Army, Marine chiefs cast doubt on gay service [View All]

Source: Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Army chief of staff and the commandant of the Marine Corps have broken ranks with the Joint Chiefs chairman and Defense Secretary Robert Gates on gays in the military.

At a Senate hearing today, Gen. George Casey and Gen. James Amos acknowledged that allowing gays to serve openly is probably inevitable. But they say repealing the "don't ask, don't tell" law during wartime would be more divisive and difficult than a Pentagon study suggests.

Amos says "assimilating openly homosexual Marines into the tightly woven fabric" of a combat unit would divert attention from combat preparations. The Marines Corps commandant said if the ban is to be lifted, it should be at a time when Marines are not "tightly focused on what they're doing in a very deadly environment."

Casey took a less dire view. The Army Chief of Staff said if implemented properly, the policy shift wouldn't keep the Army from doing its job. But he said it would "add another level of stress" to an already stretched force.

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