Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Retired Flag and General Officers Speak Out Against Gays In The Military

In an editorial this morning, a group of retired Flag and General officers comes out swinging against the growing sense of finality that the Obama Administration is going to allow openly gay people to serve in the Armed Forces. I've said it here before, and I'll say it again...this one isn't worth fighting over anymore, and it is time we moved beyond it.

I just don't buy the whole argument that allowing gays to serve would cause a breakdown in morale. The reality of the situation these days is that the existence of gays in the service is well-known in the ranks, and their "dismissal" from active duty is very, very rarely the result of being ratted out by someone else. The overwhelming number of dismissals for homosexual conduct are the result of service people coming forward and testifying to their own conduct...either as a way of getting out of the service or as a method of protest.

There just isn't a witch hunt going on, and there really isn't any appreciable sense within the young people who make up our military that gay people shouldn't serve. Let them serve--and better yet, remove from any service member the "get out of jail free" card that homosexual conduct provides as a means to break a service contract.

4 comments:

  1. Good to have this perspectivel thank you

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  2. I concur with your assessment. From reading the daily NOC blotter our problems with "Blue on Blue" events are more of a concern than this situation. From personal experience ships crews can function with gay crewmen.

    The issue is personal behavior, on all fronts. The UCMJ has enough leeway to handle inappropriate behavior, without any new regulations. The biggest problem will be getting Congress to change the law.

    If changed, at least now we won't have the linguist just trained at great expense walk into the admin office and say "I'm gay" and then get discharged.

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  3. I have had numerous people of varied sexual preferences working for me over the years and my only concern was how well they performed their duties and adhered to established policies and procedures. What goes on in their bedrooms is not my business. Judge them on their job performance and what they add to or take away from the mission of the unit.

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  4. "If changed, at least now we won't have the linguist just trained at great expense walk into the admin office and say "I'm gay" and then get discharged."

    That would be a cunning linguist, for sure.

    You don't see a problem with litigious lesbians and their gay male counterparts screaming
    "discrimination" when things don't go their way? It's not like they don't do it in the civilian world, they may be more problem than they are worth in the military.

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