An e-mail:
Former Marine. I agree with you. You shouldn’t try to stamp out porn in the barracks, but you shouldn’t give it an official status by selling it in the exchange. Honestly, it amazes me how people seem to think that everyone in the military should be able to enjoy all possible Constitutional Rights at all times. I could fill dozens of pages with things I wasn’t allowed to do even after initial training that civilians take for granted. This is an essential part of the military culture – to separate troops from “slimy civilians”, in large part by practicing both externally applied discipline and self-discipline. As they used to drill into us: “We’re here to defend Democracy, not to practice it.”
Now, of course, I’m very happy to be a “slimy civilian.”