Should Gays Be Allowed in the U.S. Military

When it comes to the question of allowing homosexual individuals to serve in the U.S. military, there are two issues which must be addressed: 1) will the homosexual individual be able to fully perform his/her duty, and 2) will allowing a homosexual person to serve impact the heterosexual individuals who are also serving.

1) The modern military requires a thinking, physically fit person to wear the uniform. A person's sexual orientation does not impact these conditions. Some homosexuals make great soldiers. Some do not. The same is the case of every group. So long as the homosexual person meets the intelligence and physical standards of the military, there should be no impediment to allowing them to serve openly. I would say the same about any group. I have actually served with two individuals, one male and one female, that I eventually learned were homosexuals. In both cases, they were excellent troops who I would not hesitate to serve with again as a peer, subordinate or supervisor.

2) There is a question about military unit morale and cohesiveness. There is also a very significant issue facing the U.S. military today in terms of combat related stress. I believe that the young, modern officer corps of the military can easily create an environment where hetero- and openly homosexual soldiers can work together without having a negative impact on morale and cohesiveness. It is very likely, however, that there would be some bumps along the way to reaching this new harmony. We are currently in an environment where the U.S. military suicide rate, spousal abuse and other indicators of high stress are off the charts. This is due to the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. This raises the question: is now the time to make a major policy shift that will no doubt add stress to at least some number of current soldiers. While I am extremely sensitive to the mental health concerns of the force today, I believe that allowing open service by homosexuals in the military would actually be a net stress reducer in that it would remove the need to "hide" from those individuals who now must do so and it would eliminate the need to remove otherwise qualified individuals from the military, thereby removing experienced troops from the military who could help shoulder the load.

I believe that homosexuals should be allowed to serve openly in the U.S. Armed Forces.