I don't know what the environment was like in the army when you served but I am currently in the navy and my observation is that many of the younger people I serve with just aren't that anti-gay these days. It really isn't something they care strongly about. Blame it on public school indoctrination or blame it on the gradual societal acceptance of homosexuality, I don't know. These people come out of school where they had openly gay classmates or come from jobs where they had openly gay co-workers. Some of them have openly gay family members. And while male/male homosexuality isn't celebrated, there are always a couple of guys in every command whom everyone knows are gay. Again, as long as they aren't making out in the berthing, nobody really cares. And lesbianism? It is much more open and prevalent in the military. Many women don't even bother to try and hide it. You can ask any female sailor, there's a lot of dyke action taking place openly in the female berthings.
To those wishing to change it, it’s just an agenda.
It is an agenda. I don't think it is that the top brass is embracing homosexuality as much as they are trying to mitigate the problems caused by "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Case in point: I served with an lesbian shipmate in my work center. It was obvious she was a lesbian as she always talked about her girlfriend back home. Well, 5 months into an 8 month cruise, she was tired and wanted to go home. Hell, we were ALL tired and wanted to go home! She went to our chief and said, "I'm a lesbian." He asked her if she was sure she wanted to do this. She said yes. They went to see the skipper and she said the same thing. Again, he asked if she was sure she wanted to do this. Then they went to CAG (our skipper's boss) and again she said she was a lesbian.
Well, the navy had no choice but to discharge her (general under honorable conditions) and she was off the boat leaving our shop short-handed for the remaining three months of cruise.
This is a huge headache for the military! Furthermore, the military has to compete for prospective employees against civilian jobs --most all of which prohibit discrimination on the basis of orientation. So when top brass is calling for the repeal of "DADT" the reasons are most likely administrative in nature.
Those in the ranks probably have, and always have had, a good idea of who is and isn’t gay.
The difference is in serving openly. To serve openly means that what you do is OK. Which leads to - if anybody disapproves then it’s they who have the problem.
If it’s OK then the promotion lists will have to be scrubbed to insure Gays are promoted at the same rate as everybody else.
During the boards, in the Army, they would score everybody’s records and then come up with the list, ranked by points you got on the board. Everybody on the list was eligible for promotion but there was only so many slots available. The board would then go through the list bumping white dudes down and minorities up until the right numbers were found.
Sit there and have some CSM explain that to you and then say the system is fair. So when the list comes out people would look at minorities and wonder - “Did they make it on their own or were they bumped.”
As I said I have no problem with “Don’t ask, don’t tell.”
every rifleman a marine, every marine a rifleman.
This is the military, I thought there were NO pure administrative jobs because any military person could be sent to cobate at any time.
Not a great deal of live fire combat duty at the starbucks coffee house or the saks fifth avenue.
The same can be said for the Army. I've run across this in active duty schools and in the National Guard units I've been in during my career. Many get promoted earlier as well. I know several straight males who were E-6 or E-7 when the lesbians were E-4 or E-5 and some of those gals are already E-9 or retired and the guys are still E-7 or maybe E-8. One is even half Native American but he refuses to pull the minority card to get promoted.
When I was at a school at Aberdeen Proving Grounds in the late 80s, we had a female Drill SGT who was sleeping with the female commander of one of the units there. They got plastered one Friday night, about half way through the course. The drill SGT wrecked the CO's car and both got the boot.
Openly allowing faggotry in the military will only help to destroy our military.