From RAND
What mattered most to military personnel who served in Afghanistan and Iraq? The quality of their officers, training and equipment. What mattered nary a whit? Whether gay and lesbians served with them, as this had little or no effect on unit cohesion or readiness. The war veterans were asked. That's what they told researchers under a RAND contract with the Palm Center at UCSB, a think tank that calls itself a leader in commissioning and disseminating research on gender, sexuality and the military. With one of five vets saying they knew gay or lesbians in their military service -- and in half of those instances the individuals were not secretive and their orientation was well known -- and three out of four of vets saying they're comfortable around gays and lesbians, the official U.S. policy of "Don't ask, don't tell" received support from 40% of those service personnel surveyed, with 28% opposing it and 33% neutral. The latest figures, derived from surveys of 545 Iraq and Afghanistan vets who were extracted from a 1 million-member national panel, contrasted sharply from early polls on the policy, which had showed 75% support of the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy, which researchers say now merits serious reconsideration based on data.
'Don't ask, don't tell' policy sees plummeting troop suport in survey
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