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Why the Marines are different On Tuesday, he offered some thoughts on why the Marines seem more averse than the Army, Air Force, or Navy to having openly gay troops in their ranks. He said it involved recruitment and the reputation of the Marines as a tough fighting force. While he disputed the notion that it’s “a macho thing," he added: “We recruit on a warrior ethos…. We live hard, we train hard. We do tough things,” he said. “We recruit men and women for that kind of ethos." “It’s never, ‘We’re going to give you a college education,’ ” he added. “We never say that.” Recruits who sign up for the Marines come in with “expectations,” Amos argued. “I can’t explain what the expectations are. I can’t explain what they think might happen.” For his part, Gates has argued that he would prefer an orderly repeal passed by Congress to an abrupt reversal by the courts – a scenario Gates called a "nightmare" that could cause mass confusion in the military. Amos said Tuesday: “I don’t know how dangerous a court ruling would be." But should the law be overturned, either by court ruling or by Congress, Amos said he respected civilian control of the government and would obey the decision. He recounted an answer he gave some young Marine lieutenants earlier in the day when they asked him what would happen if the ban was lifted. “Don’t make it too hard,” he told them. The answer, he added, is “actually easy. I’m going to get in step and do it smartly.” In such a case, it’s not a matter of “let’s reconsider it,” Amos said. “It’s a matter of ‘Yes, sir.’ ”