I'm still very ambivalent about the whole thing, much as with women in combat; on the one hand, I don't want my sentries watching each other more than the perimeter, but on the other hand the military already has a fairly stringent non-fraternization policy to mitigate that issue. Anything that makes more always limited assets available is welcome, provided they ARE assets, but that seems likely so I'm cautiously optimistic.

It's certainly good PR for the Marines, who come off as pragmatic, flexible, unbiased and forward thinking; if the new policy doesn't succeed, it won't be for lack of effort on their part. The other service branches could benefit from following their lead (I'm surprised the Navy wasn't alongside them) but I suppose that's only fitting since that's the way it traditionally goes.