Military commanders will be told to send transgender troops to medical checks to oust them

By LOLITA C BALDOR WASHINGTON AP Military commanders will be communicated to identify troops in their units who are transgender or have gender dysphoria then send them to get diagnostic checks in order to force them out of the arrangement executives disclosed Thursday Related Articles Seattle judge rescinds order directing Trump administration to admit refugees NYU denies diploma to apprentice who criticized Israel in commencement speech Harvard president takes pay cut as university attempts to cover frozen funds Trump s beautiful bill spans pages Here s what s inside it Trump s stance against South Africa is not just about white farmers It s also about Hamas and Iran A senior defense official laid out what could be a complicated and lengthy new process aimed at fulfilling President Donald Trump s directive to remove transgender institution members from the U S military The new order to commanders relies on routine annual fitness checks that system members are required to undergo Another defense official mentioned the Defense Department has scrapped for now plans to go through troops robustness records to identify those with gender dysphoria Instead transgender troops who do not voluntarily come forward could be outed by commanders or others aware of their health status Gender dysphoria occurs when a person s biological sex does not match up with their gender identity The defense leaders spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details of the new framework The process raises comparisons to the early Don t Ask Don t Tell strategy which at times had commanders or other troops outing gay members of the military who at the time were not allowed to serve openly Active-duty troops will have until June to voluntarily identify themselves to the Defense Department and troops in the National Guard and Reserve have until July The department is offering a financial incentive to those who volunteer to leave They will receive roughly double the amount of separation pay than those who don t come forward Initially functionaries declared the Defense Department would begin going through curative records to identify anyone who did not come forward voluntarily That detail was not included in the new guidance published Thursday While the department believes it has the authority to review clinical records it would rather go through a more routine wellness assessment process the defense official revealed Traditionally all system members go through a wellbeing assessment once a year to determine if they are still medically able to serve A new question about gender dysphoria is being added to that assessment Active-duty troops who do not voluntarily come forward would have to acknowledge their gender dysphoria during that curative check which could be scheduled months from now A unit commander could expedite the robustness assessment Under the new initiative commanders who are aware of utility members in their units with gender dysphoria a history of gender dysphoria or signs consistent with gender dysphoria will direct individualized anatomical record reviews of such provision members to confirm compliance with healthcare standards The defense official commented it is the duty of the institution member and the commander to comply with the new process The department is confident and relaxed with commanders implementing the framework and it does not believe they would use the process to take retribution against a institution member the senior defense official reported It comes after the Supreme Court in recent weeks ruled that the Trump administration could enforce the ban on transgender people in the military while other legal challenges proceed The court s three liberal justices explained they would have kept the framework on hold Bureaucrats have revealed that as of Dec there were troops diagnosed with gender dysphoria in the operational duty National Guard and Reserve But they acknowledge the number may be higher There are about million total troops serving In a declaration Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell noted earlier this month that about troops already have identified themselves and will begin the voluntary separation process from the military That can often take weeks Trump tried to ban transgender troops during his first term while allowing those at this time serving to stay on Then-President Joe Biden overturned the ban The new approach does not grandfather in those now serving and only allows for limited waivers or exceptions Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth allege that troops with gender dysphoria don t meet military standards Hegseth has tied his opposition to a campaign to rid the department of wokeness No More Trans DoD Hegseth wrote in a post on X In a latest speech to a special operations conference he announced No more dudes in dresses We re done with that s