I did have a bit of decent news yesterday in an email. The day before, after contacting the Air Force through their website, I also contacted the Servicemen's Legal Defense Network, SLDN, leaving them a message about what I had learned. (They help with legal issues involving gay and lesbian service members.)
Yesterday afternoon, I got a reply that I should contact one of their lawyers between the hours of 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM Eastern Time. It was too late to contact them Friday, so I will do so next week.
They said they are working with many DADT-discharged veterans, in addition to those discharged before DADT. So, perhaps they can help me with my quest to return to the Air Force.
Twice before in my potential and current Air Force career, all was almost lost. When I first applied through my AF recruiter whose office was in Huntington Park, CA, I was told that my scores on the AF exam were not high enough. A few months later, after I'd left Marine OCS, I got called by the same AF recruiter and told that my scores were now acceptable, so I reapplied.
A few months later, when I was at AF Officer's Training School (OTS) at Lackland AFB, I had failed the Flight Screening Program to become a pilot. I had no other options. My flight commander came to me when we were playing one-pitch softball and said my discharge paperwork had arrived and I would be discharged the next day. In the afternoon, however, we learned that the Air Force was sending recruiters to talk prior service personnel into switching to missile careers since there was a critical shortage of missile officers. I and a couple of others went over the club where they were meeting to volunteer. We were not encouraged by what we were told.
The next morning, in class, our squadron commander showed up. My fellow flight members told him of my plight and desire to remain in the Air Force. Impressed that so many of my fellow officer trainees were on my side, he told my flight commander to hold up my out-processing paperwork until he explored all the options. It took weeks of waiting and little news, but a few days before graduation I did learn that my application for missiles had been approved. I finally had an Air Force career.
So, I suppose I am not always totally discouraged by bad news relating to the Air Force. Where there is hope, there are always possibilities.
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