Summary: President Trump’s recent announcement to disallow service by transgendered individuals is an opportunity to remind ourselves what military service is—and what it is not. The Armed Services should not be a lab for social experiments, a testing ground for inclusion or a battleground in the sexual revolution. The American military should choose whom to admit and accommodate based on one factor alone: assembling the best possible fighting force for fighting and winning wars. Any policy that advances that goal is good; any policy that deters it is bad. Debates in the culture at large should be fought outside the armed services. Our military’s job is to defend the nation. That job is harder if we complicate it with political correctness, putting sensitivity over security. President Trump’s decision was designed to unburden our fighting forces so they can focus on their primary mission. Yes, that decision raised even more eyebrows because it came out of the blue via Twitter. Get used to it. That’s Trump. On the merits, he’s completely correct.
