I had a gunny who drilled it into my head very early in my Marine Corps career, that if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. This whole issue of repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is exactly one of those situations. Politicians and academics would like to believe that the policy is broken and needs to be fixed. Well, this is one of those times that they really don’t know what they are talking about (um, come to think about it…. never mind).
This morning there was an op-ed in the Washington Post, that would have us believe that there is a problem with DADT and that The Corps, being the bastion of the macho warrior ethos, cannot see and is not willing to accept because it threatens our view of ourselves. To which I say bullshit. You need to go read the article for the full background. I kind of went on a rant with my comments to the article as well, laying out some of the realities of what living in an open squad bay really means, as well as some other things.
In any case, Lex laid out a relatively cogent rebuttal that concludes like this:
This is the key point that even highly educated civilians like Ms. Schulz always fail to comprehend, and what Marines always intuitively get: It’s not about the individual, not about his rights to self-expression, not about his needs, except in the loosest and most aggregated sense. It’s about what’s best for the unit, what is most likely to make them successful in combat, what will enable the greatest number of them to endure harsh privations, face perilous obstacles and emerge victorious on the other end. I said it before, on the eve of the second battle of Fallujah, but it’s worth repeating: When it comes to combat, Marines don’t fuck around.
The Marine Corps senior leadership get this, and – unlike the flag and general officers of other services, whose acquaintance with close combat is more distant than is their proximity to fashionable academics and politicians – never fail to express their unvarnished opinions.
That might present a problem for academics and politicians, but it’s not the Corps’ problem.
The situation is I think very clear, if it isn’t broken don’t try and fix it.