US military repeals ban on transgender service members

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon on Thursday ended its ban on openly transgender people serving in the U.S. military, formally removing the risk to an estimated thousands of U.S. troops who once could have been kicked out of the armed forces due to gender identity.

The repeal, which ends one of the last barriers to serving in the military, comes after a 2011 decision to end the U.S. military's ban on openly gay and lesbian people serving, despite concerns - which proved unfounded - that such a move could be too great a burden in wartime and would undermine battle readiness.

"We're eliminating policies that can result in transgender members being treated differently from their peers based solely upon their gender identity rather than upon their ability to serve," Defense Secretary Ash Carter told reporters.

Carter said that within 90 days, the Pentagon would create a guidebook for commanders on rules regarding transgender service members and medical guidance to doctors.

Within one year, transgender individuals would be allowed to join the armed forces, provided they have been "stable" in their preferred gender for 18 months, he said.

Carter said that based on a study carried out by the RAND Corporation, there were about 2,500 transgender active-duty service members and 1,500 reserve transgender service members. Still, Rand's figures were within a range, which at the upper end reached 7,000 active duty forces and 4,000 reserves.

The RAND study, which was also released on Thursday, said the lifting of the ban would cost between $2.4 million and $8.4 million annually in medical care, but could reduce costs associated with mental health.

A Defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the Pentagon had not yet made a determination on what it would cost to make changes in military facilities, like potentially adding shower curtains, but that it would only be a onetime cost.

"The reality is that we have transgender service members serving in uniform today," Carter said, acknowledging the policy change will have implications for issues including deployment and medical treatment.

He added that at least 18 countries already allowed transgender personnel to serve openly in their militaries.

Carter announced last year that he intended to lift the ban and laid out a series of steps, including a six-month study on the implications of lifting the restrictions. But advocates for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community said the process, which eventually stretched to nearly a year, has taken too long.

Advocates praised Carter's announcement on Thursday and said it followed several moves by the military to be more inclusive in the last decade.

"I would hope that it showcases the fact that the sky will not fall, the world will not come apart, by us being a more inclusive and open society," said Matt Thorn, executive director of OutServe-SLDN, an advocacy group for LGBT military personnel. "I don't think anybody should be concerned or afraid about moving forward with this policy."

But critics have argued that Carter is putting the political agenda of the Democratic administration of President Barack Obama ahead of military readiness.

"Over the next few weeks, we are going to continue to push for actual answers to the readiness questions we've been asking for nearly a year to which we have still not received a response," Republican Representative Mac Thornberry, chairman of the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, said in a statement.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

US defense secretary visits India on mission to draw militaries closer

GOA, India - Defense Secretary Ash Carter began a three-day visit to India on Sunday, seeking to advance a relatively new defense relationship with a country Washington sees as a counterweight to the growing power of China.

In a sign of the importance Carter places on improving defense ties with India, the visit is his second in less than a year, and it kicks off in Goa, the west coast home state of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.

For India, closer U.S. defense ties would bring greater access to American technology, and it too has been alarmed by China's naval forays in the Indian Ocean. But India has been historically wary of drawing too near to any one country.

"India's very reluctant to be seen as too close to the United States, but the Pentagon is very bullish on this relationship," said Shane Mason, a research associate at the Stimson Center in Washington.

It is also a favored initiative of Carter, who established a special cell within the Pentagon last year to promote cooperation with India.

"There's no question about where the United States-India relationship is going," Carter said on Friday, at a talk at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. "We can control and influence the pace, and I want to do that."

The U.S. military has made clear it would like to do more with India, especially in countering China's moves.

Last month, Admiral Harry Harris, the commander of U.S. Pacific Command, said the United States wanted to expand the naval exercises it held with India each year into joint operations across the Asia-Pacific.

But India, which has never carried out joint patrols with another country, said there were no such plans.

"The Indians are being careful because it's their neighborhood," said a U.S. congressional source familiar with U.S.-India military discussions. "It's been a long-standing Indian policy to deal with China on a bilateral basis."

DEFENSE MANUFACTURING

U.S. defense manufacturers hope closer ties will boost their own prospects in India, which is one of the world's biggest defense spenders but still has major gaps in its military capabilities.

India has been looking to rebuild its ageing air force and last week Lockheed Martin and Boeing pitched their fighter planes to its defense ministry.

In a statement, Boeing said it was in talks with India about the possibility of making F/A-18E/F Super Hornet aircraft in India.

A Lockheed spokesman said the company also took part in talks last week between India and the United States on fighter jet production opportunities.

Separately, the two countries are negotiating India's request for 40 Predator surveillance drones, officials said, a possible first step towards acquiring the armed version of the unmanned aircraft.

But deeper security cooperation has been tricky, because India has for more than 10 years demurred at signing three "foundational" defense agreements that would streamline military interactions.

India is concerned that the pacts, including the Logistics Support Agreement (LSA) that allows the two militaries to access each other's bases, could draw it into an undeclared military alliance with the United States.

Ahead of Carter's trip, an Indian defense source said both sides were eager to conclude the negotiations on the LSA.

"They're actually quite prosaic agreements," said Benjamin Schwartz, until last year the India country director at the Pentagon.

Nonetheless, signing them "would indicate that the Indian government is more willing to work with the U.S., even if it means that they're going to take some political heat," said Schwartz.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Obama: faster progress needed against Islamic State

WASHINGTON - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Monday progress needs to speed up against Islamic State militants, calling on allies to increase their military contributions to coalition efforts to destroy the group in Iraq and Syria.

Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon, Obama said he was sending Defense Secretary Ash Carter to the Middle East to secure more military help from partner nations in the fight against the group.

"This continues to be a difficult fight," Obama said. "We recognize that progress needs to keep coming faster."

The president ticked off a list of accomplishments by the United States and its allies against the group: Islamic State had lost significant swaths of territory it once controlled in Iraq and Syria, and leaders were being targeted one by one.

"ISIL leaders cannot hide and our next message to them is simple: 'you are next,'" he said, using an acronym for the group.

The coalition was also targeting Islamic State's oil tanker trucks, wells and refineries.

"We are hitting ISIL harder than ever," he said.

Obama, a Democrat, has come under criticism by Republicans for not doing enough to counter Islamic State, in particular since the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris that killed 130 people and were claimed by Islamic State, and the Dec. 2 shooting in San Bernardino, California. Authorities believe the couple who killed 14 people in that attack were inspired by Islamist militants.

The White House has sought to counter those critics by outlining progress made since Islamic State's rapid rise in Iraq and Syria more than a year ago.

(Reporting by Roberta Rampton and Jeff Mason; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Frances Kerry)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com