Rampidbyter Rampid byter: A byte of my .Net developing life.

I went through the enlistment process for the US Army. There was a fair bit of paperwork that required guaranteeing a person isn’t gay. I do know that much. When I was at boot camp there were two guys dismissed from the army for having sex in a bathroom who were caught by a drill sergeant. They both had women at home and most of us suspected that it was a ploy just to get out of boot camp. Let’s face it besides the occasional nightly beatings, constant exercise, and coming to grips with being “owned” for the first time in a persons life boot camp makes or breaks a person.

The thing I think is nice is that there IS a “don’t ask don’t tell” policy. In a room full of 148 guys we knew the outright gay ones. The sometimes perverted ones who’d stand in the group shower leaning against the wall starring at the constant flow of sausage as it passed by the door. We knew. We all knew. Not saying there weren’t a few that we didn’t know, which there probably was. Every person walking through those Army entrance doors were different. The one thing that was the same at the end of the day was they were all soldiers.

The problem isn’t so much that you’re not allowed to be gay. Nope, not a problem at all with most so long as you’re not a creepy son of a gun and keep it to yourself. The biggest problem is that sodomy is a violation of the army code of conduct. Anyone caught getting even a blow job violated policy. The Army has regulation for everything. Seriously, with sex you’re only allowed to have sex in the missionary position. I had to sit through a class where we actually were told how to have sex, and were instructed that if we deviated from the acceptable position be smart don’t take pictures. They will bring disciplinary actions against you. If you’re gay it’s kind of obvious you’re not going to be having missionary sex. At least I'm not informed enough to know whether that is indeed possible for gays, and honestly don’t feel particularly compelled to Google that.

In my opinion I don’t believe that policy should be repealed or changed in any way. Having a formal policy in place won’t change how people are treated. I understand it will keep those who are ousted from being discharged. I’d ideally just let the person’s service record distinguish whether they were let go in those cases. The thing that bothers me personally is everyone is up in arms about the ‘right to be gay’. I think if you had a room full of naked women walk into a shower to find a naked guy standing there watching them the consensus would be to kick the guy out. Why should that be any different if it happened to be a lesbian standing there instead? It’s still just not right to give that one person a free pass. Not saying there may not be others among them who are gay but they’re not outright displaying it. It’s all about work as a team, act like a team, or get out.