DADT Graphic By The U. S. Army Office Of Public Affairs
By Brody Levesque (Bethesda, Maryland) SEPT 6 | Last Thursday, the U. S. Army launched a special online survey site via its Army Knowledge Online Homepage. According to a press statement released by the Army Public Affairs office at the Pentagon:The intent of the inbox is to help the Army assess and consider the impacts, if any, a change in 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' law would have on operations, readiness, effectiveness, unit cohesion, recruiting and retention, and family readiness.
The Army Chief of Staff wants all Soldiers to have the opportunity to share comments and opinions. What is learned from inbox comments will be shared with the DoD Comprehensive Review Working Group to assist in the development of an action plan to support effective implementation, if repeal of current law occurs. The more comments and opinions provided, the better the Army can gauge Soldier opinion and perception of the potential impact of a repeal.
Additionally, inbox comments could provide insight on how to best manage such impacts during implementation.
To safeguard identity of respondents, the Army will employ control measures. Inbox users are reminded that current 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' law remains in effect.
There's also a note that this inbox will remain open until September 30th or until such time Army leadership determines its got whatever answers its seeking as a result of this survey.
What is really going on though is a not so transparent attempt by the Army leadership & command brass to delay any reckoning of DADT until after the elections in November, which look as though the Congress may end up with a Republican majority at least in the House, effectively killing DADT off.
This survey should have been implemented earlier during the summer concurrently run with the DOD survey already mandated by Defence Secretary Gates.
One angry commenter at The Advocate magazine's article online said this:
"The old Christofascist bigots in the Pentagon are simply trying to postpone any decisions on DADT until the leadership in the Congress changes. Then, they will report to the Republican-led Congress that they need 50 years to "implement the transition". And Republicans will be, like, 'Sure, take your time. You can have a hundred years as far as we are concerned.'"
I've talked to several servicemembers regarding the DADT arguments that have been raging since the issue was raised by the President in his State Of The Union address last winter. The overwhelming majority, especially the younger ones, feel that DADT is bad law and needs to go away. They are honestly tired of the quibbling by military leadership of the 'old school' who still cling to outdated notions about homosexuality in general and the truth about the effectiveness of Gay & Lesbian servicemembers which boils down to, 'They're as good as anyone else and they don't bother me, so what is the big deal? They should be able to serve their country too.'
I think that the big deal, is that this survey, is yet another display of the intransigence on the old guard at the Pentagon who just won't let go of their bigotry and pettiness.
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1 comments:
Unless I'm completely mistaken, the 'hint' that DADT is still in effect means that ONLY those who are not gay are likely to take this survey, thereby biasing the results completely.
Totally from a different angle, isn't asking people what the impact is going to be if something happens a bit like asking what someone's life would be like if they won a $20M lotto, or if they became a quadriplegic in an accident? Nobody can accurately guess what the impact is going to be, so basing decisions on all those guesses is ludicrous at best, and foolhardy for sure.
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