You're welcome. Was my pleasure to serve, as where else can a poor dumb country boy from Montana get paid to travel and see the world? Been to 26 different countries, and 49 different states, only missing Alaska.
Do I think the military right now is the same as it was when I served? Nope, there have been many changes, lots of them have to do with the modernization of the military, because computers are used more than they ever were. Prime example of that is my job which was a Personnelman. It has now been phased out and merged with another rate (DK), and the main reason for that is computers.
Is the atmosphere and structure of the military the same? Nope. And a lot of that has to do with the way the world has changed over time. One of the things that irritated the hell out of me was finding out that recruits were given "stress cards" to show the CC (Company Commander) while in boot camp to say that they were feeling overwhelmed. IT'S BOOT CAMP, YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO GET STRESSED TO SEE HOW MUCH YOU CAN TAKE! (sorry for the yelling, but that particular change chapped my ass royally). But, I've heard that the stress cards have been phased out and things are (kinda) back to normal.
As far as gays in the military? There have always been gays in the military, and many of them were actually pretty decent servicemembers. They paid attention to detail and were pretty good at their jobs. My personal opinion is that I think it's great they can serve openly and not have to worry about being exposed and kicked out, as it used to be if it was even hinted that a person was gay, they were discharged immediately. If a gay person wants to serve, can follow all the rules and regs and conduct themselves with proper military bearing, yeah, be my guest, as we always need qualified people to serve. As far as the transexuals? Not sure about that, as I retired before they started to show up. But, if they are qualified, can follow the rules and conduct themselves with proper military bearing? Why not? Only 30 percent of the American population that is age eligible is qualified to join, so if they are qualified, let them serve.