Gay Officer Sues Air Force To Block Discharge Before Retirement
August 12, 2010 at 12:56 PM by AHN · Leave a Comment
Boise, ID, United States (AHN) – A decorated Air Force officer and a group representing gays in the military have petitioned for a temporary restraining order before an Idaho federal court to prevent his discharge that will cause him to lose his retirement benefits.
Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach, 40, and the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network filed the TRO Wednesday with the U.S. district court for the district of Idaho.
Fehrenbach has been on desk duty at the Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho since 2008 pending the Air Force’s investigation of his sexual orientation under the don’t ask don’t tell policy. He was supposed to be deployed to Afghanistan in 2008 when a sexual assault charge filed by a civilian against him led military investigators to suspect he is gay.
Though the charge was eventually dismissed by a court, he is facing dismissal for allegedly engaging in consensual sex with another man.
In the court petition, lawyers of Fehrenbach and the SLDN argued that if discharged, he would lose $46,000 in annual pension due him. The officer is just 13 months short of completing his 20th year of military service that would make him eligible to receive the annual pension.
The petition also asked the court to declare the DADT policy unconstitutional.
