Several of our TMV contributors (yours truly included) have said our two-cents worth on the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell.”
Judging from some of the comments—“enough already”—we have probably said more than dos centavos worth. But, hey, inflation and all that…
But what do the troops have to say? Those men and women on the front lines, in combat around the world.
There is perhaps no better source to take the pulse than the venerable Stars and Stripes the “military” newspaper that reaches our troops around the world, at the NCO Club or in the trenches, come hell or high water—or bullets.
The December 19 edition of the Stars and Stripes has reactions and commentary from and about our troops–the ones that will be most and most directly affected by the repeal.
Immediately under the heading “Reactions to DADT repeal mixed among servicemembers,” we read:
Servicemembers around the globe reacted to the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” – some with apprehensions, but most indifferent or supportive of repeal.
Many soldiers at Combat Outpost Terra Nova near Kandahar, Afghanistan, where they’ve spent months in intense combat, were indifferent about the repeal, caring more about the skill of the man next to him than his sexual orientation.
The article then presents personal reactions, such as from Staff Sgt. Cleveland Carr, an infantry soldier with 1st Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team,101st Airborne Division, who said that all he cared about was whether the person next to him “knows how to shoot and shoot well. I’m just worried about skill set. I don’t care; come on in. That’s one more person putting rounds downrange.”
Carr also thinks that “concerns about showers and sleeping arrangements were silly and that it was a waste of time for the military to be concerned about the sexual orientation of its servicemembers when there’s a war to fight.”
And:
“The last thing we should be spending our time on is if this man likes men,” he said. “It’s so crazy because gay men and women are in the Army now and getting the job done. So, what changes if we know they’re gay? For me, it would be like, ‘You’re gay? OK. Get back to work.’”
Chief Warrant Officer 2 Ahmad Staley says that he doesn’t care if gay soldiers serve with him, but he thinks there would be hurdles to overcome.
Sgt. Anthony Dubose, on the other hand, said he thought the repeal would “affect the Army a great deal.”
“I’m not a person who judges another person, but me personally I disagree with it,” he said about homosexuality, noting he wasn’t likely to hang out with a gay soldier. “I think it will affect morale and cohesion of units and cause some conflict.”
A chaplain’s assistant in Wiesbaden, Germany, and a sailor based in Yokosuka, Japan, also expressed some reservations.
A senior officer based in Kabul dismissed concerns and said: “It’s long overdue…The current generation of soldiers is different than soldiers of generations ago. It’s not that big a deal to them. It’s the natural evolution of our society.”
To read these and other reactions in full, please click here.
The author is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and a writer.