Marine Corps Commandant General James
Amos says he's seen no indication of troops leaving the military over
the repeal of “Don't Ask, Don't Tell,” the soon-to-be-lifted
policy that bans gay and bisexual troops from serving openly.
Speaking to reporters in Afghanistan on
Friday, Amos was asked if he expected to see the mass exodus of
troops that Republican Senator John McCain and others had warned
against if the policy was lifted.
“I haven't had any indication yet at
all, not at all,” Amos answered.
He added that the Marines began
training for implementing repeal of the law on Feb. 7 and expected
“all leaders down to company commanders and platoon sergeants to
have been briefed by the middle of next month.”
The nation's top Marine Corps officer
previously testified before Congress against repeal and in an
interview with the military's Stars and Stripes he said he
could not endorse repeal of the law because the distraction might
endanger the lives of Marines in combat.
“Mistakes and inattention or
distractions cost Marines lives,” he said. “That's the currency
of this fight.”
“I take that very, very seriously,”
Amos added. “I don't want to lose any Marines to that distraction.
I don't want to have any Marines that I'm visiting at Bethesda
[National Naval Medical Center, in Maryland] with no legs be the
results of any type of distraction.”