SAN DIEGO (AP) — The new commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps says now is the wrong time to overturn the "don't ask, don't tell" policy prohibiting gays from openly serving in the military, with U.S. troops in the thick of war in Afghanistan.
Gen. James Amos said Saturday that a repeal of the policy may have unique consequences for the Marines, which is exempt from a Defense Department rule for troops to have private living quarters.
The Marines puts two people in each room to promote a sense of unity.
Amos says there is nothing more intimate than sleeping alongside of someone and sharing death and fear.
He says he doesn't know how the policy's repeal would hurt combat readiness but worries that it would.
Amo began his assignment last month.
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