Attached to the bill is an amendment that will repeal the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that was enacted in 1993. The bill now is on its way to the Senate.

Last Thursday, the Senate Armed Forces Committee, chaired by Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., approved 16-12 an amendment similar to the House’s to repeal the policy.

“(ROTC) will continue to do what we need to do to prepare cadets for their future as officers in the Army,” said Lt. Col. James Rouse, chairman of the MSU Department of Military Science and a member of the Military Education Advisory Consultative Committee. “It will not have any adverse affect.”

The decision to repeal the policy is a government decision and is not up to individuals, said Stephan Ronan, a marketing senior and ROTC cadet.

“It’s Army policy,” Ronan said. “When the Army makes a policy, I will abide by it.”

Few soldiers will reveal their sexual preference, even if the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy is repealed, and the repeal will not affect the quality of the Armed Forces, said 2nd Lt. Darcy Sny, who graduated from the MSU ROTC in May.

“If it is repealed, many are still not going to tell people and (will) keep it to themselves,” Sny said. “(Sexual preference) doesn’t affect whether they’re a good or bad soldier. Whatever someone believes or feels, that’s their problem and it’s OK. What they do in their free time is their own business.”

The Army always has been a progressive organization and because of a history of change, any impact on the Army will be short-term, Rouse said.

“The Army has a long tradition of being part of societal changes, like welcoming women into the Army (and the) integration of African Americans,” Rouse said. “Any change to a policy is going to affect the people initially. I don’t see it adversely affecting the performance or the moral or the quality of our program in any way.”

In an e-mail, Levin said there are numerous instances worldwide that indicate a repeal of the policy would not negatively impact military effectiveness.

“There is no evidence that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would hamper our military’s effectiveness and significant evidence from the experience of close allies such as the United Kingdom, Canada and Israel, that they can serve openly and effectively,” Levin said. “We are now in a situation where the military discharges otherwise qualified individuals, often in important and hard-to-fill specialties such as Arabic and Farsi languages, simply because of their sexual orientation.”

Staff writer Meagan Choi contributed to this report.