Coming Out; Opting-Out

Should service members be allowed to "opt out" of an enlistment if the military changes its values?

"Sir, we joined the Marine Corps because the Marine Corps has a set of standards and values that is better than that of the civilian sector. And we have gone and changed those values and repealed the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy," the sergeant told Gates during the question and answer session.

"We have not given the Marines a chance to decide whether they wish to continue serving under that. Is there going to be an option for those Marines that no longer wish to serve due to the fact their moral values have not changed?" he asked.

"No," Gates responded. "You'll have to complete your ... enlistment just like everybody else."

Read the article here.

SECDEF Addresses Cadets at USAFA

In case you missed it... SECDEF addressed the wing and permanent party today:

"I’m concerned that the view still lingers in some corners that once I depart as Secretary, and once U.S. forces drawdown in Iraq and in Afghanistan in accordance with the President’s and NATO’s strategy, things can get back to what some consider to be real Air Force normal. This must not happen."

Read the speech here.

US Loses Appetite for Job as the World’s Policeman

Financial Times.com reviews SECDEF's speech at West Point from the perspective that it "crystallised the arrival of a new era in US foreign policy." The author characterizes the shift, "from robust interventionism towards relative isolationism" as a product of both economic necessity and political reality. "The US is not just less able to be the world’s policeman. The country and its people have, for the moment, lost all appetite for the job as well."

Read the article here.

SECDEF Addresses Cadets at West Point

Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates spoke to USMA Cadets Friday on the future of the Army and US Military:

Looking ahead, though, in the competition for tight defense dollars within and between the services, the Army also must confront the reality that the most plausible, high-end scenarios for the U.S. military are primarily naval and air engagements – whether in Asia, the Persian Gulf, or elsewhere. The strategic rationale for swift-moving expeditionary forces, be they Army or Marines, airborne infantry or special operations, is self-evident given the likelihood of counterterrorism, rapid reaction, disaster response, or stability or security force assistance missions. But in my opinion, any future defense secretary who advises the president to again send a big American land army into Asia or into the Middle East or Africa should “have his head examined,” as General MacArthur so delicately put it.

Read the speech here.