Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!enterpoop.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Navy boss: Debate on gays hurts morale Date: Wed, 25 Nov 92 16:20:05 EST Message-ID: Lines: 65 \SE A;NATION \SS (WS) \HD Navy boss: Debate on gays hurts morale \BY ASSOCIATED PRESS The Navy's top official said yesterday that lifting the ban on homosexuals in the military would harm military readiness, and he suggested that debate on the issue is undermining morale among sailors. Sean O'Keefe, the acting Navy secretary, said he cannot imagine how President-elect Bill Clinton can fulfill his pledge to permit declared homosexuals in the military without hurting the nation's security. "I don't know how that can be sorted through," Mr. O'Keefe told reporters at a breakfast meeting. "If anybody comes to a hasty conclusion, I think it's going to be very difficult" to maintain order, discipline and morale in the ranks. He said the public debate has upset many in the Navy. "The reaction out there, at least in the interim - I don't know, maybe downstream it may improve - it really is very, very hard for them to understand," he said. Mr. O'Keefe joins several prominent military leaders in opposing a change in policy. Gen. Colin Powell, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said integrating homosexuals "would be prejudicial to good order and discipline." Gen. Gordon Sullivan, the Army chief of staff, has said it would create "very difficult management problems." Mr. Clinton said last week that he had no timetable for lifting the ban on homosexuals in the military. He said he will consult with military leaders before acting. He has said the policy change would be accompanied by a strict code of conduct to deal with inappropriate sexual behavior. The Australian government Monday formally dropped its ban on homosexuals in the armed services, leaving the United States as one of the few industrialized nations to forbid homosexuals from serving. The U.S. policy has been in effect for nearly 50 years. Mr. O'Keefe said that while he personally supports greater tolerance of homosexuals in society, the same logic should not apply to homosexuals in the military because working conditions are so different. "This is not a case of trying to be belligerently discriminatory," he said. "It's a circumstance where we're trying to apply . . . a 9-to-5 social tolerance . . . to an environment in which we're asking people to operate that bears no resemblance to a 9-to-5 environment at all. "What we're asking people to do is be in situations where they're deploying for extended periods of time, living in very, very close quarters, and asking individuals to trust each other. If the element of trust is not there, it detracts from the larger objective, which is military readiness for the national defense." Mr. O'Keefe said morale in the Navy has been hurt by an overall shrinking of the service since the end of the Cold War. He suggested that the problem is being compounded by the homosexual debate. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM