Here are some reactions to the Pentagon study on “don’t ask don’t tell” released this afternoon. We’ve posted the full text of the study below.
Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese:
“This issue has been studied for fifty years, including by the military itself, and the results from over twenty-two studies are uniform: open service does not harm effectiveness. The small handful of Senators blocking repeal no longer have any fig leaves behind which to hide. The time for repeal is now. …
“America’s men and women in uniform are professionals who already serve with gays and lesbians and repeal will do nothing to change their dedication to protecting our nation,” said Solmonese. “Senators who said they want to hear from military leaders and troops now have their answers. Repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ will allow every qualified man and woman to serve without sacrificing the high standards that have made our military great.”
Servicemembers United Executive Director Alex Nicholson:
“This thorough and comprehensive report makes clear to lawmakers and the American people once and for all that the U.S. military is capable of handling the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’ The questions are now answered and the debate is now settled. It’s now up to the Senate to bring the defense authorization bill back to the floor, allow 10 to 20 amendments to be debated on each side, and get this bill passed. We have the votes now if the process is fair.”
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network Executive Director Aubrey Sarvis:
“This exhaustive report is overwhelmingly positive and constructive. The Pentagon validated what repeal advocates and social scientists have been saying about open service for over a decade. Still, some initial resistance may come from one or more of the service chiefs — the very leaders who will be charged with implementing this change. Those chiefs will need to salute and lead in bringing about this needed change. Fortunately, the chiefs have already made it clear they will do precisely that if Congress acts. Now, it’s up to the Senate to make repeal happen this year.”
Many of the pro homo posters here have never been in the military and probably have never a set foot on a Navy ship. With the extremely limited exception of some senior officers,
there is virtually no privacy aboard ship. I have been on many ships and can tell you that having homos on board will present serious logistical problems. Having lived in the ‘luxury’ and
relative privacy of a two man stateroom in flight quarters (pilots rooms) and can tell you that forcing a normal man to share one of those staterooms with someone who is a homo would
be wrong and extremely uncomfortable. These rooms are so small that you can barely pass the other person without bumping into them. The room width is the same as the length of a
typical twin size bed, and that is bulkhead to bulkhead (walls for you civilian types). The furniture in the room (two fold up desks, two wardrobes, and two chairs) makes the space to
walk from front to back even narrower. The rooms are about 10 feet long, so there is not much room to move around at all and there is certainly no privacy whatsoever. The enlisted
quarters on the ships are large bunk rooms, with bunks three high, many with 100 or more people living in them. The only limited privacy you have is when you crawl into your bunk
there is a curtain you can draw, but you better not have even a touch of claustrophobia. Couple this with the fact that you take showers in gang showers designed for a significant
number of people to take a shower at the same time, and you should get the point. The army and marine corps have it no better in most cases. Although some bases have enlisted
housing where you live two or four to a room, this is not the norm. In many cases, enlisted live in big barracks that house dozens of soldiers/marines in one room. It is even worse when
they are deployed at non-fixed bases, living in large tents. The Air Force are the only ones that seem to enjoy a little better living conditions, largely because they live at fixed bases.
From the bases I have seen, Air Force enlisted generally seem live two to four in a room. Although they still use gang showers like the other services. Even here the homo would cause
extreme discomfort tot the normal men and risk danger to himself.
If you can not understand how having homos and normal men living together under these conditions can present problems, then you are either completely nieve or and exhibitionist who
does not care. While there possibly are undected homos serving now living in these conditions, it is only through not knowing that many people are comfortable. To know that the guy
in the next bunk or in the shower next to you is a homo will understandably cause people to be extremely uncomfortable. The issue of how to address housing must be resolved prior to
repealing DADT or there will be major problems. You will wind up having berthing officers dealing with a flood of requests for a change in berthing location. Most of the people in the
military will accept serving with homos so long as they can do the job and they don’t have to associate with them in the living/sleeping quarters. ,