Do you think Officers and NCO's should be allowed to date or get married as long as they are not in the same Chain of Command?

Not in the Army it isn't. It happens but it's against current regulations for fraternization.

Pardon my grammatical errors. Posted in my droid phone!!

Very interesting, thanks for responding Sir.

Maj. wow! I can certainly see your point of view, and you are very adamant about it as well. Being an officer, I am sure you have seen this many times in your career, but your response seems like this issue is almost very personal for you. I can respect that. However, without knowing WHY you feel this way, I am afraid I don't quite understand. I was a lance corporal when I was in, but that was back in 1988 and I was battling my own demons at the time unrelated to this. The Marine Corps was always very strict about billeting. As a Marine would get promoted into a leadership role, by the next day he or she would most likely get a new room assignment. Even after hours pool at the e-club was frowned upon if there was alcohol involved, and there always was. I "lost" a few friends and roommates I had this way. If we wanted to do anything, we had to go off base or at least to a different camp on base. It was ridiculous. Nothing official was ever done that I knew of, but I heard all the time of our c.o. pulling these newly minted corporals aside to explain his expectations and policies about spending off duty time with subordinates unless it way a group activity. The issue was always about unit morale. Ironically, his policies did much more to lower morale than any game of pool or pitcher of beer I ever saw. HOWEVER, I very much respected my c.o. because no matter what, he went to bat for every one of his Marines, regardless of circumstance. We had one Marine that was lesbian and another that was gay, and it was becoming an issue for reasons I won't get into here. Rather than to submit paperwork to have them removed from the Corps, he found a way to keep these very valuable Marines by having them pick a wedding day so that he could put in for a 96 hour pass for them. Problem solved. Another example closer to home? I kept a loaded handgun in the barracks. He told me about an incident he had with our commanding general who noticed a weapon he had in his car one day because he had forgotten to put it back in his house after going shooting. The general then told him he couldn't even keep it in his home unless he lived off base. All personal weapons had to be in the armory, period. He could have put me up on charges and I would have had to stand a court martial. I would have been done for, but he didn't. He didn't stop there though. Very informally he talked to me to find out what was going on with me. He then helped me there as well. It was that day that I learned how to interact with subordinates not only in the Marine Corps, but for the rest of my life. My dad was killed when I was young and I had missed out on a lot of life lessons. I was truly blessed having the leadership I needed in my unit at that time. I know this is a little off topic now, but my point is, any leader who approaches every situation as black or white and does not look to the issues at hand and make a judgment call that is not only good for the mission and the unit, but also the people involved, is simply not a leader. Please don't misunderstand me, this is NOT what I am saying about you, I am only telling of my observations and experiences I remember of being a young Marine many years ago and to how they have affected me since.

I feel this way because the road to the future is a fully integrated military without gender or sexual orientation barriers. You cannot command the respect of your soldiers while dating or courting them. Romance and sexual relationships present an incredibly disruptive force, damaging unit cohesion and esprit de corps. Over the years I have heard and seen the many problems and damaging effects. No one has the right to place their personal or sexual relationships ahead of the combat team or the needs of the Army/Military. There are billions of people on the planet, why would someone risk putting their own romantic interests ahead of unit cohesion?

Regarding losing friends due to leadership positions: 'the mantle of leadership is heavy and not all can or will chose to bear it'. No one is forced into leadership. You are offered an opportunity to lead and by accepting it you buy in to taking the bad with the good parts. There are significant costs of being in charge. Command changes the nature of many of your relationships with in your unit from peers to Senior Officers. I have Commanded from E1-06 and can attest that leadership is rewarding but with significant cost.

I understand your point on rushed marriages but NCOs are also leaders. Leaders should not be dating or courting those they supervise.

Thanks for sharing. I would have to double check but I believe that there is no legitimate rules about dating in between Military Branches but I'm not 100% sure. I never really thought about that scenario. I know plenty of people married to other service members from a different branch but they were either and officer with an officer or enlisted with enlisted.

In the Navy's fraternization policy it states officer and enlisted, regardless of service, foreign or domestic is prohibited

Question, so you saying same sex military couples can marry no matter if they are enlisted and commissioned?

That's exactly what I am saying and are able to receive the same benefits as if those male and female married couples.