Support for openly gay troops muted, but visible, in ranks

[Forkboy]

Military adapting as ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ is debated

BAGHDAD - Days before a deployment to Iraq last year, the 26-year-old soldier’s sergeant told his troops that they would get to know one another pretty well over the next few months.

“I’m in trouble,’’ the specialist remembered thinking. He feared comrades would find out he is gay. Worse, he said, they could figure out that he has been dating another soldier in the combat arms battalion for more than five years. Their careers were on the line.

The reaction during the soldier’s yearlong deployment - nobody asked about it - offers new insight into how today’s military might adapt to a repeal of the ban on openly gay service members sought by President Obama and top Pentagon officials. The specialist didn’t exactly tell, but by the end of the tour, his sexual orientation had become a poorly kept secret - and his career was undamaged.

“I don’t know if I won any hearts and minds among the Iraqis,’’ said the specialist, who returned home from Iraq recently. “But I did among my brothers in arms because I did my job well and went above and beyond. I was respected.’’

http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2010/02/21/support_for_openly_gay_troops_muted_but_visible_in_ranks/

[jwirr]

1. The bottom line in any group is that everyone carry their share of

the load. All most soldiers care about is that the man/woman standing next to them is a good soldier.