When Capt. Jake Eleazer read President Donald Trump's tweets Wednesday morning, he was in shock.

His 11 years of service with the U.S. Military may have just ended in 140 characters or less.

"I've been very stressed out," Eleazer said. "I think I was just fired via tweet."

Eleazer, 31, a Bluegrass native and transgender man, has served in the United States Army and Kentucky National Guard since 2006. His transition in the military hasn't been easy, but Trump's tweets reached a new breaking point.

"After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military," Trump said on Twitter Wednesday morning. "Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail."

The early morning tweets have spurred reactions not only from service members but local advocacy groups and legislators as well.

The Family Foundation, a Lexington-based group that advocates for traditional family values, expressed strong support of Trump's tweets in a statement.

“The purpose of the military is not to push someone’s social agenda; the purpose of the military is national defense,” said Martin Cothran, spokesman for The Family Foundation. “Policies concerning who should serve in the military should be based on how they affect the national security of this nation, not on the basis of the fashionable ideological agendas of special interest groups.”

Kentucky Congressman John Yarmuth, D-3rd District, pointed out that Wednesday was the anniversary of the integration of the U.S. Armed Forces and saw Trump's tweets as clashing with it.

"His assertion that the ban will improve military decisiveness is absurd and a weak attempt at justifying discrimination," Yarmuth said in a press release. "It has no place in our military or a 21st Century America.”

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In July 2016, President Barack Obama issued a policy stating that transgender troops were allowed to serve openly. Prior to that, the military discharged them for medical reasons.

Trump's statement contradicts that policy, potentially affecting the estimated 6,000 transgender troops who are already in the military, according to USA TODAY. Eleazer said he's also confused by Trump's claims that those transitioning would be a "tremendous medical cost."

"That was pretty shocking,” Eleazer said. "The Department of Defense has been planning and doing research on this for quite some time and they found the cost was minimal, and there are lots of more expensive surgeries that military insurance already provides for.”

The political sparring over the issue has not only affected Eleazer's professional military career but also his personal life.

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Eleazer joined the Army National Guard in 2006 and served as a military police officer. He enjoyed it, and three years later was commissioned as a second lieutenant after completing officers candidate school.

"I have always felt a duty to my country," Eleazer said. "But I have a duty as a transgender service member to make this community better than I found it."

Eleazer began his transition as a transgender man in 2010, and in 2014 he came out to his commander. This began a tirade of legal battles for Eleazer, who was fighting to stay in the national guard and to fight discrimination of the transgender community based on medical policies.

"I would live my daily life as a male. My friends, family, people at work knew me as a man," Eleazer said. "But when I would go to drill every weekend, people would be saying 'yes ma'am or no ma'am.' It was a very different world."

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When the Obama policy was put into effect officially in 2016, Eleazer was able to keep his commission and continued his service in the National Guard.

Even though the Pentagon issued a statement saying it would work with the White House "to address the new guidance" provided by the president, Eleazer is hoping for change.

"Military policy change doesn't happen overnight," Eleazer said. "And I'm hopeful that after review, we can continue serving. I'm hoping that if he meets some transgender service members he will change his mind."

Reach Thomas Novelly at 502-582-4465 or by email at tnovelly@courier-journal.com. Follow him on twitter @TomNovelly.