Came across the offical United States Air Force News Forum and a article called Troops' opinions matter in 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' review. This article prompted debate by Air Force members sharing their opinions about the Don't Ask Don't Tell Repeal, the consequences and how the service members feel about. Not surprisingly (to me at least) there is a diverse amount of opinions ranging from soldiers who gladly look forward to a policy that makes so sense to absolutely blasé to soldiers that will probably quit the force when the repeal goes through. Some of the more interesting things Air Force members had to say include:
6/3/2010 6:12:39 PM ET
Lots of good comments here. It's just a shame that we can't hear opinions from one particular group - all those homosexual men that died at Omaha Beach Iwo Jima Okinawa Pork Chop Hill the Plain of Reeds Ramallah ... Tony, NH
6/4/2010 2:32:23 PM ET
I plan to stay in the military for five more years however if the law that bans gays and lesbians from openly serving in the military is repealed I will be extremely dissapointed in our leadership and will retire immediately. Lewis McDonald, Hill
AFB Ut
6/3/2010 3:13:05 PM ET
For those people who fight change by saying that we need to concentrate on other more important things need to one thing straight. Human and equal rights should always be at the center of concentration. Just because we are in the middle of a war doesn't mean our leadership can't concentrate on more than one issue at a time.If Congress only concentrated on one issue at a time especially during a war we'd be horribly behind on everything and the world would be completely different than it is today. I have a retired family member who served in the military during the equal rights movements. He's said that the exact same arguments that many conservative christians are using against gays and lesbians are the exact same that were used against non-caucasians. The fact of the matter is that this will happen and if a few bigoted people don't want it then they will just have to deal with it.
Joshua , Offutt
6/3/2010 4:43:43 PM ET
To be fair Joshua I'm a conservative christian and I've been advocating the repeal left and right. The issue as Admiral Mullen has so keenly pointed out is neither political nor religious because that's not how the military does business. It's personal and social. Sounds like semantics I know but to really appreciate any part of this law you have to appreciate what that means and what the difference is. As a last note I think that perhaps a lot of peopel are overstating their position for the sake of impact... honesty is the only way we're going to find the right direction on this issue though. Let's give our leadership good intel so the whole service can benefit. tr, ok
6/5/2010 6:06:44 AM ET
We already have gays in the military. They're watching us shower now and you don't even know it. They are just not telling anyone, hence Don't Ask Don't Tell. Let them come out and be free. It's their choice. It's not about Christianity anymore. Over 35 percent of our military is not Christian The other 75 percent claim to be but definitely don't act like it.
6/4/2010 4:45:01 PM ET
If openly gay men are to be housed in the male berthing where I deploy... then I want the right to move my bunk to the women's tent. Oh I'll be using the women's showers too. All the ladies who support ending DADT will be cool with that, right?
AC, NC
6/4/2010 2:36:45 PM ET
If they're going to make changes for homosexuals to openly serve then they should also make changes and implement the necessary medical facilities personnel to allow military personnel with family members with disabilities to serve all over the world. I know this issue has nothing to do with DADT but if change is going to take place to accomodate everyone regardless of race sex creed religion etc. then this amount of effort should be placed to ensure that the Americans with Disability Act is also considered for Active Duty family members
SSGT, NCR
6/4/2010 1:44:35 PM ET
I went to the briefing given about the law change and I stood up and gave my opinion. I will give it again here. I am a female and if we allow gays in the military then we need to rethink everything we do about training. BASIC TRAINING 2 gay trainees in the same flight have laundry duty together. Who will stop them from becoming physical? If being a good Airman is an issue then why aren't females and males allowed to sleep shower in the same quarters What's the difference? Personally I wouldn't like showering with the males married or not. So if a female is gay and in the shower with me, would that make you feel any less uncomfortable? DEPLOYMENT Another unfair opportunity for gays to have access that straights don't. My own brother is gay this isn't about hate but about the unfairness to straights and how uncomfortable it will make people feel. THAT effects the mission.
SSgt McCormick, LAFB TX
6/4/2010 4:10:41 AM ET
The brutal truth of it all is that there are already gays and lesbians in the military that just have not been found out yet. As long as they are willing to fight, stand and die along side me, then by all means I have no issues. Granted, social actions may need some considerations, but other than that - plenty of good room to serve. I believe the term openly is throwing people a lot of people off and I doubt 'openly' means the typical stereo type about gays in drag wearcross dressing and such. We as military members still follow our dress and appearance code in and out of uniform, so the real issue is acceptance.
MSgt, Spangdahlem Germany
It's interesting seeing how the armed forces reacts to this and will be interesting seeing how this plays out over the next few months.
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