67 Percent of Marine Combat Forces Say Putting Homosexuals in Their Units Will Hurt...

CNSNews ^ | December 20, 2010 | Terence P. Jeffrey

[jazusamo]

A U.S. Marine Corps sergeant in
action in Sangin, Afghanistan on
Nov. 9, 2010. (Defense Department
photo/Lance Cpl. Dexter S.
Saulisbury, U.S. Marine Corps)

(CNSNews.com) - 66.5 percent of U.S. Marine combat forces surveyed by a special Defense Department working group said that putting homosexuals in their units would hurt their effectiveness in the field, and 47.8 percent of Marines in combat units specifically said putting homosexuals in their units would hurt their effectiveness “in an intense combat situation.”

The U.S. Congress voted last week to repeal the law—commonly known as Don’t Ask, Don’ Tell—that barred homosexuals from serving in the military.

Earlier this year, after President Barack Obama said in his 2010 State of the Union Address that he wanted to end the ban on homosexuals in the military, Defense Secretary Robert Gates put together a special working group to begin making plans for integrating homosexuals into the Armed Forces if Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell were in fact repealed.

The working group secured the services of Westat Corporation, a polling company, to survey more than 115,000 active duty service members on their attitudes and views about integrating homosexuals into the military. Among those surveyed by Westat were 989 men serving in Marine combat units.

Question 71a in Westat’s survey of these Marine combat forces read as follows: “If Don't Ask, Don't Tell is repealed and you are working with a Service member in your immediate unit who has said he or she is gay or lesbian, how, if at all, would it affect your immediate unit's effectiveness at completing its mission ... In a field environment or out to sea?” The Marines were given 6 options for answering: Very positively, Positively, Equally as positively as negatively, Negatively, Very negatively, No effect.

The Marines in combat units answered as follows:

Very positively: 2.9 percent

Positively: 3.0 percent

Equally as positively as negatively: 18.8 percent

Negatively: 23.9 percent

Very negatively: 42.6 percent

No effect: 8.7 percent

Only a combined 5.9 percent said putting a homosexual in their combat unit would have a positive or very positive effect on their ability to complete their mission in the field, while 66.5 percent said it would have either a negative or very negative effect.

Almost half of the Marine combat forces surveyed specifically said placing a homosexual in their unit would have a negative or very negative effect on the unit’s effectiveness even in “an intense combat situation.”

Question 71c in Westat’s survey of Marine combat forces read as follows: “If Don’t Ask, Don't Tell is repealed and you are working with a Service member in your immediate unit who has said he or she is gay or lesbian, how, if at all, would it affect your immediate unit's effectiveness at completing its mission... In an intense combat situation”

The Marines in combat units answered as follows:

Very positively: 3.2 percent

Positively: 6.0 percent

Equally as positively as negatively: 28.4 percent

Negatively: 17.8 percent

Very negatively: 30.0 percent

No effect: 16.7 percent

Last week, before Congress voted to lift the ban on homosexuals in the military, Gen. James Amos, the commandant of the Marines, told reporters that he opposed lifting the ban because of what he had heard from Marines about it.

"The forces that wear this uniform, that are in the middle of what I call the real deal, came back and told their commandant of the Marine Corps they have concerns," Gen. Amos told the reporters. "That's all I need. I don't need a staff study. I don't need to hire three PhDs to tell me what to interpret it," he said. "If they have concerns, I do, too. It's as simple as that."

Gen. Amos said the distraction of having homosexuals in the ranks could cost Marines their lives. “Mistakes and inattention or distractions cost Marines lives. That’s the currency of this fight,” said Gen. Amos. “I don’t want to lose any Marines to the distraction. I don’t want to have any Marines that I’m visiting at Bethesda [National Naval Medical Center] with no legs be the result of any type of distraction.”

To see the full results of from the survey of U.S. Marines on the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell click here.

[cvq3842]

I am disgusted and ashamed at what our government has done to our military.

[massmike]

Who’d have guessed there would come a day when the Boy Scouts had tougher standards than the military?

[for-q-clinton]

We might as well make everything COED now. Since there is no real good way to separate the fags from the normal people. Why not let the straight guys check out the women since the fags get to check out the straight men.

[hosepipe]

Even children know being gay is Queer..

[Truth29]

In Obama’s upside down world, this is a positive. He caters to the far left while weakening the US military and increasing casualties to justify further US withdrawals.

[americanophile]

"We don't care"

- Richard Burr (R) North Carolina - Mark Kirk (R) Illinois - John Ensign (R) Nevada - Scott Brown (R) Massachusetts - George Voinovich (R) Ohio - Lisa Murkowski (R) Alaska - Olympia Snowe (R) Maine - Susan Collins (R) Maine.

[TSgt]

[jazusamo]

No matter what Gates, Mullen, high ranking poofters and the RATS & RINOS in the Senate and House say, this is going to hurt our military.

[Frantzie]

He is a Saudi puppet and dead American troops please the saudi king and islam. The Saudis and Islam bought the white hut for $700 million in 2008. The same saudis who fund al qeada.

The American public has no clue as to the saudi investments and deals in ALL 6 US TV networks which own all the channels on TV. I try to tell people here but they think AL Waleed Fox is their friend or they think it is a big joke becaus ethey put the TV clicker ahead of liberty.

People need to stop whining and the stupid pink/gay jokes and start thinking how to turn this around.

[Cheetahcat]

Reid said on National TV that 70% thought it would be NO problem! POS.

[SWAMPSNIPER]

There will be serious negative effects.

[jazusamo]

Amen to that.

[EternalVigilance]

This is just the beginning of this war, not the end.

[mbynack]

“Hey you, Nancy Boy, take point as we navigate through this minefield.”

[gandalftb]

The Marines already have gays. Nothing new here. You can create, repeal, whatever any rule you want but it won't change the central fact about gays in the Marines: if they are open about it and in a Rifle Company, a grunt, they will be hazed/transferred out to a non-combat support role just as females would be.

Grunts will always be combat effective.

[sickoflibs]

RE :”(CNSNews.com) - 66.5 percent of U.S. Marine combat forces surveyed by a special Defense Department working group said that putting homosexuals in their units would hurt their effectiveness in the field, and 47.8 percent of Marines in combat units specifically said putting homosexuals in their units would hurt their effectiveness “in an intense combat situation.” The U.S. Congress voted last week to repeal the law—commonly known as Don’t Ask, Don’ Tell—that barred homosexuals from serving in the military.”

Democrat's big lame duck win, big celebration on Maddows MSNBC show tonight. The reason they were able to pull this off is that Obama/gates/MSM were able to shape public opinion by only presenting only one side to the public, the homos side. There was no real (bad sounding) argument made against it repeated over and over, even on FNC. I remember in 1993 when Clinton tried this All Hell broke loose in the MSM and he backed off. This time the media and even many Republicans, went along.

To make this backfire on Democrats will require lots of stories of how the implementation is not working, and the leaking of the sensitivity training materials to the alternative media much like what was done with Obama-care.

[ScottinVA]

...A pause to remember a great leader America once had. America has no such leaders now.

[Jackson57]

Blah blah blah ... just think how nicely the barracks and chow halls will be decorated, though. /sarc

[jazusamo]

BUMP!