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gaysinthemilitary
Army Secretary Says He's Met With Gay Soldiers
By Sharon Weinberger - AOL NewsWASHINGTON (March 31) -- Treading into the murky area of the post-"don't ask, don't tell" era, the Army's senior civilian leader told reporters today that he has met with soldiers who revealed that they were gay. Such a declaration, at least in theory, could be grounds for the service members to be discharged from the military. Asked at a breakfast meeting with reporters in Washington whether he had met with gay members of the military to solicit their views on the changes to the law that bans them from openly serving, Army Secretary John McHugh, a former Republican congressman from New ...
Opinion: New DADT Guidelines Please No One
By Red Room Author - AOL News(March 25) -- Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday announced changes to the Pentagon's regulation on gays serving in the military that he said make the Defense Department's enforcement of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy "fairer and more appropriate." But despite Gates' desire to provide "a greater measure of common sense and common decency" to what he termed "difficult and complex issues for all involved," the fundamentals of the policy remain in place and the new enforcement measures mostly only relate to the unintentional outing of a service member. Among the changes: • Only ...
General Against 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Criticized
By Dale Eisman - AOL NewsWASHINGTON (March 25) -- The U.S. military's internal struggles over homosexuality in the ranks were on full display today, as top officials announced new and relaxed policies for enforcing restrictions on service by gays while rebuking a three-star Army general for publicly defending the old policies. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, charged that Lt. Gen. Benjamin Mixon ignored written directions that senior uniformed leaders should keep their opinions of the longstanding "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gay service within the ...
Petraeus: Time to Reconsider 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'
By Tom Diemer - Politics DailyGen. David Petraeus said Tuesday the time is right to reconsider the ban on openly gay men and women serving in the military, but he cautioned a Senate committee that any change should be made in a "thoughtful manner." Petraeus, who, as head of the U.S. Central Command, oversees the U.S. war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, said the military should assess how ending the 'Don't ask, don't tell' policy would affect recruiting, morale, unit cohesion and retention, The Hill newspaper reported. The policy, started under President Clinton, permits gays to serve in the Armed Forces as long as they ...
Pentagon Moves Ahead on Changing 'Don't Ask'
By Andrea Stone - AOL NewsWASHINGTON (March 2) -- The Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" policy may be changing faster than some top generals would like, thanks to a plan released today by Defense Secretary Robert Gates. In a memo and two-page "terms of reference" document, Gates ordered a comprehensive review of the "Policy Concerning Homosexuality in the Armed Forces" to be delivered to him no later than Dec. 1. Gates testified last month that he wanted recommendations by "the end of this calendar year." That jibes with President Obama's vow that "this year, I will work with Congress and our military to finally ...
Opinion: Losing Sgt. X, and My Support for Don't Ask, Don't Tell
By not in system - AOL News(March 1) -- A long time ago, when "don't ask, don't tell" became a law, I supported the idea. I was a new infantry company commander at the time, and I was opposed to letting gays serve openly in the military. But not for the reasons one might stereotypically expect. Morally, I disagreed with don't ask, don't tell. But when you're an infantryman, you have to balance moral issues. I thought letting gays serve openly would cost too much, in time and money. I would have to spend time teaching my men not be bigots. The Army would have to spend money prosecuting idiots who acted on their ...
Generals Say Don't Act Too Fast to End 'Don't Ask'
By Andrea Stone - AOL NewsWASHINGTON (Feb. 23) -- The top officers of the U.S. Army and Air Force told lawmakers Tuesday that they should go slow in repealing the military's ban on openly gay service members, parting ways with the nation's senior uniformed officer who testified earlier that it was "the right thing to do." "I do have serious concerns about the impact of repeal of the law on a force that's fully engaged in two wars and has been at war for 8 1/2 years," Army Gen. George Casey told the Senate Armed Services Committee. "We just don't know the impacts on readiness and military effectiveness." Across ...
Joe Lieberman Takes Lead on Repealing 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'
By Christopher Weber - Politics DailySen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) will introduce a bill next week to repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that prohibits gays from serving in the military. Lieberman told New York's Daily News he sees the legislation to repeal the 1993 law as "the next step of the civil rights movement." The former Democrat caucuses with his old party but has frustrated liberals with his support of the war in Iraq and his 2008 endorsement of Republican John McCain. His leadership on repealing DADT puts him firmly back in the camp with social progressives. "My own experience as a member of the Armed ...
Poll Results on Gays in the Military Issue Depend on Wording of Question
By Bruce Drake - Politics DailyA new New York Times/CBS News poll finds a majority of Americans support gays serving in the military, but it also revealed how the poll numbers change depending on whether the question uses the word "homosexual" or phrase "gay men and lesbians."When respondents were asked whether they favored or opposed "homosexuals" serving in the military, 59 percent said they favored it while 29 percent were opposed. When the phrase "gay men and lesbians" was substituted, 70 percent favored allowing them to serve and 19 percent were opposed.The same difference occurred when respondents were asked whether ...
For Breaking Ranks on Gays, Mullen Is in Rare Company
By Andrea Stone - AOL NewsWASHINGTON (Feb. 4) – Most military officers are taught to follow the apolitical lead of Army Chief of Staff Gen. George C. Marshall, who wrote in 1941, "As to my political faith, I have never voted, my father was a Democrat, my mother a Republican, and I am an Episcopalian." But Adm. Michael Mullen's stunning testimonial this week in favor of ending the Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays may mark one of the few times in military history that a senior active-duty officer has marched ahead of the ranks on a major social issue. Tim Sloan, AFP / Getty Images Adm. Mike ...
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