It will not be the “openess”, it will be the re-training of the troops and the “adjustment” of the promotional scales that will eventually pressure the straight personnel to exit the military or not enter, including the chiefs.
I am disgusted by this. That being said, most jobs in the military are not combat jobs. My son for one is in a line unit. He and his buddies have discussed the impact of DADT on their platoon. He does not serve with women so the lesbian part will have no impact on them. The guys on the other hand, there are just too few of them. However, he said if there was someone in his platoon that was gay and all of a sudden came out, it would not go over well. The “circle of trust” would be broken.
I also think this might not be as simple as what Gates and Mullen think. The rules have not been written, as they will be written by the Chiefs. Gen. Amos has been forthright in it’s effect on the Marines and Gen. Casey, I believe knows deep down how it will effect the Army Combat
Arms, especially since their deployments are so long.
The DADT crowd may have tightened the noose around their own necks as far as this goes and actually may end up making it worse for gays. The devil will be in the details. I understand that the military can only work with those following orders but, if the attrition rate amongst experienced combat NCO’s and troops starts going up I think the rules will become even more stringent. I also don’t believe that gays will be volunteering for jobs in the combat arms, sorry, but for the most part they don’t have the fortitude for it. I do think the AF and Navy will see the bulk of the gays.