I’ve been following with interest the news about repealing the "don’t ask, don’t tell" policy and I have one question: Who are the so-called "experts" polling?

I enlisted in the Army in 1980 and came back in after a 17-year break in service in 2002. I have a total of 13 years of service including two tours in Kosovo and three tours in Iraq. I have yet to meet another infantryman, like myself, who would feel comfortable sharing a communal shower with an openly gay soldier. To say that it’s discriminating is ludicrous, at best. Serving in the military isn’t a right, it’s a privilege.

Because I don’t condone homosexuality, they’ve created a word for me. I am now a homophobe. The Army is all about the Army values, yet I hear my commander in chief saying that gay sex is OK. Am I missing something here?

I have a solution: How about polling every person in the military. Let the people it affects have a say in this. To allow openly gay people in the military is sending a false message to the gay community by saying the military is "gay friendly." It’s not, nor will it ever be.

Spc. Gregory FitchCamp Taji, Iraq