VideoPosted on 07/07/2010 2:00:49 PM PDT by SandRat
WASHINGTON, July 7, 2010 – At noon today, Defense Department officials e-mailed surveys to 400,000 servicemembers as part of a special review to prepare the military for a potential repeal of the so-called “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law that bans gays and lesbians from openly serving, Pentagon officials announced today. Video
Army Gen. Carter F. Ham, commander of U.S. Army Europe, and Jeh Johnson, the Pentagon’s top lawyer, head the review panel that’s assessing the current law.
“The voice of the servicemembers is still vitally important,” the general said, noting that although amendments to the current law were approved by legislators in May, lawmakers still require the Pentagon review.
“This is draft regulation, it is not yet enacted into law, and there are several hurdles yet to come,” Ham said.
The group has been meeting with troops and family members since February. Surveys also were distributed because time and financial constraints precluded meeting with every single member, Ham explained in a recent Pentagon Channel interview.
The surveys will give the panel a baseline of information that best represents the military’s 2.2 million servicemembers and their families, Ham said, stressing the importance of servicemember feedback.
Engaging the force may be more important now than before the amendments were passed, Ham said.
Half of the surveys went to active-duty servicemembers, and half were sent to the reserve components. Troops who received the surveys were selected based on age, rank, service, component, military specialties, education, marital status and other factors to ensure broad and thorough feedback on a potential repeal, Ham said.
The working group also plans to continue meeting with servicemembers and families, Ham said. He and Johnson have met with troops at “a large variety of bases, posts, camps and stations around the country,” the general said, adding that they’re planning to meet with troops stationed overseas as well.
Such sessions have proven invaluable to the working group, Ham added.
“What these sessions do afford is an opportunity for Mr. Johnson and myself to speak directly to servicemembers, to hear in their own words what their assessment of the impact of repeal of the current law would be should Congress decide to take that action,” he said. “Those sessions provide us context. They provide us substance to what we know we will get statistically from the survey and put it in real terms of how real servicemembers feel about this.”
An online inbox also is available for military and civilian members of the Defense Department. Troops can log into http://www.defense.gov/dadt with their common access card to provide their input. This site is not confidential; however, directions from the site, as well as in the survey, are provided for members who wish to continue a “confidential dialogue” with non-Defense Department members of the working group, the general said.
Once servicemembers enter the confidential site, they will be given an untraceable PIN number they then can use to log on from any computer.
This tool will allow gay and lesbian servicemembers to remain anonymous and establish confidential communication, Ham explained. It’s available to all servicemembers, he added, because some may not feel comfortable providing candid remarks.
“It is vitally important that servicemembers continue to be open and frank and totally honest with us in their feedback,” Ham said. “That certainly has been the case to date, whether it’s been a large-group session or a small group or the online inbox. The servicemembers and their families have been invaluable to Mr. Johnson and myself.
“We need that to continue in order to do our jobs and be representative of the force as we address the significant policy matters that would follow repeal of this law, if that is what Congress decides to do,” the general said.
Also, 150,000 surveys will be mailed to military spouses by the end of the month, Ham said. Ham stressed the importance of promptly completing and returning the surveys. The hope, he said, is that that all of the surveys will be submitted within 45 days of receipt, he said.
The working group’s final report is due to Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates by Dec. 1.
| Related Sites: ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Online Inbox |
I just spent the last 2 and a half years in an infantry unit. This just is NOT going to work, on so many different levels.
For you and for those still in the military, it’s time to fill out the survey and send a resounding “this won’t work well” message to those who will listen. I have always felt that if the debate were limited to those at the tip of the spear, there would be no debate. Homosexualizing the military adds nothing to the ability to fight and win wars.
I was in the navy for 21 years, including six months near Baghdad. During basic training, recruits are required to shower in groups. I didn’t have the entertainment of showering with a group of women, so it would be unfair, if gays could join and shower with a group of people of the same sex.
This "survey" is all meaningless theater - an insult to our men in uniform.
It was inappropriate to discuss my heterosexual sex life “openly” when I was in. Why gays feel the need to serve “openly” is beyond me. Just serve, damnit! I could care less about your sexuality, but care more about protecting your rights and freedoms to be gay wether I agree with it or not. Homosexuals IMO need to stop being used as political tools. Our government uses them more for political purposes to further their own agenda (same as blacks, mexicans, muslims etc...) more than the military disavows them. If it were up to us...well...we could care less in most cases. Just shut up and serve...
A Marine told me recently that when he joined, the officer at the MEPS went through a two page disclosure that explained the military’s policy on DADT that required his signature, giving him the impression that the policy was part of his contract. If it is part of his contract, and was material, every GI who got that speech may be able to establish that repreal of DADT breaches their enlistment contract, and they may have grounds for recission.
You raise one of a number of practical difficulties. How is billeting handled? If Neel & Bob are happily sodomizing each other in their two-male room after hours, then Joe & Jane ought to be able to do the same, right. I commanded a unit with 11 married couples and numerous relationship triangles/quadrangles, etc. and I can assure everybody that adding the romantic element to the combat team does nothing to enhance readiness. The guys who can tell you some REAL stories are the IG & JAG folks who have to handle so many sex related incidents.
Usually, when a law is repealed, the government enforces whatever law, in that subject, was used, before the law that was repealed. Therefore, if DADT is repealed, recruiters will ask prospective recruits whether they are gay. If someone says yes, he or she couldn’t join.
In a sane, rational world that would be the case. But we're talking about bizarro world here.
If 90% of the say they are going to leave this will all end in a hurry.
I’ll say this for gay servicemen. They’re the most ready to move out on a moments notice. Their sh*t’s already packed. All kidding aside, I believe our servicemen and women will respond in the survey overwhelmingly that DADT should not be repealed, and this will convince even Obama not to change the policy.
SPEAK UP NOW!!! SAY NO TO GAYS IN THE MILITARY!!
What a colossal waste of money.
They are going to cram this onto the military- no matter how the ‘vote ‘ goes.
Put Gore in charge of counting the votes-——he never wants to count votes by the military, anyway.
See my response in post #5.
LOL, the libs are in for a big surprise. Most in the military are pretty conservative - and when you ask a guy if he wants to shower with a queer, the answer is common sense. With our military involved in two wars, that last thing we need is Obama’s sexual experimentation.
Just my 2 cents, but this is nothing more than a battle damage assessment (survey) ahead of time. The American military is being force fed a __it sandwich here and someone has the common sense to foresee that it may be necessary to start up the draft again in a couple years. Interesting the government doesn't care what the American people think either.
delenda est...
Like they give a rat's ass what the surveys say. If Obama wants open homosexuals in the ranks, then General Casey and Secretary Gates are going to make it happen.
These "surveys" are nothing but a smokescreen.
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