It's no accident that the General that was roundly criticized for his remarks about gays in the military was a Marine. General Pace subsequently said that his viewpoint was a personal one, but he never did apologize for what he said. I think he called it "immoral" or somesuch.
His remarks were reflective of his subordinates point of view, to a much larger degree than any of them would ever admit.
Marine Officers continue to contribute articles in the Marine Corps Gazette about the "tragedy" of breaking up H style barracks and placing the troops in BEQ's. This "tragedy" was a "loss of unit integrity."
The process took decades to accomplish. For those that don't what what those are, and "H" barracks is a traditional military living arrangement where each "leg" of the "H" would hold approximately 100 men, with the horizontal part of the "H" holding administration, Staff NCO's, restrooms, etc.
Congress would build BEQ's (Bachelor Enlisted Quarters) The grunts wouldnt move in. It started out with NCO's of other units getting them instead. Congress would build more. The non-rated guys from other units would move into those. Congress would build more. Instead of the grunts moving in, they went to non-rated guys from other units going one to a room. (Most were designed to hold 4)
They did not want the infantry guys in those rooms. They wanted them in that "H", with the fire watch, eyes on supervision 24/7 etc. Like I said, it took decades for the Marine Officers of those line units to finally "accept" what to any "normal" person is simply improved living conditions for their men. In the meantime, the men became further resentful of everyone else...The wing-wipers and supply guys living in hotel-type accommodations while they are sleeping, shitting, showering "asshole to elbow"---just further "proof" to them that they were constantly being "intentially fucked-over" The "mob" is an "us against everyone else" and they created their own "rules."-- One of which is no gays (Marines--Navy Corpsmen OK to be gay)
They had another "rule". You do not salute female officers. You avoid them when possible. You walk across the street if one is approaching you.
They (the female officer) "knows" what you are doing, and generally (almost universally) accepts it for what it is. It is an "unfortunate circumstance" if you pass a female officer and fail to salute. She will probably "light you up" as an enlisted man, but if she brings charges, the odds are 99/100 they will not stick.
It's like the various "codes" in a prison. The commanding officer knows damn well that his lance corporal "cannot" salute her, so he's going to bend over backwards trying to get the officer to drop the charges. Most WM officers know damn well that they "can't" be saluted by grunt enlisted men and just "let it go", or more accurately, they will chew the shit out of the kid, almost invariably wanting to know what unit he's in...As soon as she hears something like, "Weapons platoon, Delta Company, 1/5"--An ass-chewing is all she's gonna get out of the deal.
I bring you this little piece of trivia to try and further explain just how weirdly and profoundly traditional they roll, and I also know that the Army units similar in nature "roll" quite the same way. My female officer example is just one of those very strange and seemingly contradictory things I saw in the Corps. This is a place where respect for authority is paramount---just not as regards my "example"--
She will get a picture perfect salute from that very same kid---IF no one else is there to see it. Grunt-wise...
Like I said, it is very, very hard to explain.
One of them (Gates, one of the Generals)-someone...said
We need to go slow--"
The last thing that should happen is that they make the changes because the President said so--He is the ultimate "REMF" to them (grunts)...Some would say, well, just "suck it up" and accept it...
This is what they would do--at least on the surface, but if they didn't "actually" suck it up..."training accidents" will be the result. I'm not saying it's right---again---I'm saying it's "how it is." That is different.