Don't ask, don't tell: Admiral for repeal

by Julian E. Barnes

The nation's top uniformed officer said today that he supports allowing gays to serve openly the military, providing a powerful voice of support for President Obama call to lift the legal ban on their service.

Launching a formal process to change the longstanding policy, the Pentagon also announced a review that will examine the effects of a policy change along with alterations in military benefits, rules and facilities might be needed to allow gays to serve openly in the armed forces.

The review could take up to a year, and will fuel concerns among advocates for gay service members that any change will be slow in coming about.

Admiral Michael G. Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in an appearance before the Senate Armed Services Committee that the military still needs to conduct a review to determine how to prepare for a dramatic policy change. Nonetheless, he said his personal views were firm.

"Speaking for myself and myself only, it is my personal belief that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do," Mullen said.

Mullen's views are particularly important in the debate. It was one of his predecessors in the post of Joint Chiefs chairman, Gen. Colin L. Powell, who played a major role in the 1990s in derailing then-President Clinton's failed bid to allow gays to serve openly in the military.

In 1993, Powell called the "don't ask, don't tell" policy a "healthy compromise." But in December 2008, said the ban on gays serving openly should be reviewed.

At today's Senate hearing, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates announced that a high-level working group of military and Pentagon officials would develop a plan on how to best implement a change in policy.

Gates did not take any immediate action to change how the current law is enforced, although he said he intended to make some changes in the next 45 days.

"The question before us is not whether the military prepares to make this change, but how we best prepare for it. We have received our orders from the commander-in-chief and we are moving out accordingly," Gates said. "However, we also can only take this process so far as the ultimate decision rests with you, the Congress."

Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), chairman of the Armed Services Committee, supports ending the ban. But Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the panel's ranking Republican, endorsed "don't ask, don't tell" as "imperfect, but effective."

"Numerous military leaders tell me that 'don't ask, don't tell' is working and we shouldn't change it now," McCain said.

Mullen is the first sitting Joint Chiefs chairman ever to endorse repeal of the ban.

Mullen's predecessor, Marine Gen. Peter Pace, publically opposed lifting the ban and called homosexuality immoral.

But attitudes within the military have been shifting, particularly among younger service members but also with more senior officers. In 2007, retired Army Gen. John M. Shalikashvili, a onetime Joint Chiefs chairman, announced he would support allowing gays to serve, although he was long retired when he adopted that position.

Gates said the review will be conducted without "preconceived views, but a recognition that this will represent a fundamental change in personnel policy." Gates said the team would work to ensure the change could be made with minimal disruption to the military's work.

The "don't ask, don't tell" policy was enacted into law in 1993 and allowed gays to serve in the military, but only if they do not reveal their sexual orientation and only if no one learns of it and makes a complaint. Hundreds of service members are discharged each year for violating the policy.

Mullen said the Joint Chiefs understood Obama's desire to overturn the ban and were developing advice for the White House on how such a policy change could be implemented. Mullen said he had made up his own mind that the law needs to change.

"No matter how I look at the issue, I cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens," he said.

Jeh Johnson, the Pentagon general counsel, and Gen. Carter Ham, the commander of U.S. Army forces in Europe, will lead the Defense Department review on how to implement a change in the policy.

One question the review will address is how to handle concerns about lifting the ban while the military is in the midst of fighting two wars, Mullen said.

"The Chiefs and I also recognize the stress our troops and families are under, and I have said many times before -- should the law change -- we need to move forward in a manner that does not add to that stress," Mullen said.

Mullen has been chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a group comprising the top uniformed officers in the Army, Marines, Air Force and Navy, since 2007. Throughout his tenure, he has emphasized the importance of providing honest military advice to the president while also saying military officials must follow the will of political leaders. He touched on that theme Tuesday.

"We will continue to obey that law, and we will obey whatever legislative and executive decisions come out of this debate," Mullen said.

Gates said he understood some advocates for gays might be frustrated with the long review period, but said the Pentagon needed the time to help minimize disruption and talk to service members about the change.

"An important part of this process is to engage our men and women in uniform and their families over this period since, after all, they will ultimately determine whether or not we make this transition successfully," Gates said.

Gay rights groups and veterans organizations that have advocated a repeal of the ban have pushed the Pentagon act immediately to change how the current law is enforced.

Under current policy, accusations that a service member is gay can trigger an investigation and lead to discharge. There are few restrictions on who can accuse a service member of being gay. Opponents of the law want to make it more difficult to file a complaint against a gay member of the military who attempts to hide his or her sexual orientation.

Some have suggested only senior officers should be allowed to make such a charge, while others have said no one outside a service member's chain of command should be able to level a formal accusation.

Last year, Gates had said he would review how to enforce the police in a more "fair and humane manner" But he has taken no action to change the rule.

Gates said today that he believes the Pentagon has "a degree of latitude" to change the internal procedures. But he any new rules would await the outcome of a 45 day assessment.