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"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Repeal Plan Rolls, Slowly, Along

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The Pentagon, in its own slow way, is grappling with the coming end of the 18-year old “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy that bars openly gay men and women from serving in the U.S. military. Top defense officials held a briefing today where they put a little bureaucratic meat on the bones of the change. But they refused to be pinned down to a deadline on when openly gay men and women will be allowed to serve, beyond saying they hope it happens before 2012.

“Moving along expeditiously is better than dragging it out,” said Marine Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs. “We’ve learned that from other services, other nations that have moved down this path.  And I think all of the service chiefs believe that is the case.” Training commanders and troops for the change will commence in February.

Gay advocates lauded the step. “Troops on the ground are ahead of the plan on this issue,” said JD Smith, the pseudonym of an active-duty member of the U.S. military who is co-director of OutServe, an underground network of gay troops. “Gay and lesbian troops are coming out to their friends, and it’s no big deal.” But Elaine Donnelly, head of the conservative Center for Military Readiness, which opposes the change, said all of the Pentagon’s planning to let gays serve openly won’t “benefit the military in terms of morale, recruiting, retention, and overall readiness.” Instead, she said, “all of these problems will be loaded on the backs of trainers and field commanders, who will be expected to divert valuable time to deal with all of the negative consequences in the midst of ongoing wars.”

The Pentagon issued a six-page directive on Friday outlining how the military services should deal with the repeal. It’s pretty standard fare, but its key line is:

Upon repeal, existing standards of conduct shall continue to apply to all Service members regardless of sexual orientation.

Regardless of sexual orientation. Those four words mark a big change in the military I have covered for more than 30 years. Just as the U.S. armed forces opened its ranks to minorities, and then to women, it will, in fits and starts, no doubt succeed in this mission as well.