She was set on a career of service after growing up in a military family. Trump’s trans ban is ruining her life
As a child, Army Major Erica Vandal posed for family photos wearing her father’s oversized boots and helmet.
“I think it was very obvious from a young age that I wanted to follow in his footsteps,” she tells The Independent.
Her father, the late Lt. Gen. Thomas S. Vandal, served 36 years in the U.S. Army. A state-of-the-art simulation center at Camp Humphreys is named after him. She and her brothers followed their father’s path in the armed forces, with service in the Navy and Marine Corps.
Vandal, a field artillery officer with more than 14 years of service, calls it “family tradition.” She anticipates transferring her GI bill benefits to her children, ages 8 and 10, for their college education — all part of the “legacy of service” central to her identity.
But that was all stripped away on June 6.
Just days before Donald Trump threw a military parade on the streets of Washington, D.C. to celebrate the Army’s 250th birthday, Vandal had to decide whether she would accept “voluntary” separation from that same branch of the nation’s military because she is transgender.
“We belong and we deserve to be here,” Vandal says. “I represent 18 years and millions of dollars in training.”
Last month, the Department of Defense ordered military officials to “immediately” review medical records for trans service members to begin removing them from all branches of the armed forces.
The Pentagon’s order followed a Supreme Court decision that — for now — allows the Trump administration to ban trans people from the military and remove currently serving trans service members, despite court rulings that found the president’s directive plainly discriminatory.
Without imminent court intervention, Vandal anticipates her full separation from the military this December. She had hoped to serve at least 20 years with the Army, which would unlock lifetime pension and other benefits. If she’s removed, she will have left behind a more than 14-year career as an active-duty service member.
“Unlike a lot of jobs, being a soldier is kind of all encompassing,” Vandal says. “The amount of time and money that it would take to just replace me — not to mention the vast majority of transgender service members, who are senior [non-commissioned officers] and officers — it would be a detriment to readiness to remove all of us.”
She lives on base housing in upstate New York, and her family’s health insurance is provided solely through the military, with access to military hospitals and military treatment facilities. She is the family’s breadwinner.
Leaving behind a life of service she was born into is “devastating” to think about, the 36-year-old says, noting that nothing about the decision feels “voluntary.”
Vandal and other trans service members speaking with The Independent, note that they are speaking out on their personal behalf, not as military representatives.
