Now that “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is on the path to repeal, perhaps I will re-enlist. I do this knowing I will deploy to a combat zone again and it doesn’t concern me.? When in uniform my job is to be a professional, not to be “gay” or “straight”. I suspect most gay and lesbian solders feel the same way. There will be no rush to “out” ourselves to our fellow servicemembers; but we will be free to no longer live in fear of being unemployed for simply being ourselves on our off time. We will be able to be honest with our physician for the first time, and no longer feel the need to feign interest in the opposite sex.
We will also no longer be subject to potential blackmail if our orientation is discovered.
The vote in the Senate, after all the inflated rhetoric of the last few years, seemed oddly anticlimactic, as if it were just an afterthought.? Perhaps this is because the American public has been ahead of the politicians on this issue for some time; we were just waiting for Washington to catch up. On my 2009 deployment I was amazed at how socially liberal and accepting the young infantry soldiers were that I served with. They seemed to be unconcerned about skin color, about gender, and even sexual orientation. This appears to be a generational change and it made me very proud to serve with such accepting and supportive soldiers.
One thing I learned on my last deployment was how incredibly professional our soldiers are. Our troops are focused on the mission and everything else becomes unimportant. A common Army saying about race and skin color is “There is no black or white in the Army, only green” — the color of our uniforms.? By design, differences are downplayed.
At Combat Outpost Lowell I saw young U.S. soldiers with Mexican, African, and Confederate flags hanging next to their bunk fighting side by side when under fire. They would have given their lives for one another. When asked about this, one soldier replied “We’ve learned to celebrate our differences without letting our differences divide us”.
Such amazing maturity in such young troops.
I have never been disappointed by the professionalism of our solders or by their dedication to duty. I have no reason to be concerned about how they will accept the presence of gays in their units.? For one thing, gays are already in their unit — we just won’t have to lie anymore.
When Canada, Great Britain and our other NATO allies removed bans on gays openly serving there was no negative impact on their militaries and the change was essentially a non-event.? With the professionalism of our troops here, open integration will be a non-event for Americans as well.
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