Athena Crossing the Potomac

For the past few weeks, the anniversary of the birth of the modern gay rights movement has prompted renewed demands for the full integration of gays and lesbians into the military. Figures ranging from Gen. Shalikashvili to Barney Frank to a self-proclaimed conservative World War II spouse have all decried the obsolescence and inequity of "Don't Ask Don't Tell," urging the president and Congress to repeal the law. Amid this chorus of voices, however, one community has remained resolutely silent: national veterans service organizations.

While politicians are quick to pay lip service to the changing face of the Armed Forces, the organizations to which they turn for policy guidance can hardly be said to represent the full variety of experience embodied within today's military.

The vast majority of Veterans Service Organizations (VSOs), federally chartered advocacy groups with a strong lobbying presence on Capitol Hill, represent the interests of a dwindling number of World War II and Korean War veterans, whose ideologies continue nonetheless to shape institutional agendas. The result is a largely conservative lobbying force that belies the increasingly diverse political and cultural tendencies of current military personnel.

While the VSOs have long advocated for such laudable goals as improving the VA benefits system and expanding the GI Bill, their agendas too often fail to reflect the priorities of a younger and more progressive veteran population. As one advocate notes, these groups "have become overly conservative, driving many to believe their members feel the same way" despite indications to the contrary.

Others have been less diplomatic, dismissing the VSOs as anachronistic boys clubs willing to sacrifice any principle on the altar of flag-burning amendments. Vocal in their support of the Bush doctrine of unilateral and preemptive warfare, a number of these groups participated in pro-war rallies at the White House prior to the invasion of Iraq. One such organization, a staple at Congressional hearings, recently launched a campaign to address the "poverty, political instability, disease and war" bred by illegal immigration.

Outmoded or not, mainstream veterans groups have proven decidedly out of step with evolving views on a variety of civil rights issues pertaining to military personnel. While recent polls indicate that 75% of Americans favor allowing gays to serve openly in the military and 73% of active troops are personally comfortable with lesbians and gays, the VSOs have consistently opposed the repeal of "Don't Ask Don't Tell." Perhaps more notable is the silence of younger, more progressive groups like Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America; given their demonstrated ability to influence policy, their failure to promote this issue represents a particular loss.

Mainstream veterans groups remain similarly reticent on the challenges confronting women and minorities in the Armed Forces. Not a single such organization, for example, has addressed the growing epidemic of sexual assault and harassment in the military or the inaccessibility of emergency contraception and abortion options for servicewomen. A recent campaign to urge the military to accommodate the religious practices of Sikhs has likewise failed to attract the support of these groups. Whether their reluctance stems from a desire to avoid potentially divisive issues or an unintentional oversight on the part of their memberships, they ultimately fail to employ their considerable political muscle on behalf of those most in need.

While private organizations may well be expected to tailor their policy goals to the priorities of their members, they should not be in a position to monopolize public discourse. As of today, 15% of active military personnel are women and at least 65,000 are gay or lesbian, a reality very much at odds with the image represented by the all-white, all-male VSO cohort recently summoned to the White House by President Obama and VA Secretary Shinseki (see photo).

By excluding women and other vulnerable groups from policy discussions, lawmakers ultimately limit their own understanding of an increasingly complex and heterogeneous population. Women veterans, for example, are in a position to speak with particular authority on such issues as homelessness and "Don't Ask Don't Tell", both of which impact them in disproportionate numbers.

Their silence, meanwhile, hardly reflects a lack of interest. A recent Congressional hearing on women's health featured a remarkable assortment of speakers abounding with insight on unidentified and unmet needs. Ranging from a female combat amputee turned advocate for wounded warriors to the first South Asian woman officer in the U.S. Marine Corps to a 93 year-old veteran of the Women's Army Corps, the panelists embodied an extraordinary repository of wisdom and experience, both equal to and distinct from that of their male peers. Despite their credentials, however, these advocates are consistently absent from government hearings that do not pertain expressly to "women's issues."

It seems only fitting that the emblem of the original Women's Army Corps was the goddess Athena, who deftly combined the attributes of war with those of wisdom and peace. At a moment when women, gays, and other minorities are risking their lives for their country in unprecedented numbers, both fairness and common sense demand their full participation in shaping the policies that will affect them when they lay down their armor.

Comments

[toddboyle]

The U.S. has killed millions of people in Korea, Vietnam and now Iraq, who never attacked America. These people never attacked America. It falls to us, to understand why this keeps happening.

It is very widely recognized that the pressure and advocacy for higher pay and benefits, from military members and veterans, accounts for much of the size of the military itself. It's a belief system. But it's also a business of making money for themselves.

The veterans lobby is composed of large, well funded organizations, in pursuit of money and benefits for its members. In the process, the veterans' lobby operates as one of the long-term structural causes of future wars. The VFW and American Legion have heavily supported every war since WW2, of course but their bigger influence is in their benefits lobby.

The Veterans lobby organizations (VLOs) have found it impossible to get the maximum funding from congress, or marginalize opponents, without broadly promoting the image of veterans as good, noble, and "serving" America. The VLOs promote military institutions, and the entire set of beliefs that divides one people against another, demonizes the other, maintains fear of invasion, and promotes belief in the efficacy of war.

The VLOs are one of the oldest, largest lobbies in Washington. Other lobbies (AIPAC, NRA) have inspired large oppositions, and it's time to blow the whistle on the VLOs, to disagree with their self-serving propositions, point out their conflict of interest--expose their racket.

[PlaceboStudman]

The problem is that the military, like congress, needs to diversify to better represent their true members. VSOs need to be represented by as many racial and ethnic and religious constituent that consists within the military. As much as the Old Guard might like to believe it, represented by the current batch of VSOs, the military, just like the country, is no longer overwhelmingly controlled by old white men. There need to be representative VSOs from Muslims, Latinos, LGBTs, Atheists, and the like. Then, perhaps, the military will have more backing from groups who are willing and able to look forward to new ways of thinking and new innovative ways of doing things, and that will lead the change in military society that will lead to military support that better reflects the general populace, 75% of which favor repeal of DADT

[Genevieve Chase]

It's interesting that you posted that picture of the top ten VSOs with the POTUS. I posted the same thing to our members and asked them "What's missing."

As a volunteer spokeswoman for IAVA, I found there was an entire demographic of veterans whose issues were unique to the majority's. With the blessings of friends active in several of the top VSOs, I started American Women Veterans.

We're testifying on the Hill next week, and we'll be featured in a documentary coming up by "In Their Boots." Be watching..­. you will be hearing a great deal more from us in the near future.

Thank you for this article... women have, throughout history and the world, been the catalyst for change. It is high time our women veterans across all generations, bonded together and had their voices heard.

Genevieve Chase
Founder and Executive Director
American Women Veterans