Veteran Says Bill Killing 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Could Benefit Military

by Chad Groening and Jenni Parker
March 8, 2005

(AgapePress) - A retired Marine officer and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense believes a recently introduced bill aimed at shelving "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" could be a good thing, if the U.S. military will reaffirm the standards of conduct it adopted in 1997.

The bill is called the "Military Readiness Enhancement Act" and has been introduced by Democratic Congressman Marty Meehan of Massachusetts. Homosexual activists hope it will open the way for homosexual men and lesbians to serve openly in the military. However, retired U.S. Marine Colonel Donald Ray feels that repealing the Clinton-era "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy could actually be helpful in clarifying the military's long-held position on homosexuals in the armed services.

"Getting rid of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' the statute, as long as we reaffirm the exemplary conduct standard, will be a good thing," Ray says, pointing out that included among the fine points of that standard is a prohibition against homosexual behavior -- behavior the colonel says is simply "incompatible" with serving in the U.S. military.

The retired Marine colonel says the American military's "exemplary conduct" standards have a long history, dating back to the time the Continental Congress enacted codes of comportment for the crews in the newly created Navy. "In '97, Congress passed the language that John Adams wrote in 1775," he explains, adding that they also "passed it for the Army and the Air Force," and it declared that "the Committee holds military officers to a higher standard than other members of society."

The military code states that the nation "entrusts its greatest resource, our young men and women, to our military officers," Ray explains, "and, in return, the nation deserves complete integrity, the highest levels of moral courage, and the highest moral and ethical conduct." And homosexual conduct, he adds, is -- according to Department of Defense directives -- "obviously ... incompatible with American military service."

Elsewhere in the U.S. military's guidelines on homosexuality, the DOD declares that "The presence in the military environment of persons who engage in homosexual conduct or who, by their statements, demonstrate a propensity to engage in homosexual conduct, seriously impairs the accomplishment of the military mission" ... and "adversely affects the ability of the armed forces to maintain discipline, good order, and morale; to foster mutual trust and confidence among service members; to insure the integrity of the system of rank and command; to facilitate assignment and worldwide deployment of service members who frequently must live and work in close conditions affording minimal privacy; to recruit and retain members of the armed forces; to maintain the public acceptability of military service; and to prevent breaches of security."

The one-time Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense says he is amazed to see that Meehan's Military Readiness Enhancement Act has drawn virtually no coverage from the mainstream media, especially since the lawmaker apparently hopes the measure will pave the way for openly homosexual individuals to serve. But the former Reagan administration official doubts, at any rate, that the proposed legislation will garner widespread support.

And Ray suspects the Military Readiness Enhancement Act could backfire on its pro-homosexual proponents. He suspects an attempt to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" could ultimately prove an excellent opportunity for the DOD to emphasize its position on homosexuals serving in the military by reaffirming its exemplary conduct standards.