Frank: Don't Discharge Fehrenbach

The day after the U.S. Air Force agreed to temporarily block the discharge of Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach, Rep. Barney Frank is asking the U.S. Air Force secretary to put an end to discharge proceedings altogether.

Frank writes, "Under any circumstances, the decision to discharge Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach would be not only completely unfair, but a distortion of The Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy. Now that we have agreement among The President, The House and the Senate Armed Services Committee that the policy should be abolished, it would be an unbelievable travesty of justice to discharge him. I strongly urge you to end the proceedings against Lt. Col. Fehrenbach."

On Monday the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Air Force, and the U.S. district court for Idaho reached an agreement preventing the Air Force from discharging Fehrenbach under "don't ask, don't tell" until the court schedules a hearing in his case.

Fehrenbach's legal team filed a motion last week seeking a court order to stay his discharge, arguing that the government cannot establish that his continued service on active duty hinders "morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion."

"We are pleased that the Air Force has agreed to preserve the status quo until we can have a full hearing," said M. Andrew Woodmansee, an attorney at Morrison & Foerster LLP, the law firm representing Fehrenbach in conjunction with the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. "Of course, we continue to hope that the Air Force will do the right thing and let this war hero continue to serve this country."