'don't ask, don't tell': With troop deployments straining resources, some push for changes.

Source: The Press-Enterprise
Author(s): Joe Vargo
Date: January 9, 2007

Civil-rights activists and gay ex-servicemen are hailing remarks from the former top U.S. military commander that he no longer opposes open homosexuality in the armed forces. But some veterans say the notion would cripple unit morale and cohesion.
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Retired Army Gen. John Shalikashvili, former chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, says many in the military are OK with gays.

Retired Army Gen. John Shalikashvili, in comments published last week by The New York Times, said America is now more accepting of gays and lesbians serving in uniform.

Shalikashvili presided over the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1993 when the current "Don't ask, don't tell" policy, which allows gays to serve only if they keep private their sexual orientation, went into effect.

At that time, Shalikashvili said allowing gays to serve openly would cripple troop morale. But he now says most servicemen and women can accept gay and lesbian peers. He said he changed his mind after talking with gays and lesbians in uniform.

Former Navy medic A.J. Rogue, who served at Camp Pendleton and left the military because of his sexual orientation, said gays and lesbians have served honorably for centuries and deserve the right to openly serve today.

Rogue is president of American Veterans for Equal Rights, a group composed of gay and lesbian servicemen and women. He lives in Denver.

" 'Don't ask, don't tell' has no clear purpose other than to deprive our nation of true patriotic men and women who desire nothing more than to serve their country openly and honorably," Rogue said. "Let those of us who wish to serve do so openly, without prejudice or discrimination."

Others say open gays have no place in the military.

Murrieta resident Len Maffioli, who spent 33 years in the Marines and fought in World War II, Korea and Vietnam, said allowing gays to openly serve would devastate the small-unit integrity the Corps relies on to function.

Gay Marines likely would be shunned by their colleagues and face subtle and not-so-subtle ridicule, Maffioli said.

"Being more permissive doesn't necessarily mean better," said Maffioli, 81, a retired master gunnery sergeant. His links to the Marines span seven decades and he has shared his experiences with Iraq war veterans.

"I would not want to be a gay man in the Marines and announce I'm gay. You can't legislate away peoples' attitudes. Allowing open homosexuals to serve would destroy the fabric of my Corps," Maffioli said.

Temecula resident Mike Roberts, who was medically retired after being wounded in the Iraq war, agreed.

"It doesn't work," said Roberts, 43, who spent 14 years in the Marines. "It would undermine the training mission and the combat mission. I know society's views about homosexuality are changing but the military needs to have separate views. The military exists to protect society."

Aaron Belkin, a UC Santa Barbara professor who studies the effects of gays in the military, said allowing gays to serve openly would help the military fill its ranks at a time when troop deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan are straining resources.

Belkin said a survey published last month of 545 troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan indicated that the vast majority -- 73 percent -- felt comfortable working around gays. Only 5 percent said they were very uncomfortable around gays.

Six other surveys conducted in recent years indicate between 58 percent and 79 percent of those questioned favor repealing the ban on gays serving in uniform, Belkin said.

Belkin called Shalikashvili's change of heart a "very significant shift" that eventually could result in ending the "don't ask, don't tell" standard. But he offered no timetable, noting that a survey in 2006 among junior enlisted service members showed 37 percent favor the ban, 32 percent don't care one way or the other and 26 percent would repeal it.

"Sometimes change takes a long time to bring about," he said.

Denny Meyer, a spokesman for the group American Veterans for Equal Rights, said the latest estimates indicate about 65,000 gays serve in the military. Since the "don't ask, don't tell" policy went into effect, thousands of gays have left the military, robbing the U.S. of badly needed expertise, he said.

Meyer, who lives in New York City, said he left the service after 10 years, quitting as an Army sergeant 1st class because of the alienation he felt for being gay.

The American military has dismissed at least 55 Arab linguists under that policy, one of the latest being a highly respected member of the 82nd Airborne Division. This at a time when there is a critical shortage of Arab speakers, Meyer said.

Meyer said a 2004 poll indicated 41,000 gays and lesbians would enlist in the military if they could serve openly. Thousands more gays and lesbians simply left the service when their enlistments were up because they felt like second-class soldiers, he said.

"Our country is less safe because of the current policy," Meyer said. "The current policy allows for official government homophobia to the point where everybody is suspect. If a guy is sensitive and intelligent, he must be queer."