I wholeheartedly agree with the writer of "All about Army values?" (letter, Feb. 22) in regard to homosexuals in the military.

It appears that none of the sycophants in Washington who are promoting the repeal of "don’t ask, don’t tell" are asking soldiers on the ground their beliefs about the policy. I have met very few commissioned and noncommissioned officers who adamantly favor allowing gays to openly serve in the military. Whatever happened to the adage "If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it"?

Once again, leaders continue to ignore the secondary and tertiary effects of their decisions. Are we going to ban gay men from serving openly in the infantry because we don’t allow heterosexual women to do the same? Are we going to allow lesbians to serve in the infantry? Will we recognize gay marriage in the military, even though the majority of states refuse to recognize it as a right? Will we let openly gay men share living billets with women, because after all, those two groups should share the same characteristics and sexual tendencies? Will we let gay and lesbian soldiers take emergency leave for their "significant others" or spouses?

My guess is, the same pundits and "experts" doing the polling are only asking their elitist friends on the Upper East Side and San Francisco how they feel about gays in the military, when none of them has actually spoken with the "boots on the ground" or average Americans.

Where is the integrity in our leadership in Washington? Leaders need to speak for themselves, not on behalf of the military.

First Lt. Leo PawelczyCamp Arifjan, Kuwait

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