We’ve heard a lot of out and out B.S. about this. Let me put it as plainly and succinctly as I can. No one in a combat line outfit wants to be in a situation where he would have to serve with an openly gay person. You can cut out all the feel-good, touchy-feely crap about gays just wanting to serve their country too. Most gays are attracted to the military because there are a lot of healthy young men and women living in close proximity, in what can only be described as forced intimacy.
We all know there have been gays in the military from day one, but the military strictures against homosexual activity are severe and are there for very good reasons. They prevent, for one thing, the sexual predation of enlisted by higher ranks, from which they would have little or no defense. I have talked to people who have had such experiences. In the military you just don’t go around complaining about a higher rank. It has a tendency to make your military career miserable and short.
Opposing Views On ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ – Admiral Michael Mullen and John McCain. There are conflicting themes here…the one the military and the government want out there and the day-to-day reality of life in the military. When I was in the United States Marine Corps I was in what was then called the Fleet Marine Force. I was in a combat line outfit. You live in a squad bay (barracks) in close proximity with about thirty other men. It’s a pretty tight-knit group of guys. There are always rumors too. Many times the ’scuttlebutt’ mill would be surprisingly accurate, we would know about an impending operation or movement long before the actual orders would be issued. read more »