I remember 40+ years ago, when the official so-called “Don’t Ask – Don’t Tell” policy concerned Fraternization. My fiancee was an O-3, a doctor at the Naval hospital on Guam. I was just a lowly commoner, a young enlisted airman in the USAF at Andersen AFB. We were as discreet as possible. We kept everything off-base and out of sight. In spite of fraternization still being illegal under the UCMJ. We listened to the politicians harrumphing around the Pentagon bedecked in uniform telling lies. We thought we were OK as long as we followed this policy.
Her upcoming PCS was to Bethesda Naval Hospital while mine was Ft. Meade. Since we were returning to the world to be married, we knew stepping into the limelight would bring into conflict the two mutually exclusive things. One of our careers had to go and there was no way I would ever have expected her to give up all the work she had put in to become a doctor. As a comms guy I figured I’d just go to work as a civilian for Ma Bell, as is the norm. So I declined reenlistment.
Within 3 weeks I was framed with a fake marijuana bust, given an Article 15, then promptly discharged with a General Under Honorable.