LETTER: The Volunteers

It is a shame that Tim Farrell thinks so little of his own sexual orientation that he would defend it with the sort of distortions he included in "Singing the ROTC Blues" (DP 3/19/92). His head may be "an encyclopedia on being gay," but he does not know the first thing about being in the military. A few of his gay friends chose to finance their educations with ROTC scholarships. It is a shame that they did not stop to think that ROTC does not exist solely as a scholarship program. It exists to produce leaders for the military. If all Farrell's friends wanted were scholarships, then they should have asked the financial aid office for a list of scholarships which do not include military service. Farrell points out that his friends did not choose to be gay. They did, however, choose to join ROTC and now they are on active duty. If they believe that gays have the right to be in the military, then they should fight for that right instead of hiding in the closet. Farrell's anonymous sources in the military sound especially pathetic. I cannot imagine spending my professional career in an organization where I have to lie about what I am without eventually telling the truth, or trying to change that organization's policy, or both. Remember they volunteered. Farrell's implication that the Army has nothing better to do than to entrap gays is also incorrect. I have spent over 14 years in the Army, most of it in leadership positions. During that time, I have never worried about who in my unit might be gay nor have I ever attempted to find out. I had more important worries, such as traing, discipline and welfare of all my soldiers. In case Farrell's encyclopedia does not include this information, I can tell you that these things take up all of a commander's time. PETER SKRMETTI Graduate Student Islamic Studies