Individuals missing arms or legs are serving in the U.S. military. Individuals who are blind are also serving. But anyone who’s deaf cannot serve their country, and that’s not okay with Keith Nolan.

 

Nolan is a high school teacher in Southern California who really wants to serve in the U.S. Army. He previously enrolled in the Army Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) program at California State University Northridge which is open to all students. But in order to be commissioned an Army officer, Nolan had to pass a physical, and his inability to hear disqualified him.

 

The office of Representative Henry Waxman (D-California) is working on Nolan’s behalf to see if the Army can alter its policy towards the deaf.

 

After all, the Army has had deaf soldiers before, according to Nolan’s research. Also, the service currently has more than 40 soldiers with prosthetic limbs serving, and Captain Scott Smiley, who was blinded in Iraq, currently commands the Warrior Transition Unit at West Point’s Keller Army Medical Center.

 

Only 20% of members of the U.S. military serve in combat roles. Nolan is asking to be one of the other 80%. If allowed to serve, Nolan would like to work in military intelligence.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Let Deaf Americans Serve Their Country (by Robert Weinstock, Washington Post)

An Interview with Keith Nolan (by Mary Ruth Summers, Deaf Echo)

TEDxIslay- Keith Nolan- Deaf in the Military (YouTube)