Fears of openly gay troops were vastly overblown: Pentagon report

[OceanBonfire]

A decade after the services first allowed gay and lesbian troops to serve openly, a report from the Joint Staff found that concerns about combat effectiveness and unit cohesion were basically unfounded.

...

“Following the 1-year anniversary of repeal, the Combatant Commanders have provided their assessments of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) and report no impact to military readiness, effectiveness, or unit cohesion of the Joint Force,” he wrote.

...

“Time and again, opponents of equality have claimed that inclusion would harm America’s most important institutions and threaten the nation itself,” Aaron Belkin, the Palm Center’s director, said in a Sept. 19 statement. “And time and again, that’s turned out to be false. This official military study makes clear the yawning gap between fearmongering and reality, and should guide dialogue about similar claims in the present, such as fears that inclusion for transgender Americans is somehow a threat to our society.”

Fears of openly gay troops were vastly overblown: Pentagon report

Concerns about combat effectiveness and unit cohesion were basically unfounded, researchers found.

www.militarytimes.com

https://www.jcs.mil/Portals/36/Documents/History/Dec21/SHS_15_Repealing_DADT.pdf

 

[dimsum]

Absolutely not surprised there.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

The biggest issue I think was that when it was illegal, it made them very vulnerable to exploitation by opposing intelligence services. Now if someone tried to expose a gay as blackmail, it would be met with "So what, go ahead".

 

[Jarnhamar]

We still have filing for banruptcy as a chargable offense and being a security risk.

 

[SeaKingTacco]

We still have filing for banruptcy as a chargable offense and being a security risk.

That is a legit security risk.

 

[OldSolduer]

In the 70s you could not be gay or lesbian nor could you have an association with the Communist Party.

 

[Blackadder1916]

. . . banruptcy as a chargable offense . . .

That's a new one for me. Administrative measures? For sure. Security risk. Yes. Administrative burden? Possibly. While a member filing for bankruptcy is required to report such to NDHQ IAW QR&O 19.08 so that any (or all) of the preceding might be applied, I don't see the leap to a service offence. And while it has been some time since I've had any first hand knowledge of soldiers whose personal debts have got the better of them (including one who filed for bankruptcy), I had never heard of any sort of charges being considered for that indebtedness, though there have been a few who did have a history of unrelated crime.

 

[Jarnhamar]

That is a legit security risk.

Agree it is.

That's a new one for me. Administrative measures? For sure. Security risk. Yes. Administrative burden? Possibly. While a member filing for bankruptcy is required to report such to NDHQ IAW QR&O 19.08 so that any (or all) of the preceding might be applied, I don't see the leap to a service offence.

19.07 and 19.08 yes. I was sure I remember a JNCO being charged regarding something around filing for bankruptcy recently enough, but I might be wrong. Maybe the charge was not reporting it.

I have seen soldiers being told if they have financial issues to be open and transparent about it and let the chain of command know so they can help. And when they did, 2 soldiers received help in the form of administrative measures.

 

[rmc_wannabe]

Bankruptcy is definitely something that may become more common in today's economic climate, and at little to no fault of the member. A lot of people are eating their creditc cards, taking a loss on a home sale, or being forced to relocate into a local economy with little to no support.

The CAF is not a tolerant employer IRT bankruptcy, yet in some cases, are a direct cause of it.

Seems hypocritical to me.

 

[dimsum]

Bankruptcy is definitely something that may become more common in today's economic climate, and at little to no fault of the member. A lot of people are eating their creditc cards, taking a loss on a home sale, or being forced to relocate into a local economy with little to no support.

The CAF is not a tolerant employer IRT bankruptcy, yet in some cases, are a direct cause of it.

Seems hypocritical to me.

So what happens if a mbr becomes bankrupt due to posting, gets charged and elects court martial (if allowed)?

I would definitely watch that.

 

[FormerHorseGuard]

91, 92, there a tv show called The Shirley Show on CTV, they were doing a show on gays in the military, the LFCA Commander Lewis MacKenzie was asked to attend as panel person. He allowed the HQ Staff to attend, ( at the last minute the higher up commanders revoked their approval for him being on the panel, but we could go anyways, as long as we followed the rules not to say anything as soldiers or sound like giving policy not personal opinion, had to use the phase in my personal opinion before we spoke )

But anyways the Panel had a former Intell guy, late 1960s early 70s and he was posted to a US NATO posting and he was found out and given the boot, he complained a lot , I understand his side. A guy from a non military job was arguing that a gay soldier would spend too much time in the shower room checking out the non gay soldiers every morning. A former soldier who was female told of her life in the Army when she was found out to be gay. All were former members, no current serving person. All out of the dark ages and nothing was positive.
My roomate was a drag queen at night and on weekends, it was funny and no one seemed to care at the time. i know I never cared, saw some humour and gave me great laughs, no worse than having the Pro White power guy as my first roommate, or the mommy's boy later. I never cared who was who and it is 2022 now. It is very open and everyone knows. Who cares, if you are a consenting adult, it is not my business , or anyones elses unless you are playing underage people. then it is a bad thing.

 

[AmmoTech90]

In the 70s you could not be gay or lesbian nor could you have an association with the Communist Party.

80s.
I have a friend who was forced out in 89.
I also remember the MOSAIC security videos that talked about it.