ROTC supports the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, doesn’t foresee problems

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Central Michigan University’s ROTC is waiting for orders in the wake of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell repeal.

DADT is a government policy that previously banned open homosexuality in the military. The bill to repeal the policy passed the senate in December as mentioned by President Barack Obama in his State of the Union address.

1st Lt. Rodney Williams, CMU ROTC’s Recruitment Operations Officer, said DADT only affects cadets who are officially signed up for military service. Williams said he expects the section in the contract that contains the elements of DADT will be changed.

Until then, he said the military is advising everyone to hold off on taking action until a new policy is enacted.

“It’s an appeal, so now we’re still waiting for another policy to come out,” Williams said. “The only thing we know is we’re going to support it.”

Lt. Col. Aaron Kalloch is a Professor of Military Science and Head of the CMU Batallion. Kalloch said he was a Lieutenant when DADT was put in place and is now a Lieutenant Colonel.

Society has changed in the past 20 years, Kalloch said, which is why the policies are changing.

The Department of Defense sent out a survey to military units in 2010 asking how they would feel about the repeal. According to the results, a majority said the repeal would either have a positive, mixed or no effect on aspects of task cohesion or social cohesion. Kalloch said he was part of the percentage that supported it.

Kalloch said he hopes the policy change will increase their enrollment, but other than that, he doesn’t see the ROTC program itself looking very different any time soon.

“I can pretty much assure, in my personal opinion, this will be enacted within this calender year,” he said. “But on a college campus, this isn’t going to have a major impact for us.”

DADT came under fire on campus last September when a protest was led by Sarah Winchester, political chairwoman of Spectrum, one of the registered student organizations for the LGBT community. The Owosso senior said one ROTC cadet approached her to speak at the rally, but eventually decided not to.

Winchester said she has the utmost respect for the military and the ROTC. She hopes the group will interact well with ROTC.

“I have many friends in the ROTC that do consider themselves LGBT,” the Owosso senior said. “I really would like to see an event between the two organizations.”

Even when the the new policies are set, CMU’s cadet Public Affairs Officer Rachael Knapp said cadets will still be expected to portray the professional attitude of the army. The Montague graduate student said she thinks the repeal is a step in the right direction, and is glad the homosexual community will be allowed the freedoms they defend for others.

“If they have that same feeling of duty and want to serve their country,” she said, “why would it matter what their sexual orientation is?”