Obama Military Indoctrination on
Homosexuality
Military etiquette on homosexual
scenarios
By Rowan
Scarborough
The Washington
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Just another step in the betrayal of the
Four branches of the military
have begun sending training material to 2.2 million active and reserve troops
as a prelude to opening the ranks to gays, with instructions on, for example,
what to do if an officer sees two male Marines kissing in a shopping mall.
Key themes are that sexual
orientation will no longer be a bar to service, that all service members must
respect each other, and that the partners of gay troops will not receive the
benefits of heterosexual spouses.
“We are going to
make [gay ban] repeal training
expeditiously,” said Maj. Joel Harper,
an Air Force spokesman
at the Pentagon. “It’s great training.”
The briefings first target
commanders, who will have to enforce the new law and deal with disputes, and
then the entire
force. The slides, vignettes and talking points by the Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine
Corps are similar.
The Marine
Corps, which a Pentagon
survey found holds deep opposition to lifting the ban, plans to publicly
release its training material April 1. A Marine source provided copies to The
Washington Times.
Joint Chief Vice Chairman Gen. James E. Cartwright, right,
accompanied by Defense Undersecretary for Personnel and Readiness Clifford
Stanley, conduct a media briefing at the Pentagon to discuss the progress of
the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal implementation effort. (AP Photo/Pablo
The vignette about seeing two
male Marines kissing is part of a list of scenarios to help instructors prepare
commanders for incidents likely to arise.
“Situation,” it begins. “You are
the Executive Officer of your unit. While shopping at the local mall over the
weekend, you observe two junior male Marines in appropriate civilian attire
assigned to your unit kissing and hugging in the food court.
“Issue: Standards of Conduct. Is
this within standards of personal and professional conduct?”
The answer to Marines: “If the
observed behavior crosses acceptable boundaries as defined in the standards of
conduct for your unit and the Marine
Corps, then an appropriate correction should be made. Your assessment
should be made without regard to sexual orientation.”
The vignettes’ talking point
states that commanders cannot rule a bar off limits simply because it caters to
gays. Nor can commanders bar an off-duty homosexual from marching in civilian
clothes in a gay-pride parade.
A Marine recruiter may not refuse
to induct a gay civilian even though he views it as violating his religious
beliefs. Commanders may honor a request not to shower with known gay service
members.
“Marines are expected to obey
lawful orders and could be subject to discipline or adverse administrative
action if they refuse orders, even if such refusal is based on strong,
sincerely held, moral or religious beliefs,” the briefing states.
The briefings were dispatched to
service members worldwide, including to combatants in Iraq and Afghanistan, as
part of a major indoctrination program ordered by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates
to ensure that gays and heterosexuals will serve and fight together.
President Obama signed
legislation to repeal the military’s ban on open gays. Once training is
completed this summer, Mr. Gates must
certify to Congress that repeal will not hurt readiness before the ban
officially ends.
The Service members Legal Defense
Network, which led a long effort in
“By and large, the materials are
on target,” said Aubrey Sarvis, the group’s executive
director. “Where we take exception is with the timeline that the Army has articulated for
completing training as late as August. We believe training can be wrapped up by
the end of next month, especially given the fact that there will be an
additional 60 days for training that may take place after certification.”
In another scenario outlined in
the Marine material, a lesbian Marine approaches her platoon sergeant and
states “she can no longer tolerate her heterosexual roommate.”
The answer: “The Platoon Sergeant
must take a very active and positive leadership approach with a focus on
conflict resolution and professional obligations to uphold the policy.”
A separate training guide answers
23 frequently asked questions, such as “is consensual sodomy still a punishable
offense under the Uniform Code of Military Justice?”
Answer: “The U.S. Supreme Court
and the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces found that private, consensual
sexual activity, to include consensual sodomy, regardless of sexual
orientation, is a protected liberty under the Fourteenth Amendment.”
On the question
of whether transgender or transsexual individuals may join the military, the
answer: “No.
Transgender and transsexual individuals are not permitted to join the Military
Services. The repeal of DADT has no effect on these policies.”
The main slide presentations
emphasize that chaplains will be free to express their views on homosexuality.
“Free exercise of religious
expression, with law and policy, remains unchanged,” says one Army slide.
Soldiers may not seek an early
discharge because they do not want to live or serve with gays. Same-sex
partners of service members do not qualify for medical, housing or travel
benefits.
A “speaker’s note” accompanying
the Army slides
states, “This brief is NOT an attempt to change anyone’s opinion or beliefs
about the subject of homosexuality. However, we as an Army must always remember
our Army values and
respect each other’s beliefs in order to accomplish the mission.”
George Wright, an Army spokesman at the Pentagon, said the
service is posting on an internal website a variety of training aids on the end
of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” as the ban is known.
“Training on the repeal of DADT
began last month with ‘chain-teaching’ at the senior levels, and the materials
have been made available to Army commanders
worldwide, to include those in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
At a Pentagon
teleconference from
“Our goal is to not allow a unit
to return to home station and have the unit responsible for that,” said Army
Command Sgt. Maj. Marvin Hill. “While we own those soldiers, sailors, airmen
and Marines, we’re going to execute that training on the ground. We hope that
it will have little impact on their combat and security operations here.”