Recalled sailor to be discharged again

A sailor who was discharged under "don't ask, don't tell" and then recalled to active duty in an apparent bureaucratic snafu has been summarily discharged again after telling his story in the Stars and Stripes newspaper.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Jason Knight learned Thursday that the Navy intends to discharge him just weeks before he completes his most recent one-year commitment, the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, an advocacy group for gay and lesbian service personnel, said in a written statement.

Knight, a Hebrew linguist with four years' service, came out to his command in 2005 and was discharged soon after, losing his $13,000 sign-on bonus. He was pleasantly surprised to be recalled in June 2006 and completed a tour of duty with Naval Customs Battalion Romeo in Kuwait.

Once again he was entirely open about his sexual orientation; his interview with Stars and Stripes was published May 6.

"Jason Knight was an exemplary sailor who gladly returned to active duty when our country needed him," Sharra E. Greer, SLDN's director of law and policy, said in Friday's statement. "Our nation should be embarrassed that our armed forces are forced to respond to Knight's selfless service with a government-sanctioned pink slip."

Knight told Stars and Stripes that he was impelled in part to come out again by the homophobic comments of Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who called homosexuality "immoral" and refused to apologize despite pressure from members of Congress and several presidential candidates.

"Though I respect [Pace] as a leader, it made me so mad," Knight told the paper.

America's changing attitude on "don't ask," wrote reporter Joseph Giordono, "includes suggestions that the Pentagon is less interested in kicking out gay service members during war." As Giordono pointed out, "Pentagon stats show that discharges of gay service members dropped to 612 in 2006. The peak of such discharges was in 2001, when 1,273 were reported. The numbers have fallen steadily each year, from 906 in 2002 to 787 in 2003, and on down."

Knight receives honorable discharges in both cases—commanding officers have discretion in such matters. Sailors in his detail praised him highly.

"The Navy tends to keep people who don't want to be here, but Jason does," Petty Officer 1st Class Tisha Hanson told the paper, adding that his gayness "doesn't bother me."

"I have now spent five years in the Navy, and I have loved every minute of it," Knight said in Friday's statement. "I am proud to be among the 1 million gay veterans who have answered the call to duty." (Barbara Wilcox, The Advocate)