Why Should We Spend $1.35 Million To Study Trans-Servicememebers

…and take years of research, just go and ask Canada, Britain and Australia, "Hey can we borrow your manuals?" They seemed to have it figured out.

Research institute receives $1.35 million to examine transgender service in U.S. military
The Transgender Military Initiative will be the most comprehensive research project on transgender service to date
Salon
By Katie Mcdonough
July 31, 2013

The Palm Center, a California-based research institute that examined issues associated with the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy for more than a decade, received a $1.35 million grant to study transgender service in the American military, according to a report from BuzzFeed.

The Palm Center’s Transgender Military Initiative, led by project director Indra Lusero, has commissioned 11 studies that will investigate “whether and how the U.S. armed forces could include transgender troops without undermining readiness.”
[…]
“This academic research will inform an important public conversation by providing facts and evidence about transgender military service and gender expression in armed forces,” Lusero told BuzzFeed. “Militaries around the world are updating their policies, and we are already conducting research in Canada, Britain and Australia to learn whether their trans-inclusive regulations have impacted readiness.”

Don’t forget there are no laws keeping trans-people from serving in the military. Even though I welcome the research initiative, I think there will be more studies and then follow-up studies, followed by more studies. I think this will be dragged out longer than DADT. I hope I am wrong, but in the meantime take a look at video about Lieutenant Colonel Cate McGregor in the Australian army.