Gays in the Military

So, it looks like President Elect Obama is planning on removing the current policy of "Don't ask, Don't Tell", meaning we won't ask if you are gay (to kick you out of the military) as long as you don't openly try to be gay. This policy was put in place by former President Bill Clinton. I really hate to say this, but.....Bill Clinton was right. As a person on a Submarine in the United States Navy, I can tell you that there is absolutely no way that you can have opposite sex personnel on the same submarine. It is such a small place with an incredibly dinky amount of personal space to call your own. It just is not possible. You can make it work for a day or two, but on 90, 120, or even 180 day missions? No way. It is impossible to provide "sexual separation" for your crew.

So with that said, if one of my crew members was gay, yet kept it to himself, I was fine with it. Now, with the ability to have open gays on board a submarine, it makes it an infinitely more complex issue to deal with. YOU HAVE TO TREAT GAYS THE SAME AS YOU TREAT THE OPPOSITE SEX. That means, if you are a guy and harry butts make you tingly inside, you have to be treated the same as if you were a woman wanting to serve on a submarine. Remember the logistics....You have 2 bathrooms to serve about 125-130 people. You cannot take one of those bathrooms away for a compliment five gay guys or five women. It makes life very difficult for those remaining 120 people. Not to mention, the 5 gay guys are now going to enter sexual tension into the workplace.

You can say that "That is not necessarily true, they would be professional" or "they wouldn't do something like that". You would be naive. I spent 12 years of my life on those metal sweat houses. By the end of a long patrol, guys will begin to think that Roseanne Barr is looking kind of hot. Now, put 100 gay guys together on a sub.....where will they be at the end of a 88 day straight patrol under water......50 couples.....that is where. It is human nature.

I always used to say, "You want women on subs? Fine. Make an all woman sub crew, from head to toe." Do it. I dare the Secretary of the Navy to do so. They won't. Now you want to put gay people on there.....unfortunately, you introduce a personality that is not compatible with straight men or gay men. Both are targets. Same with lesbians. It just doesn't work.

Unfortunately it is so easy to make a decision that doesn't affect you directly and call it good and feel real proud of what you are doing. They need to get to the trenches, the front lines, the subs to see what it does to the dynamics. One of the biggest proponents of gender blending in the 90's was Pat Schroeder, a Democrat from Colorado. She was hell bent on getting women everywhere men were....until she went underway for 3 days on board a submarine. She quickly realized the error in her decision and backed down from that stance, and to go as far as to say that it is not possible to do it on a submarine.

Let's be smart about this people. Ladies, as faithful as you may be, would you want to go to sea on a metal tube for, say 100 days, with a crew of say 60-80 young men looking at you like a piece of meat? Standing in chow line with them shoulder to shoulder, wearing the same damage control gear, using the same showers, sleeping in a bunk room surrounded by them, trapped with no where to go but inside a 35 foot by 300 foot tube? No.....you wouldn't. You would feel uncomfortable....and unable to escape.

That is what straight guys would feel if there was a group of gay guys on board.

Our politicians need to think before they act. Survey the affected demographics prior to opening setting drastic changing policy. My dad always said, "Engage your brain before opening your mouth." This crucial step was missed by the President Elect's transition team.

by Das Goob! Now listen!

-"Life is hard. It's harder if you are stupid" John Wayne