Military Professionalism - United States Air Force Academy

the policy, a group of retired flag officers has claimed that allowing homosexuals to serve
openly would undermine military readiness and end the all-volunteer force.
Shalikashvili, John M. “Second Thoughts on Gays in the Military.” The New York
Times (Jan. 2, 2007): A17.
Shalikashvili argues that it is time to consider allowing homosexuals to serve openly in
the U.S. military. He cites polls that indicate the majority of U.S. service members
returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are comfortable with allowing homosexuals to serve
openly. He notes that allowing homosexuals to serve openly in the Israeli and British
militaries has not harmed their recruitment nor undermined unit cohesion.
Shanker, Thom. “Top General Explains Remarks on Gays.” The New York Times
(Mar. 14, 2007): A15.
Gen. Peter Pace apologized for publicly expressing his personal view that homosexuality
is immoral and admitted that he should have focused his remarks on his support for the
“don’t ask, don’t tell” statute. Gen. Shalikashvili said that allowing openly homosexual
individuals to serve will not undermine the efficacy of the armed forces. Many retired
officers and congressmen are working to repeal the policy.
Shanker, Thom. “Two Generals Wary about Repealing Gay Policy.” The New York
Times (Feb 23, 2010).
Army Gen. George W. Casey Jr. and Air Force Gen. Norton A. Schwartz expressed
concern about rapidly moving to repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell.” Adm. Mullen supports
repeal of the statute but requested a year for the Pentagon to conduct a study on how to
implement the changes.
Schultz, Tammy S. “The Sky Won’t Fall: Policy Recommendations for Allowing
Homosexuals to Serve Openly in the U.S. Military.” In Attitudes Aren’t Free:
Thinking Deeply about Diversity in the U.S. Armed Forces. Ed. James E. Parco
and David A. Levy. Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama: Air University Press,
Feb. 2010, 179-197.
http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA518901
The President, DOD, and military officers must all show a strong will and determination
to implement any change to “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. Some of the issues that will
need to be addressed include: equality of pay and benefits, whether or not homosexuals
should be given separate living quarters, and whether or not service members discharged
under “don’t ask, don’t tell” should be reinstated. Directives should be prepared, and
military personnel should be trained on new policy before implementation begins.
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