DADT and the Manly Men Marines

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Gen. James F. Amos, the Marine Corps commandant, recently said, "There's risk involved [in repealing "don't ask don't tell"]. This is not a social thing. This is combat effectiveness." ["The few. The proud. The problem," Outlook, Nov. 21.]


Change never comes easy. During World War II, Gen. George C. Marshall warned, "Experiments within the Army in the solution of social problems are fraught with danger to efficiency, discipline and morale." And, he said, "The Army is not a sociological laboratory."


In 1940, the military, in continuing its policy of segregation, asserted in a War Department decree that segregation "has proven satisfactory over a long period of years." And, "Discrimination and segregation remained the rule in military barracks, churches, swimming pools, libraries and service clubs." This discrimination resulted in the ridiculous fact that German and Italian POW trustees were using the post exchange at Fort Benning, Ga., while black U.S. soldiers could not. This illustrates the absurd consequences of prejudice.


The risk to the Marine Corps is not in the repeal of "don't ask don't tell." The risk, from a historical perspective, is in continuing to oppose its repeal.


Tammy Schultz wrote a thoughtful commentary that proved a near miss is as good as a mile. As a retired Marine Corps aviator, I chuckled at Ms. Schultz's assertion that "ground pounders are more conservative, resistant to change and likely to uphold tradition. This equates to a fear of the unknown - in this case, serving in combat with an openly gay Marine."

One of the highest forms of patriotism, aside from dissent of course, is military service.
As George Orwell said, “People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.” But in America, if these “rough men” happen to love another man, they’re not allowed to ensure our safety and liberty.
President Obama initially said he planned on having this repealed, but changed his stance to a tentative “we’ll see.” I’m about to say something that may shock some ofyou that may be faint of heart, so make sure you are sitting down. Are you ready for this?
It does not make sense for the military to exclude non-closeted gays from military service. That’s right; I’m “coming out of the closet” against “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

More importantly, I agree with Obama on this issue.
Think about it.
Back in 1993, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was created, allowing gays to serve in the military, as long as they didn’t serve “out of the closet.” The military couldn’t investigate soldiers’ sexual orientations, and the soldiers couldn’t be true to themselves.
However, according to an unscientific survey taken by retired Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard Vincent Patton III, on behalf of Commander of the U.S. Central Command Gen. John Abizaid and the United Service Organizations, most of the younger enlisted troops really don’t care if their fellow soldiers are gay or straight.
Today, US Central Command David Petraus—hardly a pot-smoking Dennis Kucinich-esque peacenik, by any measure—testified before the Armed Services Committee that, quote:

I believe the time has come to consider a change to Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. I think it should be done in a thoughtful and deliberative matter that should include the conduct of the review that Secretary Gates has directed that would consider the views in the force on the change of policy. It would include an assessment of the likely effects on recruiting, retention, morale and cohesion, and would include an identification of what policies might be needed in the event of a change and recommend those polices as well.

And really, does it matter if the guy who has your back in the foxhole or “got your six” up in the clouds is sexually attracted to someone of the same gender?  No.
According to a 2006 RAND Corporation study, 72 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans polled said they were “personally comfortable interacting with gays.”
As University of Florida psychologist Bonnie Moradi and Rand Corporation sociologist Laura Miller commented in the report, “the data indicated no associations between knowing a lesbian or gay unit member and ratings of perceived unit cohesion or readiness.
Instead, findings pointed to the importance of leadership and instrumental quality in shaping perceptions of unit cohesion and readiness.” According to that report, war veterans ranked “training quality” and “equipment” as way more important on the battlefield; to compare, “knowing a lesbian/gay unit member” was ranked by ex-soldiers as the least important factor, much less important than the quality of the unit’s non-commissioned officers.
In other words, if the soldiers don’t care about having a gay teammate, and it doesn’t affect the unit’s teamwork, then why bother with it to begin with?  Sheer inertia, that’s what.
Maybe you think that repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is a liberal position, and that I’ve sold out to “the man.”
Well, you’re wrong. Mister Conservative himself, Barry Goldwater, is famous for saying, “You don’t have to be straight to be in the military; you just have to shoot straight.”
A strong military is a key to a strong America, that’s something I think that most people can agree on. If the best people for the job are being turned away or discharged because of who they love, then we’re handicapping our defenses, all because of a difference that makes no difference.
“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” should be repealed, but not because of civil rights. It should be repealed so that the military can operate with peak performance, not as “heterosexual” and “homosexual” divided, but as Americans united against those who would do us harm.