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.”