Marine Commander Conway Says He Won't Make Troops Bunk with Gays

US Marine General James Conway Opposes Repeal of DADT and says Marines should not share quarters with homosexuals 

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The Marine Corps' commandant  General James Conway has said that if "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"  is repealed,  he will not  force his troops to bunk with gays on base.  He added that he would give them separate rooms if Congress votes to allow openly gay service.

The comment is one in the backlash  by a small but vocal faction of senior military leaders in opposition to the repeal of the 1993 law known as DADT.  

President Barack Obama has asserted that the ban is unfair, backing up gay advocates.  

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has launched a lengthy study to determine how gays may be enabled to serve openly without harming the effectiveness of the US military forces.  

Many believe that changes to bunking and housing would and should not be necessary. 

Conway, who has been vocal and upfront in his opposition to the repeal, said in an interview with Military.com that he already knows it would be a logistical hurdle,  and on base,  Marines are generally two to a room.  

Conway said he would not ask troops to share rooms with homosexuals and that it would have to be avoided with separate quarters.  

The Conflict Ahead 

The General's remarks indicate the conflict which lies ahead,  both in ideology and in logistics.  

There has been the general hope that troops would be kept out of the political debate.  Yet this month a three-star General with the US Army had called on troops and their families to speak out against allowing gays to serve openly.  

Studies in Great Britain and Canada prove that a decade of open service has not caused any decline in morale or operations of these nation's forces,  but the United States has an oppositional stance to many of its western allies ways of conducting affairs, from universal healthcare to gay marriage, to gays in the military.