DADT report endorses repeal...Kind of.

The Pentagon finally released it's much anticipated report on the predicted effects of a repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell. The report was, for the most part, positive. The link is to the report itself, directly. I have not read the entire report, since it is 266 pages long. I have, however, studied many of the responses closely.

Most service members who were surveyed predicted either no effect or a positive effect in nearly every situation. One category of service members actually had an overwhelming positive response, nearly 80%! Of course this means that anyone who disagrees will have been proven wrong now.

This is the point where proponents of an immediate DADT repeal will tell me to pay no mind to the man behind the curtain. Unfortunately for them, I'm going to pull the curtain away anyhow.

That 80% figure that's being touted from sea to shining sea? It comes from page 65. As you can see, the question was:

"If Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is repealed and you are working with a Service member in your immediate unit who has said he or she is gay or lesbian, how, if at all, would it affect your immediate unit’s effectiveness at completing its mission…"

For "day-to-day" operations, 17.4% said positive, 32.6% equally positive and negative, 29.3% no effect, and 20.9% negative effect. That's 79.3% who don't see it as a negative, or at the least see the negatives equal the positives. Just one tiny little detail. These respondents are the ones with no combat experience since Sept 11, 2001.

The ones with "combat experience" are still positive by majority, but not nearly as much. For day-to-day, the non-negative answers get 55.7%, negative 44.3%. That negative number drops when they ask about "intense combat" to 30.6%.

It gets better. Flip to page 74, "Army, Marine Corps, and Combat Arms."

"Among the Services, the Marines were consistently more negative in their responses about the effect of repeal. The combat arms communities in both the Army and the Marine Corps were also more negative about the effect of repeal than others in their Services.

For example, as discussed earlier, approximately 44% of all Service members said
that their unit’s effectiveness “in a field environment or out at sea” would be negatively impacted by repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Nearly 60% of respondents in the Marine Corps and in Army combat arms said they believed there would be a negative impact on their unit’s effectiveness in this context; among Marine combat arms the number was 67%."

The report goes on to say that those who serve in single gender (read, male only) units currently are far more likely to oppose a repeal of DADT. (Insider tip: The units that traditionally see the heaviest combat, AKA Infantry, Armor, etc., are all male. Females are not allowed to serve in these units except in limited support roles.)

Call me crazy, but I always thought that the most important thing the military does is, you know, win wars. Perhaps I'm old fashioned, but I think the opinions of those who have actually done the whole war thing ought to be given a bit more than equal weight with those who haven't. Similarly, the fact that the responses of those whose job it is to actually close with and destroy the enemy are so much more negative should be a huge red flag.

There is a misconception in the civilian world that everyone in uniform is a soldier in the same way, all shooting and fighting the enemy. The fact is that the combat arms specialties, your Infantry, your Armor, your Artillery, etc., are actually a minority of all servicemembers (At least 2.5 support troops for each combat soldier). Their voice is easily drowned out by the roar of all the pogues behind them. While the job of a quartermaster, a laundry specialist, and a mail clerk are all important to the success of the military the fact remains that the needs and concerns of someone who typically stays inside the FOB are very different from those who actually leave the wire.

This report, if you read it carefully, only reinforces exactly what has been said by myself and others over and over again. In terms of the actual firefights, (I.E. That intense combat question) whether they a soldier is gay or straight makes about as much difference as whether they prefer cake or pie (though of course the soldiers who prefer pie show far better taste). Similarly, for those who do not serve in combat arms it is likely to have little impact on the way business is done. But where the rubber meets the road, for Private Joe Blow Rifleman, the world is a little different.

If the big thinkers in the Pentagon can think of a legitimate plan to enact a repeal of DADT, one that addresses the concerns of the combat arms specialties and allows for privacy for all involved, then count me in. Unfortunately, it does not appear that this will happen. As usual, those knuckle dragging idiots who actually do the fighting are likely to be dismissed as outliers, unimportant, and uninformed. The brunt of how to effectively enact this change will fall on the unit leaders, right down to team leaders like myself.

Thanks, sir. Guess I'll take it from here.