There were mixed reactions to his views, but the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, did not just make a breakthrough with his recent revelation about allowing homosexuals to openly serve in the military – he also did something new by expressing his thoughts using an unusual media: Twitter.

It has long been assumed that old-school military top brass preferred the prevailing “don’t ask, don’t tell” practice of tolerating – but not openly accepting – gays and lesbians in the military. Mullen had earlier proven that this was not always the case by laying out his sentiments about the issue through a statement published on the Pentagon Website on Wednesday.

He did not, however, stop there; he may have reached an even wider audience by giving a gist of those lengthy views in less than 140 characters through the following tweet: “Stand by what I said: Allowing homosexuals to serve openly is the right thing to do. Comes down to integrity.”

He provides more insight in his article, though: “My personal belief is that allowing homosexuals to serve openly would be the right thing to do. I cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens. For me, it comes down to integrity – theirs as individuals and ours as an institution.”

His reiteration was promptly “re-tweeted” by countless users – among them, apparently, the President himself.