By Kevin Maurer & Jarel Loveless Staff writers
Fayetteville OnLine
Fort Bragg soldiers don't care about "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
"If you are doing your job, you fall into the same category as anyone else," said a former drill sergeant now serving at Fort Bragg.
He said a soldier's sexual orientation has no bearing on job performance.
The Observer interviewed 20 Fort Bragg soldiers Friday about the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy after The Associated Press on Thursday reported that a former 82nd Airborne Division paratrooper says he was unfairly kicked out for admitting he was gay.
All of the soldiers interviewed Friday declined to give their names because of the sensitive nature of the issue.
"It's political. The Army has to have a public face," said an 82nd paratrooper. "When you look at the commercials, you see soldiers doing their jobs. You don't see his personal life."
"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was enacted in 1993 under President Clinton. It prohibits sexual contact between military members of the same sex and requires discharges of those who openly acknowledge being gay.
Bleu Copas, a former Arabic linguist and member of the 82nd Airborne chorus, received an honorable discharge in January after he was "outed" by an anonymous accuser, according to the AP story.
"The evidence clearly indicated that Sgt. Copas had engaged in homosexual acts and made statements in a public forum indicating a propensity and intent to engage in homosexual acts," Lt. Col. James Zellmer, Copas' former commander, told the AP.
"This is a behavior-related matter, not a social or political issue. The evidence against Sgt. Copas indicates he knowingly engaged in prohibited behavior."
Between 1994 and 2005, more than 11,000 service members were kicked out of the military for being gay, according to estimates from the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. The group, based in Washington, is working to repeal the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.
It is unclear how many Fort Bragg soldiers have been discharged for violating the policy.
Fort Bragg officials said the post does not track the reason for discharges, and they could not estimate how many soldiers were discharged from Fort Bragg under the policy.
Being gay at Fort Bragg is not easy, according to a former soldier who served at the post.
In a statement on the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network Web site, Leonard W. Peacock wrote that he often heard racial slurs and anti-gay comments when he served in the 82nd Airborne Division.
Peacock served with the 3rd Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment and the 782nd Main Support Battalion from 1995 to 2001.
Peacock wrote that several times he returned to his truck after being in the field to find signs and stickers with words such as "Fag," "Rainbow Warrior" and "Gay" stuck all over it.
"Even the leadership at Fort Bragg said these disparaging comments, but I decided to ignore them. I did not want any attention directed toward me," the statement said.
Peacock joined the Army to serve his country, like his father had, but after six years decided not to re-enlist, he wrote.
"I would have enjoyed continuing my service, if we were all just treated equally," the statement said.
The drill instructor said it was silly to hunt down homosexual soldiers like criminals. "That person just made a different decision of what they wanted to do," he said.
He said the policy is sometimes abused by recruits who claimed they are gay to get out of the service.
Cost to military
"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" also is a financial drain on the military.
A Government Accountability Office study last year concluded that the military spent about $190.5 million over the past 10 years to replace soldiers discharged for being gay. A more recent report from the University of California estimated the military spent closer to $360 million.
There has been some talk of replacing the policy.
U.S. Rep. Martin Meehan, a Massachusetts Democrat, introduced a bill in 2005 that would replace "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," with a rule prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in the armed services. The bill has been referred to the House subcommittee on Military Personnel.
http://www.fayettevillenc.com/article?id=238583