nastyleg
02-02-2010, 04:21 PM
Gates: Panel has one year to plan for end to ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’
By Leo Shane III, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Related Story: Mention of gay troops in State of the Union offers little clarity to path ahead
WASHINGTON — Military commanders will look for ways to stop enforcing the controversial “don’t ask, don’t tell” law but could still take years to fully get rid of it, according to a plan outlined by Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Tuesday.
In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Gates said he will establish a panel to examine how to repeal the military’s ban on openly gay troops, with a goal of creating an implementation plan by the end of the year.
The study, to be led by Defense Department General Counsel Jeh Johnson and U.S. Army Europe Commander Gen. Carter Ham, will survey troops on concerns about serving with openly gay servicemembers, how housing allowances and benefits programs might be affected, and how the changes might affect recruiting and retention.
“There have been a lot of studies done, but there has not been one done by the military,” he said. “If legislation is passed repealing the law, we feel strongly we will need time for implementation of that change.”
At the same time, Gates ordered a 45-day review of the legal aspects of the current “don’t ask, don’t tell” law, with an eye toward not discharging servicemembers who have been outed by a third party.
The secretary said a change could give commanders more discretion to ignore tips from outside parties and raise the level of proof required to dismiss troops believed to be gay.
Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen told lawmakers he believes that the current ban on openly gay servicemembers is unfair, saying he is “troubled that we have a policy that requires our young men and women to lie in order to serve our country.”
Mullen said the service chiefs approve of the study-and-review approach outlined by Gates, although he would not speculate whether they individually would support repealing the law. Each of the service chiefs is expected to testify before Congress on the defense budget in coming weeks, and lawmakers said they expect to question them on the issue then.
On several occasions in his first year in office — including last week’s State of the Union address — President Barack Obama has promised to repeal the 1993 “don’t ask, don’t tell” law. But he has also repeatedly put the responsibility of initiating repeal efforts on Congress, even while lawmakers have publicly asked for a more explicit direction from the White House.
Republicans on the Senate committee decried the announcement. Ranking member Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., blasted the Pentagon leaders for coming up with a decision before studying the issue, called the gay ban a flawed but effective policy.
“It has helped to balance a potentially disruptive tension between the desires of a minority and the broader interests of our all-volunteer force,” he said. “It reflects, as I understand them, the preferences of our uniformed services.
“It has sustained unit cohesion and unit morale while still allowing gay and lesbian Americans to serve their country in uniform. And it has done all of this for nearly two decades.”
Gay rights advocates in the hearing room grumbled as Gates announced the study, questioning if reluctant military commanders will spend years studying the problem to postpone any real change.
“We think a one-year study is far too long and unnecessary and this process must have finality,” said Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. “Nearly a quarter of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans say they know who is gay and who is not. This means gay and straight troops are talking about it. Having a law on the books that fires 300-plus talented linguists and medics, at a time of two wars when all manpower is needed, is un-American and, practically speaking, makes no sense.”
Others acknowledged it was a frustrating step in the right direction.
“This is appreciated and needed, but we should have been here a year ago,” said Alexander Nicholson, founder of the pro-repeal group Servicemembers United. “I thought in the president’s statements there was an implicit timeline, a push to get it done now.”
Nicholson, a former Army intelligence officer, was forced out of the service under the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law after a colleague revealed his sexual orientation to commanders. Easing the prosecution of outed troops “will save careers,” he said, but is only part of the larger fight for equality in the ranks.
Gates admitted that after the yearlong study, it could take another year or more to implement many of the changes necessary for a smooth transition.
On the other side, Elaine Donnelly, president for the Center for Military Readiness and an outspoken advocate for keeping homosexuals out of the military, saw Gates’ plan to ignore some cases of gays in the ranks as a misinterpretation of the law.
“The secretary has the power to issue enforcement regulations, but not regulations that run contrary to the actual law,” she said. “He is setting up a double standard that will weaken discipline across the board.”
Under the new plan, Donnelly noted, gay troops could ensure they don’t get dismissed from the military by asking someone to purposefully “out” them to military officials, effectively protecting them from an accidental slip of their own.
According to Defense Department statistics, 428 troops were dismissed under the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law in 2009, down nearly 200 troops from the previous year. More than 13,500 troops have been kicked out of the service under the law since 1994, according to the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network.
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=67741
By Leo Shane III, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Related Story: Mention of gay troops in State of the Union offers little clarity to path ahead
WASHINGTON — Military commanders will look for ways to stop enforcing the controversial “don’t ask, don’t tell” law but could still take years to fully get rid of it, according to a plan outlined by Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Tuesday.
In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Gates said he will establish a panel to examine how to repeal the military’s ban on openly gay troops, with a goal of creating an implementation plan by the end of the year.
The study, to be led by Defense Department General Counsel Jeh Johnson and U.S. Army Europe Commander Gen. Carter Ham, will survey troops on concerns about serving with openly gay servicemembers, how housing allowances and benefits programs might be affected, and how the changes might affect recruiting and retention.
“There have been a lot of studies done, but there has not been one done by the military,” he said. “If legislation is passed repealing the law, we feel strongly we will need time for implementation of that change.”
At the same time, Gates ordered a 45-day review of the legal aspects of the current “don’t ask, don’t tell” law, with an eye toward not discharging servicemembers who have been outed by a third party.
The secretary said a change could give commanders more discretion to ignore tips from outside parties and raise the level of proof required to dismiss troops believed to be gay.
Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen told lawmakers he believes that the current ban on openly gay servicemembers is unfair, saying he is “troubled that we have a policy that requires our young men and women to lie in order to serve our country.”
Mullen said the service chiefs approve of the study-and-review approach outlined by Gates, although he would not speculate whether they individually would support repealing the law. Each of the service chiefs is expected to testify before Congress on the defense budget in coming weeks, and lawmakers said they expect to question them on the issue then.
On several occasions in his first year in office — including last week’s State of the Union address — President Barack Obama has promised to repeal the 1993 “don’t ask, don’t tell” law. But he has also repeatedly put the responsibility of initiating repeal efforts on Congress, even while lawmakers have publicly asked for a more explicit direction from the White House.
Republicans on the Senate committee decried the announcement. Ranking member Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., blasted the Pentagon leaders for coming up with a decision before studying the issue, called the gay ban a flawed but effective policy.
“It has helped to balance a potentially disruptive tension between the desires of a minority and the broader interests of our all-volunteer force,” he said. “It reflects, as I understand them, the preferences of our uniformed services.
“It has sustained unit cohesion and unit morale while still allowing gay and lesbian Americans to serve their country in uniform. And it has done all of this for nearly two decades.”
Gay rights advocates in the hearing room grumbled as Gates announced the study, questioning if reluctant military commanders will spend years studying the problem to postpone any real change.
“We think a one-year study is far too long and unnecessary and this process must have finality,” said Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. “Nearly a quarter of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans say they know who is gay and who is not. This means gay and straight troops are talking about it. Having a law on the books that fires 300-plus talented linguists and medics, at a time of two wars when all manpower is needed, is un-American and, practically speaking, makes no sense.”
Others acknowledged it was a frustrating step in the right direction.
“This is appreciated and needed, but we should have been here a year ago,” said Alexander Nicholson, founder of the pro-repeal group Servicemembers United. “I thought in the president’s statements there was an implicit timeline, a push to get it done now.”
Nicholson, a former Army intelligence officer, was forced out of the service under the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law after a colleague revealed his sexual orientation to commanders. Easing the prosecution of outed troops “will save careers,” he said, but is only part of the larger fight for equality in the ranks.
Gates admitted that after the yearlong study, it could take another year or more to implement many of the changes necessary for a smooth transition.
On the other side, Elaine Donnelly, president for the Center for Military Readiness and an outspoken advocate for keeping homosexuals out of the military, saw Gates’ plan to ignore some cases of gays in the ranks as a misinterpretation of the law.
“The secretary has the power to issue enforcement regulations, but not regulations that run contrary to the actual law,” she said. “He is setting up a double standard that will weaken discipline across the board.”
Under the new plan, Donnelly noted, gay troops could ensure they don’t get dismissed from the military by asking someone to purposefully “out” them to military officials, effectively protecting them from an accidental slip of their own.
According to Defense Department statistics, 428 troops were dismissed under the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law in 2009, down nearly 200 troops from the previous year. More than 13,500 troops have been kicked out of the service under the law since 1994, according to the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network.
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=67741