Voices of Honor Field Report: Phoenix

Ed. Note: This post is from Jarrod Chlapowski, a U.S. Army veteran who recently joined the Human Rights Campaign to consult on ending the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. Having been trained as a Korean linguist and cryptologic voice interceptor, he served in Korea, supporting the 3rd Military Intelligence Battalion on more than 300 sensitive reconnaissance operation missions. Chlapowskichose not to re-enlist in the Army because of the excessive burden of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law.

It’s an early morning in Phoenix, and the sun is already shining hot. We were wisely advised to set the press conference as early as possible to avoid keeping reporters in the heat longer than necessary, though the sacrifice was possibly losing press who had yet to conduct their morning planning meeting. A view at the Marvin Andrews Courtyard in front of Phoenix City Hall at 8:40 might make one wonder if the sacrifice was worth it, as not one member of the press is present. At 8:41, however, the press all begin to arrive in a swarm like they do, and by 8:50, five cameras, two radio mics, and quite a few print media are set up and ready for our veterans, with a few stragglers coming in as we get closer to the start time. By the time Mayor Phil Gordon begins his opening remarks, virtually every media outlet in Phoenix is tapped into our event. Long after the end of the press conference private interviews are being conducted with a number of the veteran speakers, despite the overbearing sun sweat poring down our – and the reporters’ – backs.

A large amount of interested media at a press conference of course is a great success, and I think both the communications team at national and the local Phoenix team can be very proud of the media turnout. The last few times I was in Phoenix with a similar event – both in 2006 with the Call To Duty Tour and 2007 with the Legacy of Service Tour – we had not gathered nearly as much attention, and I suspect the rise in prominence of the issue in the news is a good gauge of the general public interest in the issue.

Now that ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ is no longer a taboo mainstream topic, there is a hunger for information on the law that generally has been hidden for quite a while. Both quantitative statistics of fiscal and key personnel costs and qualitative anecdotes as to the true implementation of the policy sate that hunger, and the result is a much more informed American public than we’ve ever had before. Our events in Philadelphia, Boonton, Trenton, Charlotte, and Norfolk have all garnered similar media attention that only grows with each event. The American public, it seems, wants a national discussion over repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ and soon.

Speaking of discussions, the town halls thus far have been phenomenal. Last night in Phoenix an audience of about 50 participated in a lively discussion over repeal, with representatives from a number of perspectives on the issue attending the event. Julie Mendoza, a retired Air Force veteran who has participated in every conflict that occurred during her tenure in the military through 2008, for the first time described her twenty year silence on stage. Ruben Gallego discussed his perspective as a straight OIF veteran, much like Anu Bhagwati in Philadelphia and Stephen Vossler in Norfolk. Julianne Sohn’s story both highlighted serving as a closeted officer – similar to Joe Soto in Philadelphia and Megan Scanlon in Norfolk– and the pain of going through a discharge investigation, an investigation shared by both Michael Noftzger of Charlotte and Alex Nicholson.

As for myself, I shared my experience of serving openly and opting not to reenlist because of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ rounding out the various experiences under ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’ The overall impression we hope to provide is that though ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ does not affect everyone in the same manner, none of its products are positive and its implementation is highly detrimental to the military.

Next week – leg two – is packed with four events in Missouri and Nebraska. We hope Members of Congress in these states targets are paying attention and taking our events seriously as an opportunity to become more educated as to the benefits of repealing ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’

Their constituents certainly will be.