OPINION:
As a retired Navy SEAL and Marine Corps veteran, I have spent over two decades serving my country, leading and training some of the most elite warriors on the planet. I understand the sacrifices and commitments it takes to serve in uniform and that military service is not a right — it is a privilege granted to those who meet rigorous physical, mental and operational standards. That is why I support President-elect Donald Trump in his decision to reportedly reinstate a ban to stop transgender people from serving in our armed services.
This decision is not about discrimination or exclusion but about maintaining a fighting force that is ready, deployable and focused on the mission above all else.
This scenario happened when two of the 12 members in my SEAL Task Unit transitioned genders while still in service. After undergoing gender transition, neither of those service members deployed again in an operational capacity. The effects of their gender transitions relegated them to serving only in administrative roles — essentially sidelining them from conducting the missions in which SEALs are trained.
While I respect their personal decisions, the reality is that those individuals could no longer contribute to the SEAL teams. For an elite unit where every member must be combat-ready, losing two of your 12 operators was a significant blow to readiness.
Military readiness is about maintaining a force that can deploy at a moment’s notice. The surgeries, hormone treatments and ongoing medical care required for individuals transitioning genders create a logistic and financial burden that negatively affects our military.
Consider the perspective of American taxpayers: These treatments are funded by the Department of Defense, and later, the already-burdened Department of Veterans Affairs. When a transgender service member undergoes sex reassignment while in the military, taxpayers are essentially on the hook for lifetime medical care, including surgeries, hormone treatments and psychological support. Yet these individuals become nondeployable and are unable to serve.
In 2001, a friend was disqualified from joining the Marines because he had flat feet. Think about that for a moment: Flat feet, a condition with minimal impact on combat effectiveness, was enough to bar someone from serving. Yet we’re now debating whether it’s reasonable to allow people requiring major surgeries, significant medical treatments and lifelong care to join the ranks.
Flat feet don’t require months of recovery, hormone shots or an entire health care system to manage. Flat feet don’t render someone no-deployable. If flat feet are enough to disqualify someone, how can we justify bending the rules for something as invasive and resource-intensive as sex reassignment?
This isn’t just about the individual. It’s about the entire military force. The military has experienced its worst morale in 80 years. Recruiting goals are not being met, and retention rates are plummeting. Service members are increasingly disenfranchised by their leaders’ misplaced priorities. Instead of focusing on staffing, training and equipping a force capable of warfighting, the Biden administration has emphasized diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and lowered standards. The military’s primary focus should be building the most capable, lethal force on the planet.
This is not the same issue as allowing gay and lesbian Americans to serve. Our elected leaders rightfully ended discrimination based on sexual orientation, something that had no bearing on an individual’s ability to meet operational requirements. Transgenderism, however, introduces significant and unique challenges that make it a matter of both physical and mental health issues that directly affect readiness.
Let me be clear: I deeply respect anyone who wants to serve their country. The desire to serve is honorable and commendable, but the military has always had stringent standards that enlistees need to meet to defend our country properly. These standards ensure that every member of the armed forces can meet the physical and mental demands of the job. It’s not about fairness; it’s about effectiveness.
Our military needs to return to its core focus: warfighting. That means setting aside political agendas and prioritizing readiness, capability and lethality. We owe it to the men and women in uniform to provide them with a cohesive, mission-driven military capable of meeting the challenges of the modern battlefield. We owe it to the American taxpayer to ensure their investment in national defense produces a military that can defend our nation effectively. And we owe it to our country to maintain a fighting force that is second to none.
Banning transgender people from service is not an easy decision, but it is the right one for the health, readiness and cohesion of the U.S. military. This is not about exclusion — it’s about ensuring that our armed forces remain the world’s most capable and lethal fighting force.
• Adam Schwarze is a 21-year veteran, Marine and Navy SEAL who has served nine deployments in over 90 countries.
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