{"id":15559,"date":"2011-08-23T04:31:54","date_gmt":"2011-08-23T09:31:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/?p=15559"},"modified":"2011-08-23T04:44:25","modified_gmt":"2011-08-23T09:44:25","slug":"deaf-man-battling-to-join-army-after-auditing-rotc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2011\/08\/23\/deaf-man-battling-to-join-army-after-auditing-rotc\/","title":{"rendered":"Deaf man battling to join Army after auditing ROTC"},"content":{"rendered":"

Deaf man battling to join Army after auditing ROTC<\/strong><\/p>\n

By JULIE WATSON
\nThe Associated Press<\/p>\n

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. \u2014 Keith Nolan spent a decade applying repeatedly to the
\nArmy’s Reserve Officers Training Corps’ program before the deaf man’s
\ntenacity paid off and a commander finally let him audit the classes.<\/p>\n

Nolan became a top performer in the ROTC program’s Bravo Company at
\nCalifornia State University at Northridge, and his instructors were so
\nimpressed they let him wear a uniform. He was distraught when he turned it
\nback in and said goodbye to the other cadets in May. He could advance no
\nfurther under the military’s current policy that requires cadets pass a
\nhearing test to be commissioned by the Army.<\/p>\n

It was a stinging moment that burned in the soul of the bespectacled
\n29-year-old teacher, who is determined to break that barrier and achieve his
\nlifetime dream of working in military intelligence.<\/p>\n

“All I really want to do is join the Army,” said Nolan, a confident,
\nclean-cut man with a boyish face who signed to an interpreter in an
\ninterview at the university’s ROTC office. He was flanked by posters with
\ninspirational messages urging people to join. “I want to do my duty, serve
\nmy country and experience that camaraderie, and I can’t, owed to the fact
\nthat I’m deaf.”<\/p>\n

Soldiers with disabilities have been returning to active duty in increasing
\nnumbers due largely to the fact that medical advances today are ensuring
\nmore people survive serious war injuries. All branches of the U.S. armed
\nforces over the past decade have started offering the opportunity for
\nseriously wounded or disabled service members to remain on active duty by
\nfinding them jobs they can perform.<\/p>\n

Today about 300 seriously wounded service members \u2014 some of whom have been
\nblinded by blasts, lost their limbs or have severe head injuries \u2014 work in a
\nvariety of Army positions, and their work has been vital, especially in
\naiding other recovering troops, said Erich Langer, a spokesman with the
\nArmy’s Warrior Transition Command in Alexandria, Va.<\/p>\n

Some have even returned to war zones.<\/p>\n

“These cases help folks with disabilities across the board by opening more
\ndoors,” he said.<\/p>\n

Nolan said their presence shows there is a place in the military for
\ndisabled people. He sees the military’s changing attitude as a window of
\nopportunity that he hopes to pry open further so any deaf person \u2014 not just
\nwounded combat troops \u2014 could be eligible to serve.<\/p>\n

Nolan, who was born deaf to deaf parents, has wanted to join the Army ever
\nsince he learned of the experiences of his grandfather and great uncles who
\nfought in WWII.<\/p>\n

His father, Kevin Nolan, successfully won a city council seat against a
\n20-year incumbent in Northhampton, Mass., and taught his son to defy the
\nodds.<\/p>\n

“My wife and I were very emotional about this,” Kevin Nolan said of Nolan’s
\nROTC participation, in a phone interview assisted by an interpreter. “We’re
\nproud.”<\/p>\n

Capt. Sid Mendoza, a training supervisor of the program at Northridge, said
\nhe had no idea Nolan was deaf when he saw his application online.<\/p>\n

Once he met Nolan, Mendoza said he wanted to see if there was a way to give
\nhim military experience because he was so interested in the armed forces.<\/p>\n

“At the beginning we weren’t sure how it was going to work,” Mendoza said.<\/p>\n

But with the help of a deaf interpreter, Nolan excelled, Mendoza said. He
\nshowed up at 5 a.m. exercises even though he was not required to and despite
\ninitially straining to see the interpreter in the darkness, he immediately
\nwas able to follow the commands, and earned a perfect score in his military
\nsciences class.<\/p>\n

Mendoza said he learned sign language for the word “motivation” because
\nNolan’s interpreters used it so much when relaying to Nolan what people were
\nsaying about him.<\/p>\n

“He definitely was one of our top performers,” Mendoza said.<\/p>\n

Nolan said he was crushed when the course ended and he had to step aside as
\nthe other cadets were commissioned by the Army.<\/p>\n

“When I gave my rucksack away to the cadet in the van \u2014 that was when it
\nreally hit me that it was over for me,” he wrote in his journal.<\/p>\n

Mendoza said it was also hard on his fellow cadets, who are now second
\nlieutenants.<\/p>\n

“For all of us, it was really tough because we saw his enthusiasm to want
\nmore, but it’s outside of our control,” he said.<\/p>\n

The office of Rep. Henry A. Waxman, D-Calif., said the congressman plans to
\nmeet Nolan in the fall to continue to work on his behalf. Nolan wants Waxman
\nto sponsor a bill allowing deaf people into the armed forces.<\/p>\n

Nolan has sent an inquiry to the Army and is waiting for a reply explaining
\nwhy he could not be commissioned. Waxman’s office said their inquiry to the
\nArmy got an “unfavorable” response but the congressman is still interested
\nin seeing what he can do.<\/p>\n

“I am looking forward to meeting Keith Nolan during his upcoming visit to
\nWashington,” Waxman said in a statement sent to The Associated Press. “He is
\nan exceptional young man, and he has raised a compelling issue that I
\nbelieve is worth examining.”<\/p>\n

In the meantime, Nolan has been spreading the word to drum up support for
\nhis cause, speaking at universities and other public events.<\/p>\n

More than 2,000 people have responded in support of his Facebook page,
\n“Commission Cadet Nolan Now,” which features a picture of Nolan holding
\nfolded camys and a pair of Army boots as if he were joining.<\/p>\n

Nolan traveled in 2010 to Israel where he met with 10 deaf military service
\nmembers to document how they function in their jobs. The soldiers he met
\nworked in everything from intelligence to dog training.<\/p>\n

Deaf people are not drafted like other Israelis but can volunteer to serve
\nand are deployed in noncombat positions, the Israeli military spokesman’s
\noffice said. Many people with disabilities volunteer as military service
\nplays a central role in Israeli culture and is considered a rite of passage.<\/p>\n

“Many were shocked to hear America does not accept disabled people in its
\nmilitary,” Nolan said.<\/p>\n

Deaf people once served in the U.S. military too. During the American Civil
\nWar, more than a dozen deaf soldiers were in the armed forces.<\/p>\n

History gives Nolan hope.<\/p>\n

“I in no way want to degrade our military on the basis of disability or
\nequality rights,” he said. “But, with the support that I have received from
\nboth civilians and military personnel as well as what I have learned from my
\nresearch, I am convinced that there is a noncombat position that I can do in
\nthe military without harming our armed forces’ effectiveness and readiness.”<\/p>\n

_____<\/p>\n

Ian Deitch in Jerusalem contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

Source:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.ajc.com\/news\/nation-world\/deaf-man-battling-to-1127896.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Deaf man battling to join Army after auditing ROTC By JULIE WATSON The Associated Press NORTHRIDGE, Calif. \u2014 Keith Nolan spent a decade applying repeatedly to the Army’s Reserve Officers Training Corps’ program before the deaf man’s tenacity paid off…<\/p>\n

Read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[10524,10543,10526,1840,10527,10534,5945,10536,1234,10537,511,10531,833,40,10538,10539,10540,10521,10523,10532,7658,10528,10542,10533,10522,32,10535,10525,10520,191,10530,10529,10541],"class_list":["post-15559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-deaf-news","tag-army","tag-armys-warrior-transition-command","tag-bravo-company","tag-california","tag-california-state-university-at-northridge","tag-capt-sid-mendoza","tag-city-council","tag-commission-cadet-nolan-now","tag-congressman","tag-deaf-military","tag-disabilities","tag-erich-langer","tag-facebook","tag-interpreter","tag-israel","tag-israeli-culture","tag-israeli-military","tag-julie-watson","tag-keith-nolan","tag-kevin-nolan","tag-massachusetts","tag-military-intelligence","tag-military-personnel","tag-northhampton","tag-northridge","tag-opportunity","tag-rep-henry-a-waxman","tag-reserve-officers-training-corps","tag-rotc","tag-sign-language","tag-soldiers-with-disabilities","tag-solider","tag-u-s-military"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p752R-42X","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":18671,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2012\/05\/09\/deaf-hard-of-hearing-job-fair-with-dr-bobbie-beth-scoggins-51012-houston\/","url_meta":{"origin":15559,"position":0},"title":"Deaf & Hard of Hearing Job Fair with Dr Bobbie Beth Scoggins 5\/10\/12 – Houston","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"May 9, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Don\u2019t Forget the Deaf & Hard of Hearing Job Fair! 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