Survey raises doubts on ‘don’t ask’ policy

[Forkboy]

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration received more research yesterday to help make its case for allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the armed forces.

A survey of troops who served in Iraq and Afghanistan concluded that having gay or lesbian soldiers in fighting units has no significant impact on unit cohesion or readiness.

The data raise new doubts about the underlying assumption of the congressional ban, namely that military discipline will fall apart if gays and lesbians are permitted to serve openly.

“Service members said the most important factors for unit cohesion and readiness were the quality of their officers, training, and equipment,’’ said Laura Miller, a military sociologist at the RAND Corporation, a private research group that has long advised the Pentagon, which conducted the study along with the University of Florida. “Serving with another service member who was gay or lesbian was not a significant factor that affected unit cohesion or readiness to fight.’’

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2009/11/10/survey_raises_new_doubts_on_militarys_dont_ask_policy/

[Sinistrous]

1. I wonder how the troglodites will react to this...

- put some weird spin on it and attempt to salvage their opposition to removing the policy?

- ignore it and hope it goes away?

- "kill the messenger"?

- dredge up some compliant "experts" who will try to discredit the study?

[nosmokes]

3. Since just about every other country in the developed world has a military fully

open to gays they're fighting a losing battle. Maybe that's why so many of them have such a fondnessity for the confederate flag...

[bluestateguy]

2. I suspect the younger troops are not bothered by it

It's the older career officers who are being a pain, and a message needs to be sent to them that if they cannot accept the new policy, their resignations will be accepted.

[Forkboy]

4. The next generation doesn't really care much about this stuff.

Most of the girls now are openly bisexual, and more and more guys are realizing it doesn't matter if a friend is gay or not. My best friend's son is part of the Gay and Straight Alliance thing in his school, and I see more and more younger kids simply not giving a damn about one's sexual orientation. There's still a long ways to go, but we're getting there, and the next generation will be a big step in the right direction.