By John Ballard
Tom Ricks says it best.
I think that lifting the ban on being openly gay in the military will actually be easier than people think. Ten years from now we'll look back and wonder what the fuss was about. We have a very professional military that is at war. They can handle it. (Note to readers: When you read objections to lifting the ban, note the age of the writer. I wouldn't worry much about anyone who left the military before 1990.)
He posts a note from a submarine officer.
Check the comments thread.
The debate may exist in the media, and certainly exists in Congress, but on the ship, if it's talked about at all it with a little bit of confusion about what the big deal is. Don't get me wrong, there is homophobia and there are a few loud, mostly uneducated, mostly very junior, and mostly still well-meaning people who would tell you they think its wrong -- but they're the kind of people who are just saying it because its what they were brought up to say, and even they aren't saying it with much fervor. I can tell you with certainty that if the ban were lifted tomorrow -- no year of preparation -- life would go on exactly as it did before....
Life would go on. Mostly what I heard after Admiral Mullen's declaration was, "it's about time." There is no question if the military is ready -- the military is waiting.
... I just want the press to understand that it is the Congress that needs pushing, not the military, and that excuses such as "senior military officials like the CJCS and SecDef are out of touch with the low-level, young guys on the ground" may be true on many issues, but not this one.
If there's a problem, someone should inform Britain, Australia, Canada, Israel and twenty-plus other countries with gays in their military services.
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