Value of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

By Douglas V. Gibbs

Twenty-five years ago, during the Spring of 1985, I was stationed aboard the USS Chandler. The guided missile destroyer was stationed at Naval Air Station North Island, across the bay from the city of San Diego, California. When a ship is haze gray and underway it requires twenty-four hour attention by the crew. Every division has personnel running the functions of the vessel around the clock, and the underway watch is no different. Regardless of time, or weather conditions, underway watch-standers are constantly performing their duties. A typical watch schedule for a sailor is on four ours, off four hours, continuously during the trip. The watches are exhausting, especially when the sailor has duties they must perform during the working hours as well for their division.

One of the duty watchmen, while performing his task of waking up the next watch-standers for the midnight watch, moved through the Deck Department berthing in search of the racks of the next seamen that were scheduled for the upcoming watch. The personal bunk areas each have curtains for privacy, and the top bunks are customarily the shipboard bedding areas for the lowest of the low, the maggots of the Navy, the new recruits and lower ranking enlisted personnel. Lower and center bunks have an overhead only a couple feet up, while the top bunk overheads are however high the overhead of the berthing is from the rack.

On the particular evening being discussed, when the watch-stander wake-up watch found the appropriate rack and pulled back the curtain, he was met with disgust. Two pairs of feet inhabited the rack, and the two men were still in the act of intercourse.

The event became a primary topic of discussion on the vessel. The exposure of two shipmates as gay lovers distracted the personnel from their duties, and battle drills were not running as smoothly as they should as a result of the distractions. The Captain knew the situation needed to be resolved in order for the military bearing of his crew, and the proper functioning procedures of his vessel, to return to normal standards. The situation needed to be resolved quickly, so the Captain moved quickly to get the two men off of his ship, and out of the Navy, as per the regulations found in the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Testimony later revealed that in addition to each other, the two crewmen had various gay civilian lovers in San Diego, and that their relationship dated back to before they had enlisted in the Navy. The pair of gay men had conspired to enlist together, and be joined together on the same sea-going command.

Homosexuality is not allowed in the U.S. Military for the same reasons females have not been allowed to serve aboard combatant ships, or with combat companies. In war, hesitation or distractions kill, and with all that our military has on their minds, the last thing they need is yet another valueless (valueless to the mission at hand) situation creating distractions.

The argument that homosexuals deserve to serve came to a head during the Clinton Administration, so a policy called "Don't ask, don't tell" was initiated. Clinton knew better than to pursue a policy similar to what Obama is pursuing, and slick Willie decided to compromise instead. The "Don't ask, don't tell" policy allows gays to serve without restriction, as long as they do not serve openly as gay. Revealing their sexual deviance results in removal from their command, and discharge. The advantages of the policy is that it allows gays to serve when otherwise they would not be able to, while avoiding the problem of distracting the remainder of the unit because the sexual preference of the service member is kept to himself.

The move to eliminate the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy by Obama, and the current crop of Democrat Party idiots, is an assault on our all-volunteer military forces, and radical social politics has no place in the U.S. Military.

Upon entering the military the recruit waves much of his constitutional rights, and those rights are replaced by the military rules of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). For units to function properly under the pressures of war, worrying about if people are offended, uncomfortable, or not happy have no place in the situation. The military member knows what he or she is getting into, and if they have a problem with it, they can leave. The military functions the way it does for a reason, and there must be no deviance from those policies, otherwise we place the very lives of our service members at risk.

The need for military discipline and cohesiveness is why the U.S. Code regarding this matter is written as it is. Title X of the United States code, Section 654 reads: "The presence in the Armed Forces of persons who demonstrate a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts would create an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability."

In other words, "rights" are not the reason for disallowing openly practicing homosexual persons on the field of battle. I am sure that these people are more than capable of performing their duties. The combat readiness of homosexual service members is not what is being questioned here. The rules regarding gays in the military are in place because of national security, and the need to keep our forces at the highest level of capability because they are not distracted by non-military matters that include someone crying because they think they are not being treated "fairly."

The first words, second words, and every word after when one attends boot camp is evidence enough that "fairness" has no place. Each military member is treated equally. In the eyes of the instructor, all of the recruits are equally useless piles of crap. The instructor is quick to remind the recruits that he is not their mother, sister, or friend. The heads of the recruits are shaved, and their civilian belongings are sent home, so that uniformity is created, and marks of distinction are removed. There are no favorites, and nobody is special. Either you work as a unit, or the disruptive pieces of the unit are discarded so that the unit can work in unison - without distractions.

This is one of the reasons why the Commander in Chief should have some semblance of past military service. An individual that has never served is unable to understand the importance of the cohesiveness of the military unit, and how distractions can kill in the field of battle.

President Barack Obama is so ignorant of the U.S. Military that he couldn't even pronounce "corpsman" properly, when referring in a speech to a Navy Corpsman that he felt needed recognition. Instead, Obama said, "Corpseman."

Yet, Obama and the Democrats think they know what is best for the military when it comes to gays?

What would be next for the military? Recognizing same-sex marriage? Would Chaplains be required to perform those ceremonies, even if such a union is forbidden by Christian teachings? Will the federal government then require the taxpayer to pay for the government housing of these gay couples? How long before pedophiles demand to be accepted in the military?

We have the best military in the world because we adhere to very strict standards. Allowing gays to serve openly adds to the burden of these fine, young soldiers, airmen, Marines, and seamen must serve under. These folks serve in wartime conditions, back-to-back deployments that last well over six months, and more combat time than my dad experienced during Vietnam. This is an extremely serious issue, and it affects readiness, recruiting and retention. The White House does not take all of that into account, however, because all they care about is the number of additional votes they may be able to retain should they pander to the homosexual lobby.

It may seem unfair to some people, but speaking as a military veteran, I understand that the reality is things must remain as they are. Allowing gays to serve openly will eventually deteriorate the standards of our military, and lead to the death of more of our men in battle.

In pursuit of fairness, the supporters of allowing gays to serve openly in the military would be guilty of encouraging policies that lead to the death of our heroes, and the deterioration of the high performance of our forces.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

Generals oppose "don't ask, don't tell" policy repeal - Examiner

Gays in the Military - Human Events

Majority of Americans Believe Future of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Should be Left Up to Military Commanders, Zogby Poll Finds - CNS News

The Whole Enchilada - California Catholic Daily

Obama Mispronounces Navy ‘Corpsman’, Twice - Breitbart

U.S. Code - U.S. House of Representatives