"It's Great Training"

[jimnjana]

Perhaps long overdo too.



Military indoctrinated on gays kissing, behavior - Washington Times

 

[HawkeyeNFO]

Sensitivity training, because some politician was persuaded by a special interest group representing homosexuals.

DADT is dead, the new policy is called "ask & tell."

 

[Nords]

The answer to Marines: “If the observed behavior crosses acceptable boundaries as defined in the standards of conduct for your unit and the Marine Corps, then an appropriate correction should be made. Your assessment should be made without regard to sexual orientation.”

So I guess the rules for chain of command and senior/subordinate relationships still matter...

Answer: “The U.S. Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces found that private, consensual sexual activity, to include consensual sodomy, regardless of sexual orientation, is a protected liberty under the Fourteenth Amendment.”

I'll bet the legal officers were getting tired of having to deal with this one anyway.

It doesn't sound any different than the issues the military is trying to address with heterosexual relationships among its servicemembers, either.

 

[RetiredGypsy]

Militaries have had gay servicemembers since pick a century or millennium. Nice to see ours isn't sticking its collective head under the sand anymore.

 

[jimnjana]

Militaries have had gay servicemembers since pick a century or millennium. Nice to see ours isn't sticking its collective head under the sand anymore.

Yes, I've always felt anybody should be allowed if willing to serve their country. Now at least they might be able to have a fulfilling career w/o worrying about "getting caught".

 

[Fireup2020]

This will be akin to women in the military - there is a minority who are very disturbed by our presence - others could not care less what our gender is as long as we get our job done! There is subtle and overt "harassment"...that will probably decrease over time as the folks serving just "get used" to it. I don't see the really flamboyant folks running out to join the military anyway. IMHO not much will REALLY change.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Looks like the same standards will apply to all re public displays of affection etc. and why not?

 

[Nords]

This will be akin to women in the military - there is a minority who are very disturbed by our presence - others could not care less what our gender is as long as we get our job done! There is subtle and overt "harassment"...that will probably decrease over time as the folks serving just "get used" to it. I don't see the really flamboyant folks running out to join the military anyway. IMHO not much will REALLY change.

Just as when minorities and women were "integrated" into the military, the youngers don't care what the elders are getting all worked up about as long as they can get some help with filling a three-section watchbill.

I predict that the first dozen officers who have to be slapped down hard and stuffed back into their boxes... will be chaplains. I don't think they expected to have this sort of "conscientious objector" issue.

The "social experiment" and "unit cohesiveness" threats have probably been around since Washington contemplated using Indians as infantry scouts.

 

[RetiredGypsy]

I predict that the first dozen officers who have to be slapped down hard and stuffed back into their boxes... will be chaplains. I don't think they expected to have this sort of "conscientious objector" issue.

I would actually be surprised if this were the case. But it would come from the fact that I've actually read the Bible front to back to see what the big deal was. I would assume the chaplains would know their source material better than me. Cherry picking that sin, out of the hundreds of others, and especially in a military setting, well...that's just takes a special kind of person. I'd hope that kind of person is rare in the chaplain corps.

 

[glippy]

Long overdue.

I have a friend who was in the army for 20 years and remained celibate the entire time because he was afraid of being discharged. The man deserves a medal. I wouldn't last 20 weeks ;-)

Also met a guy a few years ago who had been in the AF 11 years and had to live a double life. His work life on base, and his secret dating/social life off-base. I bet he lost a LOT of sleep worrying about those two lives crossing paths and losing his job.

I have another gay friend who's been in the navy for about 15 months and loves it.

I can't imagine the pain of being in a long-term same-sex relationship while raising a child and having to keep that entire aspect of your life a closely held secret from people you work with for years. -Worrying every day that the simple words of "my wife/husband/bf/gf/son/daughter..." might slip past your lips in a moment of carelessness, when your guard was down, and you'd lose everything.

Imagine not being able to keep a photo of your family in your wallet for fear someone would see it.

Those men and women have been serving all along. It's time they start getting treated like human beings.

 

[Gumby]

I would actually be surprised if this were the case. But it would come from the fact that I've actually read the Bible front to back to see what the big deal was. I would assume the chaplains would know their source material better than me. Cherry picking that sin, out of the hundreds of others, and especially in a military setting, well...that's just takes a special kind of person. I'd hope that kind of person is rare in the chaplain corps.

I think you would be sadly disappointed

"In the mid-1980s the Pentagon began accrediting hundreds of new evangelical and Pentecostal "endorsing agencies," allowing graduates of fundamentalist Bible colleges trained to see those from other faiths as enemies of Christ to fill up nearly the entire allotment for Protestant chaplains. As a result, more than two thirds of the military's 2,900 active-duty chaplains today are affiliated with evangelical or Pentecostal denominations."

Jeff Sharlet: Christianity in the Military: Are Chaplains Becoming Increasingly Fundamentalist?

 

[Nords]

I would actually be surprised if this were the case. But it would come from the fact that I've actually read the Bible front to back to see what the big deal was. I would assume the chaplains would know their source material better than me. Cherry picking that sin, out of the hundreds of others, and especially in a military setting, well...that's just takes a special kind of person. I'd hope that kind of person is rare in the chaplain corps.

Like Gumby says, I'll bet at least half of the first dozen exposé articles come from 32nd Street. Although I wouldn't put it past Miramar to try to get in on the act too...

 

[RetiredGypsy]

Wait, wasn't it the chaplain corps that got beer taken away from cruises too?

 

[M Paquette]

I think you would be sadly disappointed

"In the mid-1980s the Pentagon began accrediting hundreds of new evangelical and Pentecostal "endorsing agencies," allowing graduates of fundamentalist Bible colleges trained to see those from other faiths as enemies of Christ to fill up nearly the entire allotment for Protestant chaplains. As a result, more than two thirds of the military's 2,900 active-duty chaplains today are affiliated with evangelical or Pentecostal denominations."

Oh, I remember some of that. When one of our training classes commenced, they got a short "Welcome" chat from the chaplain. "Come on down to Sunday services! Heck, we even welcome Jews and Cath-a-licks!" (I imagined he was biting his tongue to keep from saying "papists.") That produced some really uncomfortable vibes.