Marine Asks Robert Gates If He Could Opt Out Of Military Following Repeal Of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

Lez Get Real’s Bridgette P. LaVictoire catches this incident of a Marine in Afghanistan asking Secretary of Defense Robert Gates if he could leave the military following the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. “Sir, we joined the Marine Corps because the Marine Corps has a set of standards and values that is better than that of the civilian sector. And we have gone and changed those values and repealed the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy,” the Marine said. “Is there going to be an option for those Marines that no longer wish to serve due to the fact their moral values have not changed?”

Gates stressed that Marines were already serving in a socially diverse force and said that all servicemembers are required to complete their enlistments:

“No. You’ll have to complete your … enlistment just like everybody else.”

“The reality is that you don’t all agree with each other on your politics, you don’t agree with each other on your religion, you don’t agree with each other on a lot of things,” he added. “But you still serve together. And you work together. And you look out for each other. And that’s all that matters.” [...]

“If we do this right, nothing will change. You will still have to abide by the same rules of behavior, the same discipline, the same respect for each other that has been the case through all the history of the Marine Corps.”

In December of last year, opponents of repealing the policy warned that up to 265,000 servicemembers would exit the military if the ban against open service was lifted. No such exodus has occurred and as Gates explained during a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee “if I believed that a quarter of a million people would leave immediately, if given the opportunity, I would certainly have second thoughts about that.”