William T. Winnewisser
The Army is the best thing that ever happened to me.
My career gave me an opportunity to make what I believe
was a significant positive impact on the lives and careers
of the numerous outstanding soldiers with whom I served.
I do not believe that it really hit me that I was gay
until after I had already received my commission and
was on active duty as a platoon leader in Germany in
1983. Being in a leadership position, I decided to go
into what I called “monk mode” and therefore
not even consider a relationship as a possibility. I
would bury myself in work and be “married to the
Army.”
Not having other distractions, I was able to pour everything
into soldiering. Following my platoon leader positions,
I held numerous other jobs as Aide-de-Camp, company
commander and Observer/Controller for coaching and training
maintenance companies in a tactical environment while
we were sending them off to Desert Storm. I worked in
the Army Operations Center at the Pentagon, doing “joint”
work before becoming the Executive Officer for the AOC
for two years. I was honored to be chosen an Army White
House Social Aide. I then went on to become a battalion
commander, a job I loved. The only drawback was that,
as a battalion commander, I knew that at some point
during my tenure, I would likely face the issue of dismissing
a soldier for no other reason than that he or she was
accused of being gay. A battalion commander has considerable
influence, although not usually the final say, in administrative
discharges from the Service. I was concerned about how
I would handle it if a soldier being “outed”
arose. I felt strongly that I did not want any part
in a thing like that and hoped to avoid it unless Army
Regulation forced me to. Happily, I did not have to
confront such a situation. I would have loved to remain
in the Army and believe I probably would have continued
to do well, however Army policy on gays in the military
made that impossible. Twenty years of always having
to look over my shoulder were enough. I retired the
day after I changed command, with 20 years of service
to my country.
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