Army '66-'68, one tour Vietnam, No urges--none!
Army '66-'68, one tour Vietnam, No urges--none!
USMC 83-97. Now I am in the Air National Guard.
Up until about 7 years ago I cannot say I ever felt the desire to dress. I would look at and admire women for all of the obvious male reasons. Part of me though has always felt envious and I never really knew why. Then the realization dawned on me. I felt thrilled at the thought of dressing up. (Heels. My weakness is heels.) Once I started dressing it felt so natural and it has been quite a release over the past few years.
I would also like to say thank you for supporting your country, your people, and your communities. No matter where you are from.
You are all to be saluted. Nobody, and I mean nobody prays harder for peace than the Marines, Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen of the world.
Semper Fidelis.
12 years army here. Didn't dress much then but now I'm making up for it.
janielatb: I'm in love with the person inside me.
I'm currently serving in the U. S. Coast Guard. I've been in for 26 plus years.
Currently serving in the USAF. 2.5 years (out of 6) to go, unless I end up separating earlier
US Army Intel 65-69. Had urges throughout. Was stationed in Germany. For a short, brief, shining moment had a small flat "on the economy" and was able to CD - inside it, of course. However, my concern about an alert being called and one of the other members of the Dienststelle coming over to get me for the alert caused me not to enjoy it. I gave up the flat because of that concern and returned to our place.
Even today, CDing is not permitted in the military and would be cause for immediate discharge, general if you're lucky. I'm hoping the policy changes - since they now allow Ls and Gs - but am not hopeful of such a change any time soon. Unless, of course, someone convinces the Leader that a well-timed change in policy would be politically and financially beneficial to the Party. Then it could happen overnight - we all saw that movie in May 2012 when gay marriage was suddenly OK with him and the funds instantly poured in from the LGBT community. But we're just a tiny and near voiceless fraction tacked on to the a??end of that community. Not sanguine about change.
Shame on those who think ill of us -- Translated and paraphrased from the motto of the United Kingdom's Most Noble Order of the Garter
Yes, Rose, I'm sure. Transgenderism is considered by the DOD to be a form of mental illness and was not covered by the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell in 2010. That is why I recommended last year to one of our members who wanted to CD very close to his base to be very, very cautious. The latest word is that on May 11, 2014 Chuck Hagel stated that he believes the military ban on TG service members should be reviewed. This followed a board study this Spring and their recommendation that TG no longer be considered a mental illness disqualifying service. It estimated that there are "approximately" 15,450 (more or less?) serving members who are TG and that only "about" 230 of them a year would seek SRS at $30,000 a pop. [Were do they get these precise figures?] They also mentioned that allowing TG members to serve without fear of discharge might prevent more Chelsea Mannings from emerging.
I'm using TG here as the umbrella term that encompasses CD and transvestic fetishism through TS - generally gender identity dysphoria. As far as I am aware, that is how the DOD sees it. The Hagel article is at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/0...n_5305291.html The article about the study is at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/0...n_4956528.html
So, Hagel recommended review. We all know how long that will take unless Fearless Leader steps up.
Last edited by DAVIDA; 08-13-2014 at 04:44 AM. Reason: There is no need to quote the post right before your post.
Shame on those who think ill of us -- Translated and paraphrased from the motto of the United Kingdom's Most Noble Order of the Garter
It is odd how two countries so close to one another can have such opposing policy in the military. In Canada TG expression is protected by policy within the Canadian military.
Hugs
Isha
Now all we need are ranks, quals, ecn's, etc and I reckon we can form the first CD combat company with SF support...
Uniforms may be a little impractical, combat heels, cam cream in concealer, foundation, blusher and bronzer, lace trimmed body armour, disruptive pattern in shades of pink, going commando now means g-strings, suspenders and fishnets...
Happy to be the first to sign up....
Call me Donna, please
3 years Canadian Armoured corps. Never thought about dressing then.
I'm not "ex" military. I've been serving in the U.S. Navy for over 12 years.
Charlotte
Jeninus, I found current Navy policy documents that basically say that there is no official policy on crossdressing, as long as it isn't done in connection with the Navy (not seen leaving the ship in drag, or on social media where the person's affiliation with the Navy is shown alongside crossdressing photos, etc). I'm not sure what that means for the rest of the DoD. It might be commander's discretion. I do know that a whole group of guys went bar crawling in drag up here not long ago for laughs, and nothing came of it. Of course, they weren't regular crossdressers, just drunk guys screwing around.
Rose, I think you may well be right that at the base level it could be commander's discretion. Take it from me though, as both ex-Intel and a lawyer, discretion is frightening power. All that's needed is command change or an incident arising that forces the commander not to look the other way. Regular CD/TG people in my opinion are on thin ice until DOD changes the regulations.
As an Intel guy, one small part of my duties involved doing background investigations of those requiring above Confidential clearance. It is probably still the rule that any person violative of the regulations regarding TG would be denied the clearance and that investigation would probably lead to a recommendation the subject be investigated further for discharge from the service. Again, I cannot emphasize enough that discretion is all-important until the regs change. Stay in the closet! I see that at least one other member was also Intel, and would like to see that person's opinion as this is important to our serving members. I was Army, bad enough, but ONI was even more strict in my time.
Shame on those who think ill of us -- Translated and paraphrased from the motto of the United Kingdom's Most Noble Order of the Garter
I am not sure if y'all know this or not but there was/is a retired Senior Chief who served in the SEAL's who came out while on duty and then transferred to DoD position in Special Operations command. The book's tittle is Warrior Princess: A U.S. Navy SEAL's Journey to Coming out Transgender. Here is a link to the book on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1. Here is another link from USA Today http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...incess/2388431. I hope this helps.
I was in the army. By the time I got in, I was a CD already. I used to wear my mom's stuff since 5 or 6 years old. I can't say it was a hard time. I didn't stop wearing, I did it when I was at home. With one exception... but it was an accident.
USAF 72-76, Pretty careful about the dressing then!
As a cross section of society, of course some of us are CDers. Been that way since I can remember, but as a career NCO, never the twain shall meet.
USAF Combat controller 1980-1992. Had TG feelings, suppressed/repressed .. CCT is a macho field, didn't feel safe letting anything out.
US Navy, 2 med cruises. not an issue while underway however in shipyard had stockings, skirt, blouse, and some kick ass boots i wish i'd never thrown away. Bless and keep those who served and those whom we protect
26 1/2 years. USAF, ANG, USAR.
US Navy 4 years Communications. Haze gray and underway, no time to dress!
Adventures in High heels [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Please allow me to share a profound moment from this afternoon. I am a child of the 60's & , back then , it seemed like all of the men were WW. II veterans. The world was a safer place because of their heroics. The number of WW II veterans has dramatically shrunk & with the demise in numbers, goes great strength. Today I happened upon a 92 year old man , escorted in his wheel chair , who proudly wore his Army infantry hat with dates of 1941--1945. We chatted for a while, he told me that he landed at Normandy in the second day assault & that his legs suffered serious shrapnel wounds. I listened to him with my ears & heart. My eyes watered in respect for this hero... And many of his colleagues. They were truly the greatest generation . I thank God for the honor of meeting this man & giving him a hug . Seeing him again reinforced how grateful we need to be for our freedom ; thanks to all of those who served in the military.