Most Americans Haven't Served In the Military, Either

Tired of all the Wikileaks coverage and I saw a headline that proclaimed that most Americans favor allowing gays to openly serve in the military, and the title of this post is the first thought that hit my mind. For me, this comes under the heading of duh! It is akin to having a group of Americans telling NASA that they favor them hiring gangbangers in order to break the cycle of (fill in the blank).

Look, I don't have a dog in this hunt since I am no longer serving and those are the guys and gals who really need to be heard on this issue. Did I know service members who were gay while I served? You betcha. Did it bother me? As long as they kept to themselves and did their job I could have cared less if they had pointy ears and purple skin. The only thing that matters when your butt is on the pointy end of the spear is whether or not the guy next to you is going to his job. The biggest fear revolving around repealing the Don't Ask - Don't Tell policy is that the gay members will then take it as a license to openly flaunt and pursue gay lifestyle which will undermine unit cohesion.

My belief has always been regardless of what any official policy is regarding gays, in the military they are not going to find a very warm environment, especially in what are known as combat arms units. Those units whose job it is to close with the enemy and kill them. Generally, these types of jobs do not appeal to the gay members anyway just because they are filled with testosterone-laden males. Support jobs who do not endure the same level of intense situations as the combat arms are more receptive.

Honestly, I don't care one way or the other on DADT simply because the reality on the ground will take priority over any touchy-feely social engineering program deemed socially acceptable by some sort of Ivy League academic. Often what looks good in the classroom gets dashed to pieces once exposed to the harsh light of reality.

For the record, approximately 10% of Americans have military experience.