Interview

For my interview I spoke to a corporal in the army. He served for two tours overseas, one in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. He went into the infantry and later switched to military intelligence. We spoke briefly on the phone today and he was more then willing to answer my question. For my argument I am writing on the law that the president is trying to pass about allowing gays to serve openly in the military. This is the interview.

Q: When did you enlist?

A: “I enlisted February of 2005”

Q: Why did you enlist?

A: “I enlisted to serve my country and for the college benefits”

Q: Did you enjoy your time in the military?

A: “There were ups and downs. There was political stuff that I hated dealing with and it can be a pain in the ass at times but overall yes.”

Q: Ok so now on to deeper things, what do you think of gays and lesbians being allowed to serve openly in the military?

A: “I think in smaller combat units that have to have a certain amount of trust in their buddies to survive a firefight it could ultimately be detrimental. There is unit cohesion that needs to happen if missions are to be pulled off without hiccups and possible deaths. Having a gay person in the unit, regardless of if it’s right or not, sometimes causes tension. I guess what I’m trying to say is that homosexuals have been stereotyped to be weaker than most military, gun fighting men and there can be no doubt in your buddies abilities when you go to war together.”

Q: So you think it would disrupt unit cohesion?

A: “Absolutely, whether that is wrong or right, the immediate effect would be total disruption in a normally functioning unit. Eventually because of forward progress, it wouldn’t be such a big deal. But, for the immediate it’s a bad idea.”

Q: If a mandate were to come down from the commander in chief saying that gays were allowed to openly serve in the military, do you think they would still be ostracized at the enlisted level?

A: “Yes. In the beginning but again after some forward progress it would stop.”