The Journal of Faith and War reprints a well-written commentary on the repeal of the policy most commonly known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in the US military. Written by retired Cols Al Shine* and Don Snider, “The Right to be Wrong” forwards a simple premise: If homosexuality is to be permitted in the military, the military must have a decidedly — and explicitly — neutral stance between both opposing ideologies: Read more
The text of the briefs given to US servicemembers on the repeal of the policy known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is publicly available. Notably, it starts out with this phrase:
This brief is NOT an attempt to change anyone’s opinion about the subject of homosexuality. [emphasis original]
Later, the presentation says this:
There Is No Expectation To Change Religious or Moral Views: Soldiers will not be expected to change their personal views and religious beliefs. They must, however, continue to treat all Soldiers with dignity and respect. [formatting original]
With that in mind, the Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, SgtMaj Michael Barrett, toured bases in the Pacific with the Commandant of the Marine Corps General James Amos in June. Addressing DADT Read more
FoxNews notes a gathering of Chaplains and endorsers who are forming a “coalition” to
provide legal and other support for chaplains and soldiers who might be disciplined over conflicts concerning their views on homosexuality.
According to the article, the Chaplains and their endorsers are concerned about how the integration of openly homosexual military members will actually play out — not just how the DoD says it will.
The article explains the disconnect, when the military responded to the questions with a standard refrain:
“We’re working under the assumption that DOMA (the Defense of Marriage Act) is the law of the land and we haven’t been working in anticipation of anything else right now,” said [Chaplain Carleton Birch, spokesperson for the Army Chief of Chaplains].
Retired Chaplain (COL) Ron Crews has helped found the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty, and says that’s precisely Read more
Can you hold hands while in uniform? How about a kiss or embrace?
Believe it or not, those are some of the most often asked questions by new officers and enlisted — and in most cases, the answer wasn’t clear. Now, however, it’s in plain English: If you choose to do those things in uniform, you may well be in violation of the new Air Force regulations.
Last year, the Report of the Comprehensive Review of the Issues Associated with a Repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”, otherwise known as the report on the DADT survey, noted the ‘sensitivities’ of public displays of affection with respect to homosexuality. The working group made this observation: Read more
Daniel Blomberg at the Alliance Defense Fund has an interesting article over the negative impact of DADT repeal implied even by those championing it:
If this change is risky enough that even the President scrambles to prevent it from happening “too quickly,” the Secretary of Defense who championed it focuses on limiting damage wrought by it, and most combat troops anticipate harm from it, why are we forcing it on our service men and women at all?
If you recall, some were asking how DADT repeal would improve the US military’s effectiveness. Blomberg points out it seems most say they’re doing what they can to “mitigate” the negative.
Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus censured Cmdr Liam Bruen, the recently retired Navy fighter squadron commander, over the naming ceremony of an administrative officer who took offense.
In a slap at the fading and officially out-of-favor tradition of racy, sarcastic and irreverent aviation call signs, a just-retired Navy fighter squadron commanding officer was censured by Navy Secretary Ray Mabus Wednesday for failing to halt and subsequently condoning the hazing of a junior officer at a 2009 call sign review board where assembled officers voted to call the officer “Romo’s Bitch” the Navy announced…
The Navy also counseled the unit’s second in command, Cmdr Damien Christopher, who had gone on to command, for violations of the Navy’s “policies on hazing and Read more
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