JOHN YANG: Thousands of transgender troops are facing removal from the military because of the Trump administration's ban on their service.
The Pentagon says they have a choice.
Either self-identify and leave voluntarily with extended benefits or face involuntary separation.
Dan Ming with the nonprofit news organization Evident Media spoke with some of the transgender military members who are fighting the ban in court.
They say what the Pentagon is offering isn't a choice.
It's coercion.
MAJ. ERICA VANDAL, U.S. Army: I was born into a military family, spent my entire childhood moving from military post to military post.
I've been serving now for 14 years as of yesterday.
Graduated high school in 2007, immediately went to West Point.
Following that, four years there, and then I commissioned in 2011 as a second lieutenant.
The army is literally the only lifestyle I have ever known, and I think it is incredibly difficult knowing that it is likely going to be taken away here in the coming weeks.
DAN MING (voice-over): Erica Vandal is a major in the U.S. army.
She's risen through the ranks, deployed to Afghanistan, and was awarded a bronze Star.
She's also about to be forced out of the military for being transgender.
DAN MING: What has it been like to be trans in the military?
ERICA VANDAL: Overall, it's been a massive net positive.
It made me more empathetic, more approachable, more open and honest to my soldiers.
When you're living authentically, I think soldiers see that and they can reflect that back on you.
It kind of instills that trust, I think.
DAN MING (voice-over): One of President Trump's first executive orders after returning to office was a revival of a policy he introduced in his first term, a ban on transgender service members.
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. President: To ensure that we have the most lethal fighting force in the world, we will get transgender ideology the hell out of our military.
It's going to be gone.
DAN MING (voice-over): The administration argues that trans individuals pose an unnecessary burden on the armed forces, undermining unit cohesion and military readiness.
PETE HEGSETH, Secretary of Defense: We are leaving wokeness weakness behind.
No more dudes in dresses.
DAN MING (voice-over): Now the Pentagon is identifying and removing them from service.
DAN MING: Does receiving gender affirming care impact your ability to serve?
ERICA VANDAL: No.
Gender affirming care has zero impact on our ability to deploy, our ability to be ready, and our ability to meet standards.
As far as my medicines that I'm taking, it is a shelf, stable pill I take twice a day.
No different than, you know, medication of whatever variety that thousands of other troops take daily.
DAN MING: What will you do if you're forced out of the military?
ERICA VANDAL: It's going to be devastating.
Should that occur, I will lose this core component of my identity that's been with me my entire life.
I will lose the single source of income right now for my family, the health care, the benefits associated with that, the on post housing that we have.
Just - - we'll lose everything at that point.
DAN MING (voice-over): Major Vandal is one of 32 plaintiffs suing the Trump administration over the trans ban, which the Supreme Court has allowed to move forward.
While legal challenges make their way through the courts.
One of the most outspoken lawmakers against the policy is Senator Tammy Duckworth, a combat veteran and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
SEN. TAMMY DUCKWORTH (D) Illinois: I don't see why someone who can truly serve this country, who can meet the requirements to serve in the military, who can pass a physical test, who can pass the, you know, all of the skills testing and is already doing the job, should be kicked out of the military.
I just think it's very arbitrary, and it's not what America is about.
DAN MING: The Trump administration makes this argument that trans service members undermine unit cohesion.
As a combat veteran, how do you respond to that?
TAMMY DUCKWORTH: When I was sitting in my helicopter and I was bleeding to death after I'd been shot down and an American service member came, I didn't ask if they were trans, straight, or gay.
All I care about is, are you willing to carry the load?
Are you qualified to do your job, and will you be willing to lay down your life to defend this country and the Constitution of this great United States?
And every single one of these people have said yes to that.
Something that our president can't say.
DAN MING: How does your own experience in the military inform how you approach this issue?
TAMMY DUCKWORTH: Well, when I first joined the military, you know, oftentimes I was the only woman in my unit or one of two.
When I first started flying, they didn't let women fly combat missions.
You know, when early on, when I was a cadet, I even had somebody tell me, oh, your uterus can't handle flying a helicopter from the vibrations.
You know, these are the -- DAN MING: Someone said that to you?
TAMMY DUCKWORTH: Yes, yes, you know, and we know these are all just ways and bogus red herring arguments that comes up from folks who are basically trying to keep other people out.
DAN MING (voice-over): We reached out to both the Department of Defense and Republican lawmakers who support the trans ban, but received no responses.
According to the Pentagon, There are around 4,200 service members with a diagnosis of gender dysphoria, which is when a person's gender identity differs from the sex they were assigned at birth.
That's 0.2 percent of the entire military.
Since 2015, the Department of Defense has spent an average of $9,000 on gender affirming care for each trans service member, a small fraction of the military health system's $61 billion annual budget.
MAN: Whoa.
Nice.
DAN MING (voice-over): At Fort Drum in New York, Erica helps lead a support group for her fellow trans soldiers, all of whom are bracing for the coming purge.
STAFF SGT.
HENRY YOUNG, U.S. Army: Being trans has been a complete nonissue in any of the units I've served in so far.
Right now I'm on my third one, and it's kind of been a scramble to figure out how they're going to replace me in my specific position.
SPC.
ARIA SHAFFER, U.S. Army: I've come to call the people in the military my family, my leadership I've looked up to, and they've been able to help me with so many different things, and never once have I received any issues at all with me being transgender.
DAN MING: People think of military culture as pretty conservative, and I think people watching this might be surprised that you guys haven't had issues being openly trans.
ERICA VANDAL: I mean, people might think of it as conservative, but at the end of the day, I think what people truly care about is your ability to meet the standards and prove perform at your job.
So long as you're doing those things, I don't think any of those kind of identity politics matter.
DAN MING: Why do you think the Trump administration is so focused on trans people in the military?
HENRY YOUNG: We're an easy group to lie about.
When people get to know us as people instead of just as abstract concepts, they will come around on a lot of their preconceived notions of what a trans individual is.
It's driven by fear and it's driven by misunderstanding.
ERICA VANDAL: When I informed both my chain of command and my peers and subordinates that I was likely going to be placed on administrative separation soon, there was a lot of shock.
There are clear indicators that I am one of the top performing officers within my unit.
Why am I being removed for this part of my identity when I continue to meet standards?
The army has invested decades of training into U.S. millions of dollars, and I think the forced purge and removal of transgender service members is going to be very harmful to overall military readiness.
JOHN YANG: That's Evident Media's Dan Ming.
Their full documentary, which is called "Fighting to Serve" is on YouTube.