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It was in Iraq that Army Capt. Jonathan Hopkins learned he was to be promoted to the rank of major one year early 鈥� a considerable achievement.

It was also no surprise. In his career as an infantry officer, Hopkins had earned three bronze stars. As a high school student, his score on the Pentagon鈥檚 aptitude test for military service was so high that recruiters encouraged him to apply to West Point. He did, and he graduated fourth among his peers in the Class of 2001. Hopkins then deployed once to Afghanistan and twice to Iraq, where the platoon he led helped secure Kirkuk in the war鈥檚 first push.

Yet Hopkins remembers the day he received word of his potential promotion as the worst of his life: It was also the day he learned that he was being investigated for being gay.

鈥淒on鈥檛 ask, don鈥檛 tell鈥� had already shaped his life. The number of people he had told he was gay was 鈥渋n the single digits,鈥� and he had virtually given up dating. 鈥淲hat if someone asked what I did over the weekend?鈥� he would ask himself. 鈥淭here is no way to keep your job without lying or covering things up.鈥�

Earlier this month, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen went to Capitol Hill to 鈥渟trongly urge鈥� Congress that no member of the US military be subject to such treatment again. They called for a repeal of 鈥渄on鈥檛 ask, don鈥檛 tell鈥� 鈥� the 1993 law that bans openly gay men and women from serving in the military.

They do not deny that there could be problems. A survey released Nov. 30 on attitudes toward gays in the military 鈥� one of the largest surveys the Pentagon has ever conducted 鈥� found 48 percent of Army combat units and 43 percent of Marine combat troops expressed concern about gays serving openly.

But given good leadership and time to put in place a new policy, the US military stands 鈥渞eady to implement the repeal,鈥� Mr. Gates said.

Added Mullen: It is the right thing to do 鈥渇or our nation, our military, and our collective honor.鈥�

The heads of the service branches were less than sanguine about the prospect in testimony one day later, however. Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey said repeal would 鈥渁dd another level of stress to an already stretched force鈥� and be 鈥渕ore difficult for the Army than the report suggests.鈥�

Marine Corps commandant Gen. James Amos concurred. Assimilating openly gay troops into the 鈥渢ightly woven fabric鈥� of combat units could lead to 鈥渄isruption鈥� on the battlefield, he said. The service chiefs all emphasized, however, that they would implement the change if so ordered.

The confidence Gates and Mullen expressed in the military鈥檚 ability to do that lies both in the Pentagon survey results and in historical precedent. According to the survey, more than two-thirds of those in uniform do not object to gays and lesbians serving openly, Gates told the Senate Armed Services Committee Dec. 1.

Moreover, senior military officials note that the military has lifted controversial bans before. In 1948, the military integrated African-American troops, who had previously served only in segregated units often tasked with hard labor.

鈥淭he opposition to racial integration ran very high 鈥� in the 70th or 80th percentile,鈥� noted top Pentagon lawyer Jeh Johnson in congressional testimony. By 1953, 90 percent of Army units were integrated, while buses in Montgomery, Ala., were not.

In the current case, however, the military has not led social change.

鈥�America has moved on,鈥� Mullen said. 鈥淎merica鈥檚 military is ready, by and large, to move on as well.鈥�

A former West Point cadet who has been watching the debate with particular interest is 1st Lt. Sarah Smith, an active-duty Army engineer who requested a pseudonym to protect her identity.

During her time at the academy, she says, there was a 鈥渟trong underground network鈥� of fellow students who were also gay or lesbian. Still, she was 鈥減aranoid鈥� about people finding out about her homosexuality. 鈥淭here was a very real possibility of me losing a thing I loved.鈥�

Smith says the 鈥渄on鈥檛 ask, don鈥檛 tell鈥� policy was a frequent topic of conversation among cadets at West Point: 鈥淲e all felt deep down that it would be repealed some day since it鈥檚 an incredibly discriminatory policy, but we knew there wasn鈥檛 much we could do.鈥�

Today, after deploying to Iraq, she remains in the military, and many of her close colleagues know about her homosexuality. This includes senior noncommissioned officers in her unit, as well as a first sergeant whose family frequently invites Smith and her girlfriend to dinner.

鈥淭hey have completely embraced me,鈥� she says. 鈥淲hen the policy would require them to report me, they put themselves and their career on the line.鈥�

Hopkins says he found similar behavior among his colleagues once they learned he was being investigated for being gay. In fact, many knew about his homosexuality before he fully acknowledged it to himself, he adds.

While had early inklings he might be gay, under the rules of 鈥渄on鈥檛 ask, don鈥檛 tell鈥� being gay 鈥渏ust didn鈥檛 mesh鈥� with the Army life that he loved.

鈥淏asically, the way I viewed it was that I had pretty high expectations for myself, and if I wanted to do that, I had to be straight,鈥� Hopkins says.

What mattered most to Hopkins鈥檚 colleagues, he says, was that he did his job well. In the course of the 14-month investigation into his sexuality, he heard from 鈥渁 bunch of old infantry soldiers鈥� who he served with as a company commander in Iraq. 鈥淭hey reached out and said, 鈥楬ey, we figured you were gay, but you were the best company commander we ever had.鈥欌��

This view was borne out by the Pentagon survey, Gates and Mullen suggest. Ninety-two percent of respondents said that once they worked with someone they believed was gay, the unit鈥檚 ability to work together remained 鈥渧ery good, good, or neither good nor poor.鈥�

And even if there are pockets of resistance, they add, it is not wise policy to give troops veto power over top-level decisions, such as unit integration or going to war. Sen. John McCain (R) of Arizona has disagreed. He has said he doesn鈥檛 doubt that 鈥渢his capable, professional force could implement a repeal of 鈥榙on鈥檛 ask, don鈥檛 tell鈥� if ordered to.鈥� The question, he said, is whether that is a good idea.

To some supporters of a repeal, the greater question is how many quality troops the military is losing.

Hopkins, for his part, was asked earlier this year to leave the military. Now a graduate student at Georgetown University, he received a call last month from a former battalion commander of his, asking him to return. But he has mixed feelings, comparing the Army investigation to 鈥渁 14-month-long divorce.鈥�

鈥淭he Army was what I chose over relationships,鈥� he says. 鈥淎nd it comes with all of the emotional baggage and pain that a 14-month divorce would engender.鈥�