by Christopher Sanchez
Daily Lobo
John Hutson, a former U.S. Navy admiral, said he believes homosexuals should be able to serve openly in the military.
He told a room of about 15 UNM students and faculty Tuesday at the UNM School of Law that allowing gays into the military may create some problems, but nothing that cannot be solved.
"There might be gay bashing and assaults," he said. "But we have the mechanisms to resolve those kinds of things."
Hutson said he is an advocate of repelling the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which was signed into law in 1993 by former president Bill Clinton.
Under the policy, he said, if a solider is homosexual, he or she must prove they are celibate.
"They have to have a lot of pictures not doing it, I guess," he said, laughing.
Hutson said all respected militaries in the world openly accept homosexuals except the United States military.
One reason the United States doesn't allow homosexuals to serve openly is because the military relies on unit cohesion - meaning you are willing to die for your fellow soldiers - and some feel that homosexual soldiers might be distracted by their peers, Hutson said. He said the same issue arose when women were allowed into the military.
UNM law student Josh Allison said the discussion was great because he was able to hear the issues from someone formerly involved in the military.
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"One thing we tend to do is pretend we know everything," Allison said. "It's good to hear from someone who has walked the walk."
Hutson, who is the dean of Franklin Pierce Law School in New Hampshire, also spoke about military torture.
"You cannot pile prisoners up in naked pyramids to get information," he said. "What we have done makes no sense, but gets lustful revenge."
One of the main reasons for the Guantanamo Bay tortures, he said, was prison guards who were in positions of power for the first time in their lives.
Hutson said the problem is also a result of their superiors' not supervising them closely enough, and senior officials should be accountable for the guards' actions.
"Without outside influence," he said, "the system will degrade to chaos."
This is the first time America has sent thousands of civilians to perform military functions, he said.
"We have 138,000 troops in Iraq, but how many people do we have over there?" he said. "We have contractors getting three or four or five times as much pay as their military counterparts."
Ellie Werenko, a UNM law student who attended the discussion, said she doesn't come from a military background, so it was good to hear a different perspective than what she holds.
"The discussion added dimension to my understanding," Werenko said. "I now have a more comprehensive outlook on the issues."
