Don't Ask Don't
Tell Facts
by
RADM Alan M. Steinman,
USPHS/USCG (Ret) |
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The DADT
law was founded on the assumption that
there exists in the military sufficient dislike
of homosexuals that the mere knowledge of the
presence of a gay, lesbian or bisexual service
member would degrade unit morale, unit cohesion
and combat readiness. No military or academic
study or objective data has ever supported this
assumption.
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By
contrast, a DoD commissioned study in 1993 found
exactly the opposite. The Rand Corporation
found that “the presence of known homosexuals on
the force is not likely to undermine military
performance." And a 2008 Flag Officer Study
Group Report stated the following: “Evidence
shows that allowing gays and lesbians to serve
openly is unlikely to pose any significant risk
to morale, good order, discipline or cohesion.”
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More
recently a Zogby International Poll of
Iraq/Afghanistan troops indicated that 68% of
the personnel either knew for certain or
suspected there were gays or lesbians in their
own unit, and 73% of them said they were
comfortable working around gays and lesbians.
And an on-going informal poll of young Naval and
Marine Corps officers attending the Naval
Postgraduate School in Monterrey, CA found that
75% of the students personally know of gays on
active duty in the military. Despite the widely
known presence of gays and lesbians among combat
troops, the Department of Defense has not
reported any diminution in unit morale, unit
cohesion or combat readiness.
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Therefore
tens of thousands of U.S. troops know for
certain or suspect there are gays in their own
unit, and operational readiness and
effectiveness is not impaired.
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With so
many gays already serving honorably, known to
their peers and sometimes even to their commands
without negative impact, there is no
justification for continuing the DADT law.
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On the
contrary, the DADT law not only results in the
involuntary discharge of 650-700 troops per
year, but more importantly, it causes the
voluntary departure of 2500-3000 gay, lesbian or
bisexual service members each year. The total
annual loss of 3000-4000 trained and experienced
troops, many of whom are in critical specialties
(linguists, physicians, corpsmen, pilots, etc.),
and none of whom can be easily replaced with a
recruit out of boot camp or a young officer out
of OCS or a service academy, results in a
degradation of combat effectiveness and a
negative impact on national security.
© 2009
Gay Military Signal
www.gaymilitarysignal.com |