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Captain Jonathan Hopkins, West Point Grad, Hero, Fired By DADT
Melanie Nathan; 8-11-10
INFANTRY COMPANY COMMANDER WITH THREE COMBAT TOURS DISCHARGED FOR BEING GAY
Here is the Video of Captain Jonathan Hopkins’ interview on the Rachel Maddow show tonight.
The Captain graduated in the top of his West Point class in 2001, served three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, and was discharged yesterday for being a gay man.
Hopkins graduated #4 out of 901 commissioned officers in West Point’s Class of 2001, where he was also ranked #1 militarily. He was slated to return to West Point to teach International Relations until the Army discovered he was gay.
At the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom in March, 2003, Hopkins led his infantry platoon on the 173rd Airborne Brigade’s combat parachute jump into Northern Iraq. Although his platoon had only been formed two months prior to the operation, it nevertheless led his battalion’s assault into Kirkuk as the Iraqi Army was retreating. During that year in Kirkuk, his platoon patrolled the tense city, keeping the peace, and quelling two major riots that spring. Hopkins himself earned two Bronze Stars, one with valor.
One year after returning from Iraq, his unit deployed to Afghanistan, where he served as a personnel & public affairs officer, and later as a battalion operations officer, during which Hopkins planned military operations in Zabul Province and served as the unit’s liaison with the Afghan Army.
Finally, as a Stryker company commander, he trained his unit in Alaska, deployed them to the Philippines, and then again to Iraq. He was identified by his commander as one of the top three out of thirty commanders in the brigade, despite his own personal difficulties trying to ensure no one ever realized he was gay. He was ultimately outed by a fellow officer as gay. Indicative of the paradoxical nature of the policy, he was informed of the investigation into his conduct on the same day it was announced he would be promoted to major one year early (such “below-the-zone” promotions are granted to only 7% of Army officers).
“What I’ve learned from this,” Hopkins said, “is the toll this policy can have on your life. Long after admitting to myself I was gay, I lived in denial about how hard it would be to remain in the Army under ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’ I was a professionally focused officer who spent part of every day paranoid about whether somebody was figuring me out or would try to out me. People are made stronger by having full and complete personal lives, complete with loving and fulfilling relationships. In that regard, I am glad to be moving on. I love the Army and was fully dedicated to it. But I am glad that I am no longer living a life that is somewhat self-destructive, trying to comply with this policy.”
Hopkins continued to work in his unit in Alaska for 12 months waiting for a discharge board, and tried in vain to meet in person with senior commanders. Finally, at his Board, when all the evidence was heard, he was recommended for an Honorable Discharge.
Homosexuality is the only charge for which Boards cannot consider a Soldier’s record in determining whether he can stay in the Army.
“It almost seemed like they regretted having to do it,” Hopkins said. “At one point, the board even asked me whether I thought the Army was ready to repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” I said undoubtedly yes. Our Soldiers are ready. Just some senior leaders, born in a different generation, are not ready to treat all service members the same based upon their performance and performance alone.”
“I’ve learned a lot during the 14 months between the time I was outed and the time I finally left the Army. I learned first of that most in my units had long ago guessed that I was gay; they just never told me. It didn’t matter to them; they considered me a good commander. During the 14 months since I was outed, I have lived in my own personal post-DADT Army. Everybody knew I was gay, I did my job, and they didn’t care. I have a boyfriend now, openly, and go to dinner even with my most socially conservative of Army friends. They continue to respect me as a good officer and are glad I’m happy, even if in some cases if my relationship conflicts with their religious beliefs. My quality is still assessed very much on how well I take care of Soldiers and live up to the Army Values— including Honor and Integrity.”
Hopkins will be attending graduate school this fall at Georgetown University. He remarked that leaving the Army is “a lot like a divorce. While I’m sad to leave something I loved and dedicated 13 years of my life to (including West Point), I look forward to being able to serve my country in other ways without having to lie on a daily basis about who I am. It’s time to move on; I’m prepared to do that.”
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14 Responses to Captain Jonathan Hopkins, West Point Grad, Hero, Fired By DADT
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For A Gay Friendly Get Away
Ron
January 2, 2011 at 7:37 am
I served with CPT (P) Jonathan Hopkins. Pray to God that, if you ever have a son in the ARMY, he would be lead in combat by a “fruity fag” like CPT (P) Hopkins. I’ve been 23 yrs. in the service (infantry). Started out as an E-1 and was an E-6 before I got commissioned. They can mix you and me in a blender and what is going to come out won’t be even close to 1/2 the soldier, 1/2 the leader, 1/2 the man, and 1/2 the integrity “to say the least”, than can describe CPT (P) Hopkins. I’m tempted to say something else, but “out of respect for people like you, I will not go into details”.
rob
August 21, 2010 at 7:05 pm
I knew the guy and the way he would carry himself was a bit fruity to say the least. I’m glad they kicked the pickle puffer out myself. Who would want to serve with someone that smokes polls. If a fag was in my squad he might not make it back from a mission. It hurts the morale of the unit and no grunt would want to share a fox hole with somone that wants to put it in your butt. If god would have wanted there to be fags he wouldn’t have given us women. Drop him off in iraq they are into that kind of stuff.
moretothestory125
August 16, 2010 at 9:31 pm
Yep, that’s the one. Looks like some pretty stiff action was taken, wasn’t it? He was given another star, division command, and now he’s a 3 star.
What is ironic is that President Obama was elected due in large part to the GLBT community’s support, and now that he’s in “control”, you STILL have people getting kicked out of the military under DODT, which, is to say, under his direction. So even your “messiah” is against your cause, despite his rhetoric. That’s got to sting.
Bridgette P. LaVictoire
August 16, 2010 at 9:54 pm
Not really. I knew exactly who I had a choice between when I voted. I could vote for the ineffective compromise politician, or the crotchety, easily angered politician. I chose the person who I knew would do the least amount of harm to this country. Unlike people like you who would have elected the man who would have us involved in a third war in Iran by now.
moretothestory125
August 13, 2010 at 6:27 pm
CPT Hopkins is a stud militarily and was kicked out of the Army for being gay, despite a career of success. Those are established facts. But, as with most issues, there is more to this story. What was not covered in Rachel Maddow’s interview was how he was “outted”. Here are some more facts.
As the Headquarters Company (HHC) commander of his brigade (1/25th SBCT), CPT Hopkins was over all in charge of the daily operations on Forward Operating Base Warhorse, his unit’s base in Iraq from September 2008 to September 2009.
CPT Hopkins had direct control over local national vendors that were allowed to provide their goods on FOB Warhorse. CPT Hopkins changed command in the summer of 2009 and was set to return to the U.S. and on to grad school and West Point. However, after changing out of command, a vendor approached his replacement with allegations that CPT Hopkins proposed sexual favors in exchange for that vendors continued service.
An investigation was launched into these allegations (an investigation into his unethical behavior, NOT an investigation of his sexual preference). For several reasons, it was botched. With it being a case of a local national’s word vs. the word of this stud Army captain, the Army Captain is going to win out. However, there was enough evidence against CPT Hopkins for him to receive a General Officer Memorandum of Reprimand (GOMOR) from then MG Robert Caslen, the 25th ID Commander, for these events; not for being gay, but for using his position in an unethical manner to influence the actions of others (basically, quid pro quo in a sexual nature). As most leaders in the Army know, a GOMOR is an administrative action, not a punitive action, therefore, it serves to say from that General officer “I know you did this, but legally I don’t have the proof to pursue UCMJ.” But, there was still a criminal investigation into CPT Hopkins’ actions.
Additionally, after the local national made these allegations, a male officer in the brigade came forward and accused CPT Hopkins of making unwanted sexual advances towards him, on the verge of sexual assault, while in a tower together in Iraq. These actions too, were investigated. Again, it was a battle of one man’s words against another.
In the end, CPT Hopkins beat the allegations, and for most of you on such a liberal site, you’ll rest assured that they were just that, allegations As anyone knows, it is not what you’re charged with, it is what is proven. HCPT Hopkins is a stud militarily and was kicked out of the Army for being gay. Those are established facts. But, as with most issues, there is more to this story. What was not covered in Rachel Maddow’s interview was how he was “outted”.
As the Headquarters Company (HHC) commander of his brigade (1/25th SBCT), CPT Hopkins was over all in charge of the daily operations on Forward Operating Base Warhorse, his unit’s base in Iraq from September 2008 to September 2009.
CPT Hopkins had direct control over local national vendors that were allowed to provide their goods on FOB Warhorse. CPT Hopkins changed command in the summer of 2009 and was set to return to the U.S. and on to grad school and West Point. However, after changing out of command, a vendor approached his replacement with allegations that CPT Hopkins proposed sexual favors in exchange for that vendors continued service.
An investigation was launched into these allegations (an investigation into his unethical behavior, NOT an investigation of his sexual preference). For several reasons, it was botched. With it being a case of a local national’s word vs. the word of this stud Army captain, the Army Captain is going to win out. However, there was enough evidence against CPT Hopkins for him to receive a General Officer Memorandum of Reprimand (GOMOR) from then MG Robert Caslen, the 25th ID Commander, for these events; not for being gay, but for using his position in an unethical manner to influence the actions of others (basically, quid pro quo in a sexual nature). As most leaders in the Army know, a GOMOR is an administrative action, not a punitive action, therefore, it serves to say from that General officer “I know you did this, but legally I don’t have the proof to pursue UCMJ.” But, there was still a criminal investigation into CPT Hopkins’ actions.
Additionally, after the local national made these allegations, a male officer (a lieutenant whom CPT Hopkins outranked) in the brigade came forward and accused CPT Hopkins of making unwanted sexual advances towards him, on the verge of sexual assault, while in a tower together in Iraq. These actions too, were investigated. Again, it was a battle of one man’s words against another.
In the end, CPT Hopkins beat the allegations, and for most of you on such a liberal site, you’ll rest assured that they were just that, allegations As anyone knows, it is not what you’re charged with, it is what is proven. His is extremely intelligent and knew that if he could redirect the attention from his alleged unethical actions and focus it on him being gay, it would favor him better in the end.
However, when it comes to accusations like this, you have to be above reproach in all aspects when in the military. Two COMPLETELY separate people making accusations similar in nature does not put someone above reproach.
Who cares if he’s gay? I don’t. Regardless of sexual preference, when one person uses his position, rank, or influence to persuade the actions of others, that is wrong. So Paula, there are some “facts” for you. There is no swiftboating going on here; just a presenting of another side of the story. If those people had never come forward to report his behavior, this would never have been an issue.
Bridgette P. LaVictoire
August 13, 2010 at 7:28 pm
Liza,
Until you provide documentation, these allegations are nothing but a smear campaign in order to try and swiftboat someone. In fact, this immoral and unethical campaign is little more than that given that you are attacking a man proven to be innocent on the charges that you have dredged up in order to attack him upon. This kind of behavior is beneath the moral fiber of anyone, but especially beneath one who is a member of the military. Captain Hopkins has not been found guilty of anything, and to continue to state that he is guilty while providing not a shred of evidence to show that he was guilty of these crimes and immoral behaviors is the very essence of swiftboating. This site has a long history of people who try to pull off such attacks, including one set about a year ago where we were forced to defend this site from people from or in conjunction with Liberty University who were attacking this site over our coverage of the Lisa Miller case.
Either provide documentary evidence that he is guilty of these crimes or take your smear campaign elsewhere. I am more than certain that the American Family Association, the Family Research Council and Westboro Baptist Church would be more than willing to welcome your comments on their sites.
SigCCaptain
August 13, 2010 at 7:59 pm
So let’s see: an Iraqi attempts to blackmail him, and a Lieutenant – who was struggling in his unit and being accused under DADT himself, you left that part out! – made accusations. So TWO unfounded accusations make it “true” even though nothing happened except an administrative letter. Huh. Sounds like another day under DADT to me.
So why is this coming from the Pentagon? What’s your objective here? To say that he wasn’t a good combat leader? That he wasn’t kicked out for being gay?
This is just another smear campaign, pure and simple.
james
August 12, 2010 at 7:22 pm
Unfortunatley you are getting a portion of the story. Out of respect for Jon I will not go into detail. I will say the accounts of this article are not accurate.
Liza
August 13, 2010 at 11:14 am
I agree James. I know there is MUCH MORE to this story.
Sue Fulton
August 13, 2010 at 12:45 pm
“Out of respect for Jon” you would start a whispering campaign to smear him?
Here we go again. They tried to smear Dan Choi, they tried to smear Victor Fehrenbach, Mike Almy…
Look, nobody’s perfect, and the press often gets things wrong, but the core of the story is that he’s a decorated vet kicked out because he’s gay. the rest is details.
Brad Hanon
August 12, 2010 at 6:26 am
Is it just me, or does that guy totally look like Captain America? Square jaw, neatly-combed blond hair, top-notch combat record… did the army just fire Captain America?
Mike
December 15, 2010 at 2:32 am
Knowing Jon from West Point, he is about as close as there is in real life, and people there said exactly the same thing.
B. Jean-Pierre
August 12, 2010 at 3:01 am
I am “flipping” MAD! to the point my eyes are right now starting to gloss over near tears.
I care most of nothing but fairness in this god forsaken world: And this is NOT FAIR!!! Captain Hopkins is possibly near the best this freaken country/world has to offer and his performance has left this to no doubt; And you tell me he cannot be ‘all that he wants to be’ because of something completely unrelated to his performance.
I have my own mix-feelings about homosexuality as a straight male, but fairness is fairness…
A man who wants to fight or die to protect my rights to be a god-damn biget should be allowed to do so no matter who he happens to be sexually attracted to or love.
Don’t ask don’t tell is just stupid!
Let every sane person who want to go kill Bin Laden go do so with my blessing… Shit I couldn’t do it!
Melanie Nathan
August 12, 2010 at 4:19 am
You are so right!! Good comment thanks