Mullen finds little resistance among troops to gays serving openly in military (Barf Alert)

Miami Herald ^ | 16 Feb 10 | NANCY A. YOUSSEF

[SkyPilot]

Navy Adm. Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was nearing the end of a 25-minute question-and-answer session with troops serving here when he raised a topic of his own: "No one's asked me about 'don't ask, don't tell,' " he said.

As it turned out, none of the two dozen or so men or women who met with Mullen at Marine House in the Jordanian capital Tuesday had any questions on the 17-year-old policy that bars gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military - or Mullen's public advocacy of its repeal.

Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Darryl E. Robinson, who's the operations coordinator for defense attache's office at the U.S. Embassy here, explained why after the session. "The U.S. military was always at the forefront of social change," he said. "We didn't wait for laws to change."

Some Republicans in Congress have expressed outrage at repealing the ban in wartime and the Pentagon has embarked on a yearlong study on what impact the repeal might have.

At a Senate hearing earlier this month, Sen. John McCain R-Ariz., urged Mullen and Defense Secretary Robert Gates to "keep the impact it will have on our forces firmly in mind."

Yet those gathered at Marine House made it clear they've already accepted the idea of gays and lesbians serving among them.

Of far more interest to them were other areas, they told Mullen, such as allowing women to serve in infantry units. They also asked about relations between the military and the State Department and, more narrowly, when a key Defense Department official would be assigned to Amman permanently.

[OldGoatCPO]

Pace was an honorable man, a true veteran. When he retired (too early in this Sailors opinion)he went to the Vietnam Memorial and laid a card with his stars attached by a panel. It had the name of his radioman, killed at his side in Nam. He thanked him (paraphrase) and he seemed to say, it could have been me, since you took the bullet I went on to be a general. I love that man. Mullen's on the other hand is a politician that has sold out the military, he is NO warrior. Have no doubt the service members int hat brief were hand picked, questions were screened and they were told how to react when Mullen's brought up DADT. He will go back to Congress and say, see the military loves showering with queers. From day one in boot camp, they have been taught to question diversity in whatever form means punishment. All this crap over an unnatural sex act? Maybe the story of Sodom and Gomorrah was not to be taken literally, but was a warning or prediction.

[OldGoatCPO]

No, imagine after a long patrol, you com back to your hooch and find two poofters performing unatural sex acts. Sleep on your backs boys!

[OldGoatCPO]

It is up to us, the troops are either to young, to busy but they will not be allowed to speak up or face the diversity police. It will be worse for the females, there is a reason more females have been discharged under DADT.