I grew up on military bases. Dad retired 25 years ago. I’m not familiar with how the military handles base housing now. Back then, base housing was only for married couples. Military dependents were issued ID cards. You had to be a spouse or child.
Are they still requiring marriage? Or can people in a relationship get housing benefits?
That will impact gay couples. Since gay marriage is still not recognized at the Federal level.
Marriage is still required. Like you said it’s still spouses or children only.
It will be interesting to see what happens the first time a gay couple married in a state that permits it asks for housing.
Sure, but for better or worse, we live in a world and a country where a lot more people have a problem with somebody mentioning his boyfriend than his girlfriend. There are going to be gay servicemembers who stay in the closet even after DADT is fully repealed because they’re afraid it’s going to hurt their careers or promotion potential. I mean, it wasn’t that long ago that just being single pretty much ruined your chances of becoming a senior officer.
In order to get housing in the Army (as of March 2010 anyway) you must have at least one dependent. In other words, married couples and single parent’s of minor children get housing. Everyone else lives in the barracks.
To clarify…if I was gay, in the military and I wanted to make the most out of it (i.e. be promoted at a speed commensurate with my ability) I would keep my sexual preference to myself. While I wouldn’t deny it, I wouldn’t advertise it, either.
I tend to agree. You can legislate all you want. But, you can’t force people to change their thoughts. It may take a generation before gays are fully accepted in society or the military.
The military can be a brutal experience for people that don’t fit in. Even if they aren’t gay. My dad told me stories about barracks blanket party’s. Dad knew of one guy that never bathed. After smelling him for awhile, some of the guys gave him a shower with Brillo pads. There is a way of dealing with misfits outside the the official channels. The military recruits some rough guys and trains them to kill people. They sometimes deal with personnel problems themselves.
I’m sure the military will do everything possible to protect gays. They’ll single out a few rednecks to punish and make examples of. Some careers will be ruined if the guy refuses to “get with the program”. Until finally, people will wise up and leave any gays they serve with alone.
Twenty years from now being gay in the military won’t be a big deal at all.
I should clarify that once the new Reg’s are in place the vast majority of soldiers, airmen etc. will quickly comply. Obeying orders is so deeply ingrained in every soldier. I doubt there will be very many incidents at all. The few knuckleheads will quickly find themselves out of the military or in the stockade.
Even as a 8 year old kid I knew what SOP meant. I heard it every day of my life living with dad. He was a Master Sergeant and his last duty was serving as First Sergeant of the Squadron. He was the guy that bailed soldiers out if they got in trouble in town. I feel very sorry for them too. 
Reg’s are meant to be obeyed.
It means, among other things, that your gay American soldiers can flirt with same-sex Canadian soldiers. Gays and lesbians have been allowed to serve openly in our military since 1992. For that matter, the Brits have welcomed openly gay military personnel since 2000. I can confirm that the sky has not fallen over either nation 