That might not be worded correctly. I'm a 20 year Navy veteran and I'm going to try and use my experience to explain what I mean.
As I said above, I recently retired from the Navy after a 20 year career. In 20 years, I saw the Navy go through quite a few changes. Some I thought were good. Some not so much. But I think the thing that quite a few people don't realize, our elected representatives and senators among them, is that the military operates on totally different principles than the civilian world. The military isn't a democracy, it "protects" democracy. The military is an autocratic organization. It has to be. That's the only way it can be the effective fighting force that it is. In the military, when you give an order, you have to know that that order will be obeyed, even if the person your giving it to knows he or she will wind up dead. Life and death situations occur daily in the military, it's the nature of the beast.
Now as I have previously stated, there were many changes in my 20 years. Here's just one example. I don't remember exactly when it was enacted, around 1990 I think. When I first joined, women were not allowed on combatant ships. They could be on support ships only. Then they changed the rules to allow women on combatants. I, along with many of my shipmates, thought this was a horrible idea. And I said so to anyone that would listen. What about berthing, what about heads, they won't be able to work as hard as guys, they'll destroy unit cohesion, I don't want to have any women working for me and so on ad infinitum. But you know what happened when the first female reported to my workspace?
"Welcome aboard fireman Johnson. This is your workspace and I'll be your LPO. If you have any problems with anything be sure and let me know."
Now did I have an epiphany and suddenly realize that everything would be wonderful? Of course not, I still felt the same way that I had when the order came down.
But that is how the military operates, you get an order and you carry it out. No room for discussion. Just a little trivia for you, Aye-Aye actually means that "I" understand and "I" will comply. So back to DADT. Back in , I think it was April, when Adm. Mullen said before the Senate that he thought DADT should be abolished that should have been the end of it. This is the top man in the military, not just the Navy. They could have had a joint session that afternoon and voted 535-0 to repeal it. Now those of you that don't have anytime in the military might not understand this but when the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs says something, you do it. So I ask again, Why all the fuss about DADT?