Jerry Langan

​About Jerry

 

I was raised in the Pacific Northwest, which partly explains my love of the outdoors. In addition to running and cycling, I’m an avid tennis player, an accomplished skier, and a budding snowboarder. Running, however, is my real passion: from 5Ks to ultra-marathons - though I’m most fond of half-marathons. I came east to study in Boston and began my legal career in the Army Judge Advocate General's Corps. I spent five years on active duty and the past twenty years in the Army Reserve. I presently hold a legal assignment at the Pentagon. I joined Front Runners in 2000 and found myself instantly surrounded by runners who motivated and inspired me. I was most impressed with the goals people set for themselves. It was not until I began setting them myself that I found my running - and for that matter other aspects of my life - really improved. 

 

 

 

 

​Questions



You recently helped to co-organize our 30th Anniversary Gala. Why did you take that initiative? Front Runners has meant so much to me that in a way, I have to give something back. It takes a lot of energy to focus on one of these big picture events. If you’re on the board going to meetings every month, it’s hard to step away from the micro-management of the organization and focus on a macro issue. That’s where I can contribute.
 
Did organizing the Gala evoke any particular thoughts? In studying the club’s archives, I was struck by how the club newsletters of the 1980s had such a happy tone and how courageous the club’s founders were. Then, with the newsletters of the 90s, I was blown away by the monthly obituaries of members who had died of AIDS. The tone became much sadder. I saw the perseverance of the club in the face of this epidemic. Since I became a member eleven years ago, I don’t think any member has died of the disease.
 
Another momentous day was when you were on Capitol Hill on December 18, 2010 as the Senate voted to repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT). How was that? It was bittersweet because the Senate was considering two different causes that day: repeal of DADT and passage of the DREAM Act, which created a path to citizenship for certain immigrants. The Senate Gallery was filled with gay people and immigrants. We were both watching the votes come in. The DREAM Act fails by a few votes. The immigrants were devastated: they started crying, it was awful. Then, on DADT, the two critical Senators came down on our side.
 
Was there euphoria? There was this restrained sigh of relief but it was bittersweet, having lost the other vote. Because it’s the same kind of animus that’s directed towards gay people and immigrants – this put-people-down sentiment that we saw expressed in the debate
 
Tell us about your efforts to support gay people in the military. As an Active Duty defense lawyer in the late 80s and early 90s, I defended about thirty gay discharge cases in the army. The cases were hopeless. This was pre-DADT when they did ask, they did investigate, and they could ask again at any time. The only case where I succeeded in saving someone’s career was immediately after President Clinton signed Don’t Ask Don’t Tell in 1993 when we got the case thrown out because we argued that the law, applied retro-actively, precluded them from asking.
 
Weren’t you under threat yourself of being discharged? I had to be careful when in Active Duty. I was out to no one. I felt threat from everyone. I tried to avoid social events. It was not a good environment. When I began defending service members facing discharge, I could see some of them wondering about my motivation. I wanted to come out to them but I couldn’t and I didn’t. That was difficult. After I moved into the Army Reserves in 1992, I became more actively involved in the campaign to repeal DADT through the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network because by then my whole career was no longer at stake.
                                                                                            
Turning to running, in our race circuit, you’ve developed a special rivalry with Jon Burnham. How did that happen? At races he and I would finish neck and neck, sprinting it out together. Then, when they would publish the circuit standings at the end of the year, we’d be neck and neck too. He beat me three years in a row and I was like ‘okay, I’m coming back now’. But it’s a very friendly rivalry. If I didn’t have his competitive edge, it wouldn’t push me to achieve the results that I’ve got.
 
What is your favorite race? I like the Capitol Hill Classic 10K. I love running through those neighborhoods. And I love how it’s become so popular among Front Runners.
 
You had knee surgery three years ago. Was it tough not being able to run for several months? It did affect my running. I did not get depressed about it. I’m also an avid cyclist so I doubled up on some of my biking to make up. But still, I did miss my long runs. There’s something really therapeutic about the long run - I have some of my best thoughts on them.
 
What great military leader do you most admire? Sun Tzu, the ancient Chinese General who wrote The Art of War. The great debate in warfare is between the philosophies of Sun Tzu and Carl von Clausewitz, the German Commander. Clausewitz advocates that war is best won by total devastation of your enemy. Sun Tzu was more cunning. He says war is most successful when your objective is accomplished without firing a single round. We should use diplomacy and information, as well as a military show of force to convince our enemy of our ability to annihilate them without ever needing to use that military force.
 
  
Interview by Brian Beary, Design by Marcel Acosta
October 2011