Plan to end ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ meets with soldiers’ skepticism

PHILADELPHIA — They served in combat in Iraq, depended on comrades in life-and-death situations, and appreciate the contributions of gay men and women in the armed forces.

But some soldiers saw problems ahead as the nation’s
top military officials on Tuesday called for an end to the “don’t ask,
don’t tell” policy that bans openly gay service members.

Some feared the ban’s end would lead to violence in the ranks. Others predicted a rocky adjustment period to a new policy.

“It’s immaterial to me whether someone is gay if they’re doing their job. I don’t give a damn,” said former Army Sgt. Pauric Devine, 46, of Philadelphia.

“But there are people out there who are going to have an issue with this,” said Devine, a paratrooper who served in Iraq in 2004. “They are homophobes who will go out of their way to make life difficult for those who are gay.”

In the first congressional hearing on homosexuals in the military in 17 years, Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that it was wrong to force people to “lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens.”

Mullen’s comments came as the Defense Department plans a yearlong study into how the ban can be repealed without causing a major disruption in the armed forces.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Tuesday also announced plans to loosen enforcement of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, in effect since 1993.

“I think this is a good first step,” said former Air Force Staff Sgt. David Hall,
35, who was honorably discharged under the “don’t ask, don’t tell”
policy in 2002 when a cadet told her superiors that Hall was having a
relationship with a fellow serviceman. “I think this should have
happened many years ago.

“I liked the military and would go back in,” said
Hall, development director for the Servicemembers Legal Defense
Network, a nonprofit in Washington. The group is dedicated to ending discrimination of gay military personnel affected by the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

“There are those who don’t like women and
African-Americans in the military, but there are policies in place,” he
said. “If that’s your view, keep it to yourself.”

Some area soldiers said they would be concerned for the safety of military personnel who are open about their homosexuality.

“I don’t think (top military officials) are giving this enough thought,” said former Army First Lt. Vince Caliguire, 36, of Brigantine, N.J. “Anybody who has ever been in combat situations will tell you this is not a good idea.”

Caliguire, whose 30-member Pennsylvania National Guard unit killed 90 insurgents during a battle at Ramadi in 2006, said combat soldiers tend to be macho.

“It’s a brotherhood. You’ve got to be one of them,” he said. “You live in very close quarters. There are gay jokes.

“If someone announces he’s gay, there would be
problems. You could have guys get beaten up, and those involved would
get in trouble,” leading to possible discharges.

Like Caliguire, Pennsylvania Army National Guard Sgt. Giancarlo Deguia of Brownsville, Pa., favors the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

“Gay soldiers serve as well as anyone else,” said Deguia, 24. “But I personally don’t like them being in a living situation.”

“There’s a camaraderie, and I don’t agree with
having a gay man in that group,” Deguia said. “I would keep the rule we
have. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

The issue of gays in the military “has been a touchy situation for many years,” said First Sgt. Michael Vey of the New Jersey National Guard’s 254th Regiment, a training unit in Sea Girt. “The middle of a war is the wrong time to bring this up.”

Vey, who served in Vietnam, the Gulf War and Iraq War, said he had never known a gay service member to negatively affect a mission or training.

“But as a leader, I don’t want extra aggravation. It’s a distraction,” said Vey, 58, who retired from the Wildwood Crest Police Department and lives in North Cape May, N.J. “I don’t tell everybody what I do. I keep my personal business personal.”

He wonders, he said, whether a repeal of the ban might lead to public displays of affection by same-sex couples.

“If you’re wearing your religion on your sleeve, that would upset people, too,” he said. “If you were (a Barack) Obama or (John) McCain supporter, people get tired of hearing that. I would leave ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ in place. Let sleeping dogs lie.”

Most soldiers “don’t want to know” someone’s sexual orientation, said former Army National Guard Sgt. Jon Hinker, 40, of North Cape May, who served in Iraq with Vey. “I don’t care about that. It’s not my business.

“When you’re serving, you’re there to do a job. You’re worrying about one thing: being a soldier.”

Making gay service personnel declare their sexual
orientation, if that becomes the policy, “is discriminatory,” Hinker
said. “Keep the policy the way it is. I don’t think being openly gay
will work.”

Gay activists disagree and are pushing for quick action to eliminate the ban. Some have criticized President Barack Obama — who raised the issue of revising the policy during his State of the Union address — for not acting sooner.

“How much do we need to study ‘don’t ask, don’t tell?’ ” asked Steven Goldstein, chair of Garden State Equality, a New Jersey gay-rights organization with 65,000 members. “We have known for 17 years that the policy doesn’t work.

“This is a watershed moment,” he said. “Of all the
things the president can do to advance the rights of the gay community,
this was the easiest. If he can’t act with more than a speech, then
what the hell will he stand up for?”

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