General: Gay ban repeal fears unfounded

Marine Gen. James F. Amos, the face of opposition in the military to lifting the ban on gays serving openly, now acknowledges his concern that repeal would undermine the war effort has proved unfounded. In fact, he says, Marines have embraced the change.

In an Associated Press interview, Amos called the repeal in September "a nonevent."

That is in contrast to his cautionary words to Congress in December 2010, shortly before President Barack Obama signed the repeal legislation. The ban was not lifted until this year, to allow the Pentagon to prepare troops for the change.

"Successfully implementing repeal and assimilating openly homosexual Marines into the tightly woven fabric of our combat units has strong potential for disruption at the small unit level as it will no doubt divert leadership attention away from an almost singular focus on preparing units for combat," Amos testified.

Still, he said then that, if the law were changed, it would be faithfully followed by Marines.

He now sees no sign of disruption in the ranks -- even on the front lines.

"I'm very pleased with how it has gone," Amos said during a weeklong trip that included four days in Afghanistan, where he heard nary a word of worry about gays.

During give-and-take sessions with Marines serving on in Helmand Province, he was asked about a range of issues, including the future of the Corps -- but not one about gays.

The Associated Press accompanied Amos on the trip. In the AP interview, he also offered an anecdote from the home front to make his point that the change has been taken in stride.

He said that at the annual ball in Washington this month celebrating the birth of the Marine Corps, a female Marine approached Amos' wife, Bonnie, and introduced herself and her lesbian partner.

"Bonnie just looked at them and said, 'Happy birthday ball. This is great. Nice to meet you,' " Amos said. "That is happening throughout the Marine Corps."

Looking back, Amos said he had no regrets about publicly opposing repeal during wartime. He said he had felt obliged, as commandant, to set aside personal opinions and represent the views of the 56 percent of combat Marines who told a Defense Department survey last year repeal could make them less effective and cohesive in combat.

"I think I did exactly what I should have done," Amos said. "I've never looked back on it and said it [his concern] was misplaced."

Not only did Amos hear no talk about the repeal's impact during his visit to Afghanistan, the subject also did not arise Saturday when he fielded questions from Marines on board the battleship USS Bataan in the Gulf of Aden.

In Bahrain on Sunday, one Marine broached the topic gently. He asked Amos whether he planned to change the Marines' policy of leaving it to the discretion of local commanders to decide how to handle complaints about "homosexual remarks or actions."

Amos said no.