[Author's note: I have known Keith as a colleague and classmate in deaf education. While watching Keith’s story through the Tedxislay series, I saw his perseverance and the can-do attitude I have known and adored. While I knew he would be a good role model for his students, I instantly saw what a good role model he was to me as an adult. He had grown considerably in teaching and I felt giddy that I was now his student like everyone else in that big room as he guided me into his lesson regarding why he thought deaf people should be allowed in the US military including excerpts of interviews with deaf soldiers in Israel. What stood out the most during his presentation was how human Keith is. Keith has been pleasantly surprised at the support in Facebook and the deaf community. The following is our interview.]
Mary Ruth Summers: I recently went on the DOD website and they had questions/comments fill-in-form on their website. Have you tried contacting them?
Keith Nolan: No, I have not personally contacted them. Rather, my officers recommended that I see my Senators and district Congressman and that was what I did. My district Congressman Waxman did make an inquiry with the US Army about my case, and their response was a one page letter that jusfitified my disqualification with one sentence: “His medical condition is disqualifying in accordance with Army Regulation 40-501, Standards of Medical Fitness, Chapter 2, Physical Standards for Enlistment, Appointment, and Induction.” There wasn’t any further explanation.
I’d like to ask you about Rep. Waxman. He said he would support you?
I do not know what Representative Waxman’s position on this issue is, but the caseworker in his office I work with continues to communicate with me and is open to receiving letters and calls from the public. As of now, the caseworker said the issue would be reviewed by their policy analyst in Washington DC and they would get back to me with the results.
How many recruitment stations did you go to? What did they say was the reason you couldn’t join? Because you were deaf? Did they give you a book outlining their recruitment policy/ medical policy?
Exactly how many recruitment stations did I go to over the years? I couldn’t really tell. The first one was probably when I was nine or ten years old when my Mom took me to a Navy recruiting office in Northampton, Massachusetts where I was able to meet the officers and gather brochures. Then, there was the Navy recruiting office in Maryland I went to right after my graduation from Maryland School for the Deaf as described in my video. When that still didn’t work, I tried a different tactic. Instead of going to offices, I decided to try to apply through their websites, which I did with the Army. Yet, when nothing worked, I went to CSUN and tried to enroll into the Navy ROTC program at UCLA (at that time, there were no ROTC programs at CSUN), but was turned away. Upon my graduation from CSUN, I went to a job fair and visited a Marine booth. I thought maybe with a bachelors degree, they would give me a second thought. They did give me a call afterwards, but with the relay service interpreting the call, the recruiter realized that I was actually deaf and said that it wouldn’t be worthwhile for me to go through the medical exam because I’d be disqualified at the end.
Throughout the visits, I never got a policy book. It never occurred to me because at that time, everyone was telling me that deaf people cannot be in the military as if it were a matter of fact. Last year totally changed my perspective after I learned about the Israeli Defense Force; the fact that our military has disabled soldiers still serving; and that eighty percent of the occupations in the Armed Forces are noncombat.
Do you think their policy is fair? Why not?
No. If I thought it was fair, I wouldn’t have given the TED video presentation.
Who in the top military bracket that you have been able to approach said you couldn’t enlist in the military?
I don’t know exactly who, but the order for me to stop continuing my training in the Army ROTC came from the US Army Cadet Command and the order was passed down to my battalion commander, Lieutenant Colonel Phelps, who told me of the changes – that I cannot participate in the training anymore, and if I wished to continue, I can only audit for classes in the coming Fall.
Your staunch point of joining the military is to be able to serve your country. Why?
I love this country. If you travel around the world, you’d never see the same opportunities we have here in the United States, especially for the deaf, and I want to be able to do something in turn, just as countless Americans have done.
You majored in political science. Before that, where did your love for the military begin? You said you had relatives in the military. Do you think your desire came from that?
I think it is difficult to pinpoint just when my interest with the military began. I remember my brother’s military models when I was a little kid. I slept on the USS Massachusetts battleship when I was in the Cub Scouts. And, then of course, there are the stories about my family members’ service in World War II. My paternal grandfather was a lieutenant in the Navy, having fought in the Leyte Gulf before his aircraft carrier, the USS Belleau Wood, was struck by a kamikaze. My great-uncle was a captain in the Marines and was part of the amphibious assault and takeover of the airfield on Peleliu island, earning a Silver Star (if you see some of the episodes from the HBO series, The Pacific, where it showed the assault on the Peleliu island, it was eerily similar to what was described about my great-uncle’s actions on that island). He in fact told me one day before I left for high school football summer camp, “You should be in the Marines.” My five maternal great-uncles were also in the military. They were a soldier, sailor, Red Cross medic, cook, and paratrooper, respectively.
Do you think this is a discriminatory issue, similar to the way homosexuals have been discriminated against in the military?
Yes, the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy (DADT) was definitely a discriminatory issue for the homosexuals in our military. But, that policy is currently being changed. In fact, two or three weeks after my TED video presentation, my Bravo Company had a seminar on the changes with the DADT policy. Some of the soldiers I talked with in my unit made the comparison between my struggle and the DADT policy. One of the other speakers from TED also made the suggestion to look into how the repeal of the DADT policy was conducted so that perhaps our case can follow in similar steps to allow deaf and hard of hearing Americans to serve in the military.
Did anyone explain WHY deaf people couldn’t join the military to work in non-combat positions?
I do not have the official reasoning from the Department of Defense. The only explanation I got was the single sentence from the US Army as quoted above. However, from what I have heard from my Battalion as well as a professor in Military Science, the most dominating issue seems to be the “deployable” issue. The US Army expects EVERY soldier to be deployable even if their occupation is in the “noncombat” capacity. The US Army currently does not make the distinction of who and who is not deployable. For example, if we were to suddenly have a conflict with an unexpected enemy, the soldier behind the desk who has never seen combat in his or her entire career can expect to be suddenly called upon and sent to the front lines immediately. Actually, there are deeper issues with this “deployable” concept, but let’s put a hold on this. This is one issue that will be discussed in my research paper.
It was interesting to see military soldiers who lost their limbs or hearing return to active duty – non-combat and combat positions. I have read stories about soldiers in combat who have sustained considerable injuries but their hearts told them to stay in battle and with their units. They seem to have the golden ticket to do so because they have already enlisted prior to their “injury.” However, yours would be a different situation. You were born deaf. Should the military look into opening doors to deaf men and women? Once deaf men and women join the military, some people argue that officers would not be able to communicate with deaf people/ do not know sign. Without explaining how, do you think the benefits outweigh the logistics of streamlining deaf people into the US military? Why?
Speaking of communication issues, I once thought the same thing, but my interviews with the deaf Israeli soldiers proved to be otherwise. I’ve met deaf soldiers who are oralists as well as manualists, and they continue to function in their units, using any communication methods that work. The main issue here is do those deaf soldiers have skills and qualifications One soldier told me that the Israeli Defense Force does not accept ALL deaf Israelis. They go through the processing center where they are also tested for any skills and qualifications they might have. If the deaf Israeli is found not to be competent, he or she is rejected in the same manner hearing applicants are – not because he or she is deaf, but because he or she does not have any skills the Israeli military can use.
I believe that there would be CODAs or those who know ASL who could provide interpreting and be responsible for communication just like there are some deaf units in Americorps that contract with interpreters, the Peace Corps in Africa, etc. When there is a will there is a way. Right?
Absolutely. For example, you have Leah Wilkerson, an Army ROTC cadet at the University of Tennessee who is majoring in Special Education with an emphasis in interpreting. What’s more, if you look at the Facebook page, you can see that there are a couple of veterans who know sign language also.
Where would you go to train? The Army? National Guard? And what would be your advanced training after boot camp (specialty)? Would your Masters degree in education flow into this?
From what I know about my fellow cadets, some of them have gone to the Air Assault school or the Warrior Forge training over this summer. Upon completion of the ROTC program, some of the fourth year cadets have gone into the National Guard and others into the Active service. Since I am interested in Military Intelligence (MI), I presume I would have gone to the MI school in New Mexico, but I never got that far.
One of the most poignant moments in your Tedxislay presentation was when you said you would be turning in your uniform and choked up. Was it hard doing that presentation?
Yes, it was difficult. Turning in my uniform symbolically meant that I could never be part of the Bruin Battalion anymore and that hurts.
You said you have been overwhelmed with the outpouring of support. Why do you think that is?
To see that I am not alone in the desire to serve our country and to see the support from the public, it has given me a tremendous boost. Showing support is not the only thing itself, but to see people making an effort to do something more than that is just amazing. If we all work together and figure this out, changes can definitely be made.
Are there other ways to feel patriotic than joining the military?
This is the United States of America and there are a variety of ways from whole diverse groups of people to show your patriotism, and that’s why I love this country. On that note, in celebrating the Fourth of July, I would like to wish everyone a happy one!
