COMMENTARY | In President Obama's State of the Union address on Tuesday, he asked all collegessince thepolicy was repealed on Dec. 18. Some colleges, such as Harvard and Yale, banned the ROTC program from operating on their campuses during the Vietnam War. The bans started as a protest to the war at that time, but continued because of the discrimination homosexuals from serving openly in the military. Although the new policy hasn't been adopted yet, President Obama wants gays to be allowed to serve without having to hide their sexual preference sometime in 2011. Harvard has already started to discuss puttingback in their school. But wouldn't repealing this ban years ago been beneficial to the burden on troops who are constantly deploying?The military currently makes up less than 1 percent of the population, and since the start of both the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, enlistment has been done. Since 2000, the number of black enlistees had fallen by 58 percent by 2007; for Hispanics, the enlistees have fallen by 7 percent; and for whites, enlistment has fallen by about 10 percent. Thehas been cited by the risk of deploying to a warzone. And with most military members deploying during their time in service, the risk is very real.The revelation that many campuses had a ban on ROTC programs gets me thinking that if the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy was repealed years ago, it would have probably increased the number people enlisting in the military. The soldiers that had to suffer through multiple deployments could have had a break from the year on, year off deployment schedule that is currently in place for many soldiers.And even though I know that many in the military were against the repeal in the first place, I'm sure that if it meant higher enlistment numbers, which in turn meant fewer deployments for them, that they would have forgot about their opinions on the matter in the first place.With the option for students to enlist in an ROTC program available on their campuses, and to get college credit for their courses in ROTC, many would have joined. The promise of full scholarships or tuition assistance would have gotten many to join if there was an opportunity. And now that combat operations in Iraq are almost to an end and the number of troops in Afghanistan is going to be lowered soon, the extra troops aren't as needed as they were many years ago. The opportunity for relief for our overworked military has been missed, and hopefully we don't ever make a mistake like this again. DJ Vibes and Hellrazor.Live at BBC radio 1 (17 april 2004) .Download Post Alcoholic Body Syndrome volume 2 .The Idiots Guide .Hands Up
Lifting ROTC Bans, DADT Could Aid Stressed Military
COMMENTARY | In President Obama's State of the Union address on Tuesday, he asked all collegessince thepolicy was repealed on Dec. 18. Some colleges, such as Harvard and Yale, banned the ROTC program from operating on their campuses during the Vietnam War. The bans started as a protest to the war at that time, but continued because of the discrimination homosexuals from serving openly in the military. Although the new policy hasn't been adopted yet, President Obama wants gays to be allowed to serve without having to hide their sexual preference sometime in 2011. Harvard has already started to discuss puttingback in their school. But wouldn't repealing this ban years ago been beneficial to the burden on troops who are constantly deploying?The military currently makes up less than 1 percent of the population, and since the start of both the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, enlistment has been done. Since 2000, the number of black enlistees had fallen by 58 percent by 2007; for Hispanics, the enlistees have fallen by 7 percent; and for whites, enlistment has fallen by about 10 percent. Thehas been cited by the risk of deploying to a warzone. And with most military members deploying during their time in service, the risk is very real.The revelation that many campuses had a ban on ROTC programs gets me thinking that if the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy was repealed years ago, it would have probably increased the number people enlisting in the military. The soldiers that had to suffer through multiple deployments could have had a break from the year on, year off deployment schedule that is currently in place for many soldiers.And even though I know that many in the military were against the repeal in the first place, I'm sure that if it meant higher enlistment numbers, which in turn meant fewer deployments for them, that they would have forgot about their opinions on the matter in the first place.With the option for students to enlist in an ROTC program available on their campuses, and to get college credit for their courses in ROTC, many would have joined. The promise of full scholarships or tuition assistance would have gotten many to join if there was an opportunity. And now that combat operations in Iraq are almost to an end and the number of troops in Afghanistan is going to be lowered soon, the extra troops aren't as needed as they were many years ago. The opportunity for relief for our overworked military has been missed, and hopefully we don't ever make a mistake like this again. DJ Vibes and Hellrazor.Live at BBC radio 1 (17 april 2004) .Download Post Alcoholic Body Syndrome volume 2 .The Idiots Guide .Hands Up