[blindlaw] Re Update from Senator

Fri May 18 16:37:26 UTC 2012

Ms. Rene,

First, I find your interest refreshing, thank you.  My comments are placed within your email to address them one by one.

Mr. Dittman, which Secretary would you like to address?

Comment: The Coast Guard is now as of 2003 under the Department of Homeland Security.  Also the Department of defense as they currently are the service that has two currently blind members on active duty, I am asking for reserve or National Guard less stringent requirements than active duty.  So, if I got in the Coast Guard that would be the service that makes the most sense as I have been in its uniform over the past ten years and have completed much of its training.  Being that the Army has the blind Captain, that would make the second most sense as they already have a blind person in so the standard has been set there.  The National guard would be the best Army fit as it is the least stringent of any of the Army components.

Also, being that I have completed many training opportunities within the coast Guard I feel that is my strongest shot.

So my questions are these.  Is the Coast Guard still a quasi-military branch outside the Department of Defense?  Does Title 10 U.S.C. still apply?  Would you even need to prove your fitness under a traditional military standard?

Comment: The Coast Guard has always been a military branch since its founding in 1790. That being said it has been the most forward looking as it is the only branch that does not close women from any position open to men, and the first to relax and do away with Don't ask, Don't tell.  In fact, as part of my duties for the Commandant, I looked at the Coast Guard supporting an organization for gay service members to insure their full inclusion and equal treatment, I am not gay myself but believe strongly in equal treatment.
It did authorize me to serve while blind on a ship, and authorized me to complete a military basic training course. So I do wonder if they had the ability to grant my request, would they.  Perhaps this is a case where they need only be told you can take him if you want him.

And what are your true goals for national service?  Do you want to practice military law and serve the needs of fellow-enlistees as an attorney within the Coast Guard, maybe moving on to civilian life after your four-to-six year stint, or do you want to fight for a place as a career line officer anywhere within the Armed Forces on the theory that officers blinded in active duty are already there?

Comment: Both I want the chance to make that choice but I would be willing to get in, and be reduced after four years.  In short I will give them as much time as they will let me as evidenced by my serving as a volunteer for the past seventeen years moving up in responsibility and complexity.  If they will let me get in as a military attorney, there is no requirement that I get out of the legal profession. Perhaps I would be the JAG two star someday who knows.  But I do recognize that my skills would first and foremost be that of an attorney.  Granted Attorneys could command ashore units but I would always need to put the needs of my service first and always work to support its mission never detracting from it.

Maybe you could slide under the gate through the first rubric, and succeed where I failed.  The technologies available to you didn't exist for me, and your leadership training and prior service (not to mention your gender) would put you way ahead of me with those admirals.  Or could you even litigate within the Coast Guard JAG as a civilian lawyer?  Sometimes civilians do work for the military.  Or what about the Department of Homeland Security?  Or do they now run the Coast Guard?

Comment" 
As stated before the DHS is now the Department the Coast Guard is under, and I am looking into serving as a civilian attorney.  That being said there is a difference between civilian employees and uniformed members. I wish I could explain more, but it is just not the same and having been one I wasn't truly happy. I would always hunger for more thus why I am trying so hard.

As an example, the Auxiliary is not fully supported as a full uniformed branch within the Coast Guard as it does not currently have any employment protection.  I worked to change this but was told "you volunteers don't need such protections as you assume the risk."  Do what???  You're going to call upon us to help yet not protect us when we do?  Something wrong with that picture.  As a reservist or National Guard member I would be able to lend the full weight of my talents in service to my country without the fear of losing employment as it would be my primary employment.

Thanks for your help and I will continue to respectfully yet firmly argue that this can work.

Robert Dittman
Research Fellow, Center for Terrorism Law,
Jurist Doctor Candidate, St. Mary's University school of law
EMAIL: rdittman at mail.stmarytx.edu
PHONE: (210) 389 - 3388
"True Justice is blind."

-----Original Message-----
From: blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Elizabeth Rene
Sent: Thursday, May 17, 2012 2:13 PM
To: blindlaw at nfbnet.org
Subject: [blindlaw] Re Update from Senator

Mr. Dittman, which Secretary would you like to address?

The Secretary of Defense, or the Secretary of Transportation?

As I recall, the Coast Guard, at least when I tried to get in, was part of the Department of Transportation, rather than the Defense Department.  I think that therein lay the key to my possible admission.  Maybe it could be the key to yours.

The Coast Guard had less stringent visual acuity standards than the regular Armed Forces.  JAG officers entered the Coast Guard under a separate commission than those entering to serve on a cutter.  I, for example, didn't have to learn how to swim or meet the physical requirements demanded for sea duty.  Once my commission as a JAG officer was up, though, I would be eligible to apply for a line officer's commission.

I liked the idea of the Coast Guard because its primary mission was to protect and police the U.S. coasts and conduct rescue missions rather than go to battle with foreign powers overseas.  I didn't have to prove my fitness for combat or risk being deployed to a conflict I, as a civillian citizen, opposed.  But I could serve my country with the skills I did have in a military branch with a fine reputation.  And since six women were already serving, I saw no problem with being Number Seven.

So my questions are these.  Is the Coast Guard still a quasi-military branch outside the Department of Defense?  Does Title 10 U.S.C. still apply?  Would you even need to prove your fitness under a traditional military standard?

And what are your true goals for national service?  Do you want to practice military law and serve the needs of fellow-enlistees as an attorney within the Coast Guard, maybe moving on to civillian life after your four-to-six year stint, or do you want to fight for a place as a career line officer anywhere within the Armed Forces on the theory that officers blinded in active duty are already there?

Maybe you could slide under the gate through the first rubric, and succeed where I failed.  The technologies available to you didn't exist for me, and your leadership training and prior service (not to mention your gender) would put you way ahead of me with those admirals.  Or could you even litigate within the Coast Guard JAG as a civillian lawyer?  Sometimes civilians do work for the military.  Or what about the Department of Homeland Security?  Or do they now run the Coast Guard?

Here's my point.  Maybe there's a way to do what you really want in a branch less likely to discriminate against you without having to go to war with the army you want to join.  Then, once in, you could fight for that sea command later!

Elizabeth

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