On Sept. 20, the U.S. military will officially end its “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.
The repeal has already started to happen locally. A media representative for Vandenberg Air Force Base said all individuals required to get training at the base have done so.
“The training consisted of informing personnel of the policy change and expectations for behavior. Leadership, professionalism, discipline, and respect have been and continue to be the underpinnings of our nation’s military service,” public affairs chief Jeremy Eggers said in an e-mail to the Sun.
Signed into law in 1993 by then-President Bill Clinton, the policy prohibits military officials from discriminating against or harassing closeted gay service members or applicants. At the same time, it prohibits gay servicemen and women from discussing their sexuality with peers, and bars openly gay people from serving in the armed forces.
The law sparked controversy when it was created, and such sentiment still smolders today. Many individuals and LGBT advocacy groups believe “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is an archaic policy that infringes on the rights of servicemen and women and impedes their ability to serve their country. Others believe the end of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” will negatively impact the military’s overall morale and efficiency.
As the repeal deadline draws nearer, the Sun decided to ask some local veterans and active duty personnel to reflect on their time in the military, and to comment on how the end of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” will change the U.S. Armed Forces and the rest of America.
As with many controversial issues, not many people involved with the military—organizations or individuals—wanted to go on the record about the policy. VAFB officials wouldn’t comment beyond their initial statement, and a call to the national Army recruitment office was never returned. Openly gay veterans, soldiers, and peers supportive of the repeal were hesitant to respond as well.
Here are the perspectives of people who did respond.
Ken Kunert, U.S. Navy veteran
Santa Maria resident Ken Kunert enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1967.
“I did it to avoid the draft,” he said. “That way I could choose where I went. I thought it was a pointless war, so I went over there to find out for myself, because there was so little unfiltered information about what was going on in Vietnam.”
Kunert ended up serving as a radio technician on one of two small repair ships that went up and down rivers in the Mekong Delta, the area infamously known for brutal fighting between the Viet Cong and American forces.
“Have you ever seen the movie Apocalypse Now?” Kunert asked a Sun reporter. “It was like that.”
Back in those says, he said, virtually no one in the military was openly gay.
“I wasn’t even open to myself at that point,” he said. “I found myself equally attracted to both men and women.”
Some gay servicemen did confide in Kunert privately, but somehow the word got out.
“I remember we were returning to our home port in San Diego. When we docked, 11 people were removed from the ship, and we never saw them again. They just disappeared. About five or six of those people I knew were gay,” he recalled. “Your sexuality was never an issue when you were in a war zone. It was when you got home that you got discharged.”
When asked to reflect on the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” Kunert said the policy was actually an improvement over the rules enforced when he served. But he believes it’s time to move forward again.
“Getting rid of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ isn’t the whole story. The question is, how does the culture in the military shift to be more accepting of gays?” he said. “That’s the real story that needs to be followed up on.”
Until that happens, he said, “The military is still not a safe place to be openly gay.”
“We know [having openly gay service members] can be successful. It’s been done in all kinds of places: in Canada, and all across Europe, and even in Israel,” he continued.
The next step, he said, will be to change how the families of gay servicemen and women are treated.
“There are questions like, will those families get benefits? Will the military notify a spouse if something happens?” he said. “That will have to wait until the rest of the United States shifts and provides recognition and benefits to gay couples.”
Claude Raffin, U.S. Army veteran
Retired Lt. Col. Claude Raffin thinks the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is a “good step in the right direction” for the U.S.
military.
“Being gay doesn’t make you a good or bad soldier,” he told the Sun in a recent interview. “When you put on that uniform, it’s your professional job. Everything else is secondary.”
Raffin enlisted in the California National Guard in 1963, he said, as a way to avoid the draft. As an enlisted man, Raffin excelled in his position, receiving an award for good conduct and a medal for serving in his unit during the Watts riot.
Raffin said he initially didn’t view himself as gay.
“I had a girlfriend before I left for Vietnam,” he recalled. “But we went on a double date with another [serviceman] and his date, and I found myself more attracted to him than to my girlfriend. I thought, ‘Uh oh, something’s not right.’”
He started flirting with the gay lifestyle during officer training school, but still struggled with his sexual identity.
“I decided to go to Vietnam because I thought I would either come out [of the war] straight or I would get killed. Obviously, neither of those things happened,” he said.
Over in Vietnam, no one talked openly about being gay—ever.
“It was all under the radar, and everyone was very careful,” he said. “I never gave [my sexuality] too much thought at the time, because I was too busy.”
Raffin said he didn’t experience any direct discrimination until several years after he got home from the war.
He served throughout the ’70s in the Army reserve and as an operations officer at a Vietnamese refugee camp, for which he received more awards. As the new decade began, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and worked as a recruiting officer.
“I had to go through a security review [to be promoted],” Raffin said, adding that by that time he was openly gay in his personal life and shared a home with his partner, Jon.
He speculates that Army officials found out about his sexual orientation while interviewing his neighbors for the security review.
“I went from being the fair-headed boy of command into a dead-end job, and it was suggested that I retire,” Raffin recalled. “They did let me finish my last year. They probably thought, ‘Let him finish his pasture days—as long as he doesn’t make any waves—and then we can let him go.’”
Raffin and his partner went on to launch a successful real estate business. They now split their time between residences in Santa Barbara and Las Vegas.
“I enjoyed my time in the military; the military teaches you a lot. I have no regrets,” he said. “I’m by no means a [gay rights] activist, but I’m definitely in favor of the repeal. To hide is not a good thing.”
He pointed to the establishment of the Women’s Army Corps as an example of successful integration.
“When that happened, people were saying, ‘Oh my God, it’s the end of the world with women serving in the same foxhole!’ And guess what? The women ended up being just as good of soldiers—if not better than—the men,’” he said.
Gays and military now
The two active duty members the Sun spoke to for this article asked that they remain anonymous. We’ll call them Jones and Smith.
Specialist Jones is an Army staff sergeant deployed to southern Iraq. Specialist Smith is currently going through the Army’s recruitment process. They were both asked to respond to a list of e-mailed questions:
1. What, in your opinion, is the current attitude toward gays serving in the military?
Jones: Most people don’t care about a person’s sexual orientation. Things like your contribution to the team, your leadership abilities, and responsibility to soldiers are a lot more important. … It becomes a controversy for politicians who need supporters to sell their ideas either for it or against it.
Smith: It depends who you ask. Most soldiers, especially of my generation, realize that they’ve been serving alongside gays for years and they don’t figure it makes much difference in practice. Some, however, of a more conservative bent and usually older, are worried that it will break down the discipline of the troops and potentially lead to a morale breakdown in certain units.
2. What kind of training have you received in regard to the repeal of DADT?
Jones: We’ve had several briefings and discussions on a tiered system. … The rule [is] basically that discrimination will not be tolerated. And there are no Army benefits right now for gay married partners because of federal law.
Smith: Formally, the Army has not repealed DADT, so it is not mandatory training at this point. However, within my National Guard unit and when training with other local units, we received informal briefings on the issue and were told by the commander what would be expected of us in terms of behavior.
3. Have you personally witnessed anti-gay sentiment or harassment while serving/training?
Jones: No. We just make fun of the person, regardless if they’re gay or straight.
Smith: Absolutely. I have overheard some older servicemen talking hatefully about the repeal of DADT and saying how bad the Army is going to get once we “let all the fags in.” There is a lot of joking about people being gay. A lot. Most of it is not particularly cruel—statements like: “Well, at least he can shoot straight,” or so-and-so is rocking “the fabulous look” with his or her uniforms. All that being said, I think the camaraderie of being “in the suck” together keeps harassment to a minimum, and most soldiers care more about their buddies covering them effectively with fire in combat than about who they date.
4. Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Jones: The military is a subculture of current society. We have our own rules and customs and things we follow, but we are still members of society. That means we are just a sample population of our country. Our thoughts are generally swayed in the same way as the [United States], if not a bit more progressive because of our exposure to each other. We’ve left our small hometowns and big cities, and we’re forced to work with people that are different than us. And we always make it work, since we realize we’re more the same than different. DADT is a blip in the grand scheme of soldiers’ concerns.
Smith: I’d just like to say that I am very glad to see DADT repealed, and I think over time this will make my Army stronger. First off, two of our defining values are those of honor and integrity—do the right thing even when nobody is looking. But how much integrity can a person feel they have when there is a whole aspect of their lives they can’t disclose or feel they have to lie about? How honorable is that? DADT has actively encouraged dishonesty and the necessity of leading a double life. … Secondly, our armed forces thrive on diversity. People bring special skills and life experiences to the job … . We would not be successful right now if we didn’t have soldiers of different linguistic backgrounds translating for us, or females to help in searching for and working with female Iraqis and Afghans. We wouldn’t have the [relationships] with the locals that we do if we didn’t have people of different skin tones and various religions out there talking to people. Adding LGBT soldiers to the mix will only bring in a new dimension and strengthen our forces. And now loyal Americans with the courage to take bullets for their country can serve with honor and dignity without the fear of discharge and harassment.
Contact Managing Editor Amy Asman at aasman@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Sep 15-22, 2011.
