Here’s another reaction to my American Spectator column yesterday
on the uproar over Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Peter Pace’s remarks
on homosexuality and immorality (with a mature theme expressed below):
One thing which never seems to come up in these rants about the
“rights” of homosexuals to serve in the military is what it is like to
actually have to work for, with and to supervise them.
I had all three happen to me over 21 years of active duty, and with one
glaring exception in Vietnam I have to say it was not their homosexual
activity which caused problems; it was all of the other emotional
baggage they brought with them which caused problems.
Consider trying to supervise women who are either “man haters” — ones
who resent men and refuse to take orders from them — or the “bull
dyke” macho types who have to out-masculine the men around them. It is
not easy to deal with them if they “have not told” as you cannot make
any sort of accusations, even when their fellow troops know who they
are and what they are. (I had one bisexual woman as well, but after a
weekend where she reportedly took on three British NCOs she decided
“straight” was more fun.)
Men brought other problems. Giving a linguist an order to carry out a
common but noisome task like breaking down a split-rim wheel to
change tire and being met with a flood of tears is something most
NCO schools don’t prepare you for. Or, a sergeant major who thinks
motorcycles are scary and does everything he can (illegally) to punish
riders.
Yes, linguists tend to have a higher percentage of homosexuals than
other career fields. An old USAF joke used to go “What’s a 406? Two
203s in a dark room.” (AFSC 203 used to be the code for linguist 35
years ago.) We were generally saddled with the epithet “Monterey Marys”
(the Presidio of Monterey is home to the Defense Language Institute)
for that reason, and even if not a homosexual many DLI grad were prima
donnas…
By and large, however, the military runs better without them.
Some things that just don’t even occur to you.
