If you want to know what a member of the US armed forces thinks about repealing “don’t ask, don’t tell,” you could start by asking how old they are.
Generational differences appear to play a prominent role in whether US soldiers, airmen, Marines and sailors are worried about repealing the policy that has barred gays from serving openly since 1993 but faces a possible court-ordered end. Generation may also influence how a change is implemented, if the courts or US Congress ultimately lift the ban.
There is no comprehensive survey of military-wide views of gays in the ranks — yet. The Pentagon is set to release a study of the issue next month after questioning 400,000 service members and 150,000 relatives, an effort ordered by US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to determine how to repeal the policy without hurting the military.
Officials familiar with its findings told reporters this week that the survey found most US troops and their families don’t care whether gays serve openly and think “don’t ask, don’t tell” could be done away with. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the results of the survey have not been released.
Many veterans of the current wars use terms like “archaic” and “old-school” to describe the viewpoint they see from higher-ranking officers and others who support the ban.
Some say that despite the ban, they knew they were serving with gay soldiers, but the topic was simply not discussed and rarely created a problem.
Justin Little, 30, is a US National Guard medic who asked that his unit not be identified, because he serves with a gay soldier.
“We keep it to ourselves, because of the current policies, of course, and conceal it from new recruits that we get in our platoon from time to time until we can be confident in how they’d react,” Little said.
Lance Shults, 25, a master at arms at Naval Base San Diego, said he was in boot camp with gay men and women and that serving alongside them isn’t a concern. Shults believes his attitude is common among younger members of the military, who have grown up with portrayals of gays in the media and who may be likelier to have openly gay friends or relatives than older officers and enlistees.
“The older generation grew up with a phobia and a stigma and stereotype,” he said.
However, some veterans say those who support the repeal of the policy don’t understand the impact of reversing the rules in a volunteer military force that’s currently engaged in two wars.
Joe Davis, spokesman for the Veterans of Foreign Wars, which opposes a repeal, said he thinks older and higher-ranking soldiers and veterans have a more pragmatic view on the issue and its effects on deployments, housing and benefits.
Leaders have to consider how even a small change can have ripple effects from the division down to the squad level, he said.
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