If soldiers are not mature enough to accept gay soldiers, they don't belong in the military.

[LLStarks]

I'm going to keep saying this until it sinks in.

[LLStarks]

1. Also, if a gay soldier is incapable of conducting themselves appropriately, they too do not belong.

[joeybee12]

2. KNR!!!!

[theaocp]

3. All hail, Lady Gaga's army! n/t

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. Start with the leadership

Serious. Most rank and file don't give a shit...but many Colonels and generals do...it shows the generational split.

[LLStarks]

6. It's their job to make sure there are no problems with repealing DADT but they refuse. nt

[shoreline]

12. Quite right...

...I am former military and know some of those colonels and generals (and captains and admirals) that you speak of. Here's the by service leadership breakdown: The Marine Corps is a testosterone fueled blood circus that most folks don't want to know about - if we were to get rid of the military, we'ed still keep them - if you want people dead and stuff broken, give them a call; the modern Navy is a legacy of three things: A. T. Mahan's book, the Panama Canal, and WWII - it is an anachronistic aristocracy; the Army is a giant social program money pit wrapped in cammo and the flag; and the Air Force is the military equivalent of the 700 Club, overrun with evangelical Christians. Rank and file doesn't care about this issue (except the ones who can't think for themselves), fraternization has always been a no-no, and that's not going to change.

[nadinbrzezinski]

15. Hubbub is a retired submariner

And I served somewhere else, where quite frankly I didn't care as long as people did their job. One of my kids was open, which led to a one way talk with one of my older people. Yep, we had some tension, ironically after a while they were good friends, so when we're told this will be bad for good order...of course it will if leadership keeps sending these signals...

It is up to senior people to draw lines...and once you do, it is pretty much a non-issue.

Oh and the AF will be trouble soon, due to who's taken it over.

[HillbillyBob]

5. As we have been told over and over 'the world ain't fair, suck it up and deal"

As a gay citizen I have taken a lot of crap over the years and am really about fed up to there with it. I don't think I need to reiterate. I was a gay sailor, not very long at that.

[hedgehog]

7. I can see it now - the draft comes back, and in order to be classified 4F,

instead of pretending to be gay, young men pretend to be homophobes!

[jaysunb]

8. I'll take it a step further

I was in the Army. Got drafted. Served a 13 month tour of duty in Vietnam.

FROM START TO FINISH, NO ONE EVER ASK MY OPINION ABOUT SHIT !

Sorry to yell, but since when do the brass give a rats ass about what troops think ?

Half my company was gay, including the company commander. SOME ASSHOLES WERE UPTIGHT, BUT NOBODY GAVE A SHIT ABOUT THEIR HANGUPS. Do your fucking job and STFU ! That was the rule then and I'll bet it hasn't changed since 1965,

:evilfrown:

[HillbillyBob]

10. Well it had not changed at least up to the early 80s when I was in

I did myob and was very discreet about when, where, who. Someone got into some trouble and named names in short we were contacted and told go very quietly and soon or it will be a big public disgrace for your family so on. I was threatened with time in the brig, if I did not say who I knew.
I did not tell and I did go 'quietly' as possible.

I knew there were a whole lot of gays on the ship we sort of knew each other and the guy in trouble named a whole list of names that was not supposed to be handed around, but there was a yeoman in the xos office....

[lamp_shade]

9. Big K&R

[LiberalLoner]

11. Absolutely right! I served with gays and had NO problem doing so. n/t K&R

[David Zephyr]

13. I believe that our soldiers are, with very few exceptions, mature enough, LLStarks.

That was the beauty of this massive study, which now sits on top of so many other studies that came to the same conclusion: our troops can handle this and will do so with great ease. They already know they have homosexuals in their midst and many of them cover for them.

Our troops are bigger in spirit, in heart and in maturity than the policy makers.

K&R.

[WildEyedLiberal]

17. +100

:patriot: Would that politicians had as much integrity...

[Greyhound]

14. I'm sure this has been pointed out before, but what we are seeing are exactly

the same arguments they put forth against racial integration and sexual integration.

The troops don't care, this is just more old men feeling like their power is going to somehow be diminished. And the irony of McSame "taking point" on this issue is simply hysterical.
:kick: & R

[TwilightGardener]

16. They don't need to be mature (and let's face it, a lot of them are kids)--

they just need to follow rules and orders. That's it, the end.

[obxhead]

18. Soldiers are required to follow a code of conduct

regardless of how that code changes.

[aikoaiko]

19. Agreed: one follows orders or is court martialed.

They can have whatever private thought they want, but treating fellows service men and women with respect (i.e., not discriminating them) is requirement of the job.

[savalez]

20. IMO the idiot/racist/bigot/phobe level in the "soldier" population

is the same as that in the civilian population.