On a list of controversial social subjects, from women in combat to race relations to gays in the military, the Military Times Poll finds troops remarkably satisfied with the current state of military affairs.
But experts say the poll raises renewed concern on the issue of sexual harassment -- an issue that's hardly new to the military.
Among the polls findings:
• Four of five respondents, and almost two out of three minorities, said minorities receive better treatment in the military than society at large.
• More than two in three supported the idea of women serving in combat, though many suggested women should only get such assignments if they choose them.
"I don't think men give women enough credit. I think they're very capable," said Sgt. 1st Class David Sayre, an active-duty marketing and advertising manager in the Montana Army National Guard. "There are some men who should not be in combat, and there are some women who shouldn't be there either."
• Nearly half of women surveyed said they had been the victim of sexual harassment in the military.
Experts said that number comes with several cautions. Because of the small number of women surveyed, the margin of error is high -- plus or minus 9 percentage points.
And Laura Miller, a Rand Corp. sociologist who served on the congressional panel investigating the Air Force Academy's sexual assault scandal, said polling on sexual harassment is notoriously tricky because of the differences in how those polled define harassment.
Still, observers said the figure is cause for concern.
"It's clear that the military has not fully come on board with equality for women," said Andrew Bacevich, a retired Army colonel and Boston University professor.
• Half of respondents said they supported keeping the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy on homosexuals. But only one in four said gays should be allowed to serve openly, a sharp difference from the U.S. public. Nearly eight in 10 Americans in a recent Gallup Poll said gays should serve openly.
Aaron Belkin, a researcher on gays in the military at the University of California-Santa Barbara, said these results and others indicate a softening of attitudes about homosexuals in the ranks.
"That harsh edge, the intensity of people's attitudes, has changed," he said. Other surveys, he said, show that although a majority of troops still oppose lifting the ban, the number of those strongly opposed has fallen.
-- Gordon Trowbridge
