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Letters

TOO MUCH INFORMATION

I was shocked to see the amount of detail provided in the article about the 455th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron performing base defense at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan [“Airmen handle stress,” Aug. 10].

I learned the exact number of entry control points, which of those points is the least busy, the number of guard towers, the approximate number of security forces manning the towers and entry control points, where I can locate leadership and a schedule of arriving and departing pedestrians.

As I’ve performed this mission myself at Camp Bucca, Iraq, I have no ill will toward my security forces brothers and sisters, but for the newspaper’s lack of basic operational security and discretion.

Please strive to keep details like the ones mentioned in the article out of future publications.

Capt. Matthew Eckstein

Fort Dix, N.J.

‘DON’T ASK’ MIXED MESSAGE

I am a military veteran who served 7½ years in the Air Force and completed two deployments to the Middle East.

I was told time and again that I should consider re-enlisting because my country needed men like me. My career ended, however, when I revealed that I am gay.

When I came out, it wasn’t because I wanted out of the military. I knew the consequences of being found out, but it was more important to be honest with my fellow crew members than to live in direct conflict with one of the Air Force’s core values: integrity.

In the year since my discharge from the Air Force, I have been recruited by several Defense Department contractors for my electronics skills. I have accepted these employment offers and have found myself in Iraq, Afghanistan and now Washington, D.C., supporting the military in a capacity I was told one year ago I was no longer eligible to do.

I struggle every day to accept my place in this country. I was told I was one of the best, then told I was ineligible to be with the best, but then recruited to be part of the mission as a civilian.

Our nation’s leaders must sort out this complex and conflicting message.

Former Staff Sgt. Anthony Loverde

Arlington, Va.

SPOUSES NEED JOBS, TOO

I feel compelled to respond to comments in a letter criticizing military spouses’ use of APO/FPO addresses for home businesses or their receiving unemployment compensation after a permanent change of station [“Marriage is voluntary,” Aug. 17].

APO issue aside, I agree that marriage is voluntary. However, love certainly is not.

I was in the military and acutely aware of the personal and professional sacrifices I would have to make as a military spouse. When I got married, I don’t recall signing a piece of paper proclaiming that I would give up my identity as an independent, self-sufficient adult, that I would rely solely on my spouse for financial support, or that I would assimilate and forget about my own aspirations and career goals.

I am fortunate that my family can survive on one income if it takes me a while to find a job after a PCS. But for a lot of families, especially our junior enlisted families and families with children, a two-income house is not a luxury — it is an absolute necessity to make ends meet.

It also is an insult to suggest that a spouse who seeks unemployment compensation is asking for a handout and abusing tax dollars.

I have a college education and a fairly mobile career. I started looking for a new job two months before our PCS; it took me nearly six months after the PCS to find a full-time job.

For many families, any loss of income is potentially devastating, especially if they move to a more expensive area and have to find off-base housing. I would much rather see my tax dollars provide unemployment compensation to spouses while they transition to new homes than see them forced to apply for food stamps to survive.

Former Senior Airman Tracy Tuzzolino

Fort Dix, N.J.