Huffpo has an article here describing how even the Marines are calling the repeal of DADT a non-issue. Gen. James F. Amos, the top Commanding Officer, says this:
"I'm very pleased with how it has gone,"
He also noted that he wasn't even asked about it on his recent stops in Afganistan and at the USS Bataan warship in the Gulf of Aden. Only once, in Bahrain, was he asked (by a Marine) "whether he planned to change the Marines' current policy of leaving it to the discretion of local commanders to determine how to handle complaints about derogatory homosexual remarks or actions. Amos said no."
Furthermore, Amos described a real example of how little angst it was causing the service:
In the AP interview, he offered an anecdote to make his point. He said that at the annual ball in Washington earlier this month celebrating the birth of the Marine Corps, a female Marine approached Amos's wife, Bonnie, and introduced herself and her lesbian partner.
"Bonnie just looked at them and said, `Happy birthday ball. This is great. Nice to meet you,'" Amos said. "That is happening throughout the Marine Corps."
But what about the other services? What are your average servicemembers saying about it "on the ground"? Follow me below the fold to find out what Soldiers are saying....
Nada. Zilch. Nothing. At. All.
I can't remember the last time I heard any kind of discussion about it during the height of the repeal, both at Fort Benning at my last assignment and at Fort Riley, my current assignment since one year ago, no since the repeal went into effect. I was a company commander at Benning, with around 700 basic training Soldiers and 40 drill sergeants during my two-years in command. I never chaptered a Soldier for homosexual conduct though I knew of another commander who had and we suspected there may have been some who were eligible in our barracks, but it was more of that tongue-in-cheek (no pun intended) gossip than any real concern amongst the cadre.
Now that I am back to patient care full-time at Riley, I see 12-14 people a day on average, from all ranks and occupations. I haven't heard anybody even mention it, positively or negatively. It's a total non-issue, but that doesn't come as a surprise or shouldn't.
It. Has. NOT. Affected. Military. Readiness. At. All.