Air Force May Boot Aviator Who Revealed He Is Gay To Defend False Rape Claim

Air Force May Boot Aviator Who Revealed He Is Gay To Defend False Rape Claim

Megan Carpentier | August 12, 2010, 5:17PM

Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach has been fighting for the right to stay in the Air Force for more than two years following a false criminal report that led to his outing. Yesterday, following reports that the Secretary of the Air Force was about to order his discharge, his lawyers filed for a temporary restraining order to keep him in the military until the courts have their say, or the Obama Administration gets around to repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell.

So, how did a decorated combat aviator with 19 years in the Air Force end up riding a desk and hoping just to make it to his pension (for which he'd be eligible next year) instead of flying missions in one of his country's wars -- despite much-heralded changes to the military's enforcement policies?

According to the Idaho Statesman, Fehrenbach got involved with the wrong guy: Cameron Shaner, himself an Army veteran who voluntarily left the military in 1999. Shaner, who suffers from a "100 percent service-connected disability," was out of the closet when he and a classmate approached the Air Force about a supposed plot against service members.

According to the Air Force Times, on May 7, 2008 Shaner and the classmate, who was a service member, went to the base to report their suspicions to the Office of Special Investigations. They told OSI Special Agent Karolyn DeRosier that there was a plot among HIV-infected gay men to invite service members to sex parties for the purpose of infecting them. DeRosier interviewed Shaner three times over the following forty-eight hours, asking him to take an oath to tell the truth. After speaking to him, she declined to use him as a confidential informant, deemed him unreliable and, eventually, closed the case due to lack of evidence.

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/08/air_force_may_boot_pilot_who_revealed_he_is_gay_to.php?ref=fpa

wow. interesting. if it wasnt for the internet, i wouldnt know about there kind of things, haha.

This is a skilled and proven warrior and we're about to deprive the nation of his service over THIS? Utter nonsense.

Trav