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Subject: Reluctant Powell ready to accept gays in military
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 92 15:23:03 EST
Message-ID: <news62.1992Nov19.152303@AmeriCast.com>

\SE A;NATION
\SS (WS)
\HD Reluctant Powell ready to accept gays in military
\BY REUTERS NEWS AGENCY

Army Gen.  Colin Powell, the Pentagon's top officer, said yesterday
that the U.S.  military, though reluctant, is ready to follow any order
from President-elect Bill Clinton to admit homosexuals to the armed forces.

"In the final analysis, it's a judgment that will have to be made, and
appropriately so in our system, by our civilian political leaders - the
president of the United States, Congress," the chairman of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff said.

"And the armed forces of the United States will do what we are told to
do," Gen.  Powell said in response to a question after a speech to the
private Professional Services Council in Arlington.

He said he is aware of Mr.  Clinton's controversial vow to issue an
order after he becomes president Jan.  20 to end the ban on homosexuals in
the military.

"It is a very big problem for us, and it is not just the generals and
the admirals who are saying it.  We're hearing it throughout the force,"
Gen.  Powell said.

But he said he was pleased with Mr.  Clinton's recent promise to move
carefully and to consult military leaders, who oppose the step.

Mr.  Clinton has suggested that removal of the ban might be accompanied
by strict codes of sexual conduct in the military.

"There's also no question that he has expressed a desire to move in
this direction [to change the policy]. I look forward to working with him
on it," Gen.  Powell said.  "I'm pleased that the governor has expressed a
willingness to approach this slowly and with caution, and we look forward
to the opportunity to work with him and with the new secretary of defense
and whoever else he wants to assign to working on this issue."

Mr.  Clinton, under pressure from homosexual-rights groups to quickly
fulfill his campaign promise to end the ban, has not said when he will do
so.

"He wants to consult with the military leaders, and he wants to do it
in a way that minimizes the concerns that exist," Gen.  Powell said.  "But
the military leadership of the department continues to believe that the
policy we have been following is a sound one."

Outgoing Defense Secretary Dick Cheney, Gen.  Powell and other senior
officers have said the homosexual lifestyle is incompatible with military
service.

The issue has been spotlighted this month by the Navy's reinstatement
of an admitted homosexual sailor in California on orders from a federal
judge.

Petty Officer Keith Meinhold was reinstated as an airborne sonar
specialist last week while U.S.  District Judge Terry Hatter continued to
study Defense Department challenges to his order.

Gen.  Powell said: "There are issues of enormous legal and
administrative difficulty associated with a change in that policy, and
there are significant issues of privacy associated with it.  And I'm glad
the governor has seen fit to suggest that we need to study it before moving
out."


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