February 03, 2010 - Military.com | by Bryant Jordan

The so-called “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy requiring gays and lesbians to keep their lifestyle under wraps while serving in the military may be repealed down the road, but in the short term – within 45 days -- the Pentagon intends to find ways to make it more difficult for homosexuals to be booted from the service.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday that he has ordered a review of the Don’t Ask regulations and recommendations on changing them so they may be enforced “in a fairer manner.” While neither Gates nor President Obama can end the Don’t Ask policy enacted in 1993 by Congress, Gates said there is room to tweak the regs while still working within the law, and that he expects to have some ideas on his desk by the spring.

“We can raise the level of the officer who is authorized to initiate an inquiry” under Don’t Ask, he told the committee. “We can raise the level of the officer who conducts the inquiry. We can raise the bar on what constitutes credible information used to initiate an inquiry. We can raise the bar on what constitutes a reliable person upon whose word an inquiry can be initiated. Overall, we can reduce the instances in which a service member who is trying to serve his country honorably is ‘outed’ by a third person who is willing to harm a service member.”

The 17-year-old policy permits homosexuals to serve in the military only if they do not admit their sexuality. It also bars military officials from asking a service member his or her sexual orientation. The policy also prohibits the military from expressly searching to out homosexuals.

Testifying with Gates on Tuesday was Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who offered his own, personal view that Don’t Ask should be repealed.

“I fully support the president’s decision,” Gates said. “The question is not whether the military prepares to make this change, but how we best prepare for it.”

“I can’t help being troubled by the fact that the law forces men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens,” Mullen told the senators. “It comes down to integrity.”

Gates denied a published report that the Defense Department would halt separation proceedings against exposed homosexuals.

In response to a question by committee chairman Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., whether he would support a moratorium on investigating Don’t Ask claims and separating gays, Gates said he has been advised that such a move would be illegal under the current law.

Gates, in his opening remarks to the committee, said he also has appointed a working group that will begin reviewing all issues related to properly implementing a repeal of the Don’t Ask policy, and that its findings will be done in about a year. The group will follow three lines of study, he said. It will review in depth the views and attitudes of the force on repealing the policy; examine all changes that would have to be made to DoD regulations and policies --- including benefits, base housing, fraternization and misconduct; and examine how repealing Don’t Ask would affect military effectiveness, such as unit cohesion, recruiting, retention and other areas.

He said the review would be undertaken with no preconceived ideas or conclusions.

“However, on behalf of the men and women in uniform and their families, I also ask that you work with us to, insofar as possible, to keep them out of the political dimension of this issue,” he told lawmakers. “I’m not asking for you not to do your jobs fully and with vigor, but rather that as this debate unfolds, you keep the impact it will have on our forces firmly in mind.”

Gates started off by referring to Obama’s State of the Union message last week, in which the president said he would begin working with Congress to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and directed the Pentagon to start preparing for its repeal.

Ranking committee member Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said he was disappointed in Gates’ statement, saying it clearly shows a bias in favoring repealing the current policy.

“It would be far more appropriate ... to determine if repealing the law is appropriate and what effect it would have on the readiness and effectiveness of the military before deciding whether we should repeal the law or not,” McCain said. “And, fortunately, [Don’t Ask] is an act of Congress, and requires an agreement of Congress, in order to repeal it.”

McCain said Congress established Don’t Ask with three findings in mind: that the military’s mission is to prepare for war and wage war, something that requires men and women to accept living conditions that offer little or no privacy; that the military is different from civilian life --- with its own traditions and regulations on personal conduct; and that unit cohesion and good order and discipline are critical and anything that threatens these may be restricted.

McCain said the Don’t Ask policy is not ideal but has been effective.

Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., said the military accepts as part of its mission restrictions on personal behavior that would not be acceptable in the civilian world, including on alcohol use, adultery, fraternization and body art. “If we repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, what do we do with these other issues,” he asked, and stated his opposition to repeal.

Sen. Roland Burris, D-Ill., likened the ban on gays serving openly to past bans on African-Americans serving in the military, and the segregation that existed within the ranks until ended by President Truman during the Korean War.

“What we need is a policy to allow any individual who has the integrity and commitment to serve his country,” Burris said.

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