On last night’s show, Rachel Maddow included two brief clips about the military’s ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy. [see clips at end of this post]

In the first clip, Maddow points out that the US Navy has quietly dropped a 100-year-old ban on service by women on submarines. Maddow comments:

Secretary of Defense Bob Gates has told Congress that the ban will be repealed. Women’s service will be phased in, starting with officers on larger submarines within a year or so. Without fanfare, without Congressional hearing, without a year-long review, without a peep from Sen. John McCain, the Pentagon has ended a personnel ban, on the basis that it was discriminatory and antiquated. No muss. No fuss. No pseudo-intellectual declaration of bigotry from members of Congress. So far.

In the second clip, Rep. James Moran tells his colleagues (or, rather, CSPAN cameras) about a letter forwarded from him from an active-duty Army Ranger who is currently serving in Afghanistan. The officer responded anonymously to a request from his commander to explain the issues that arise in his unit because of DADT.

Video: Gay soldier tells commander of DADT toll [contd.]

Moran recounts a letter what the officer says about serving his own the military, and about the high price military families pay for the DADT policy. The officer writes:

My partner of 10 years and I have happily accepted the various assignments the Army has given me this past decade and have weathered my two 12-month-long and one 15-month-long deployments like, I would imagine, nearly every other couple - save for one detail: the partner I leave behind has no support from any official channels. He would be notified after my brother who is listed as my Emergency POC/NOK. After 10 years, my partner has earned the right to be told first about my death. He has earned the right to make my health emergency decisions. And, he has earned the right to be recognized for his sacrifices just as any other spouse. The exception being that he is not a spouse. We are not a recognized couple. And the very fact that he and I live in a marriage-like relationship could cause us to lose my pension and our financial security later in life.

He tells his commander that he’s also been known at least four other gay soldiers who served in his command, including one who died in an IED explosion. The officer found out that soldier was gay only when his partner wrote the unit thanking them for being family to his partner.

The officer disputes the argument that out gay soldiers couldn’t serve with others in their unit:

The “there's a gay dude looking at me in the shower/coming on to me in the fox hole” argument is a pathetic, lame canard. Having been through more than my share of the Army’s best lodging - Ranger School comes to mind, as do the Hindu Kush, the desert in Iraq, and multiple Army gyms across world - I can tell you that the only thing I've ever thought about while showering was getting in and getting out…. And, the only thing I've ever thought about in actual combat was living long enough to take care of my guys and to make it home alive.