talent,” said Aaron Belkin, executive director of CSSMM, in a news release.

According to a December 2003 Gallup Poll, 79 percent of the American public feels that it is time for gays, lesbians and bisexuals to be able to serve openly in the armed forces. The current administration has not addressed the subject of lifting the ban on gays and lesbians in the military.

“Obviously there are whole bunches of people in charge of this process, militarily and politically, who are willing to compromise the security of the nation and security of the forces to accommodate their own stupid prejudices,” said Wilson.

According to his campaign website, Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry has opposed the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Policy” and he was one of a few senators to testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee and call on the President to rescind the ban on gay and lesbian service members. He has also made statements saying that as President he would call for a review of the policy.