An Associated Press article on the recent back-and-forth over the policy known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” contained little new on the subject, save a heretofore untold observation by the Obama administration:

Officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because the administration’s path is still uncertain said the administration has never fully acknowledged that while a majority of Americans may want the ban lifted, a majority of the uniformed military might not. (emphasis added)

This supposition that members of the military may oppose open homosexual service — despite how the civilian society may feel — may have been the fear of homosexual advocacy groups when they opposed the Department of Defense surveys earlier this year.

Unlike most Americans who support allowing openly gay troops, the rank-and-file are suspected by their leaders to be considerably less permissive.

The men and women serving in the armed forces today represent less than 1 percent of the country’s total population, and come heavily from rural, conservative areas in the South and the mountain West.

As noted here before, the US military governs and restricts conduct that might otherwise be permissible outside the military.  With indications that conduct would have an impact on a majority of the military, it may not be so easy to simply reverse it.