DEFENDING FREEDOM

Insights and Evidence

Don't Ask, Don't Tell Weakens National Defense

The United States military needs the most qualified and competent people serving in the Armed Forces. There is no justifiable reason to deny gay and lesbian Americans to serve openly and honestly, in defense of freedom.

1. The rationale used to support Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell has been discredited.
A.) The CIA, FBI, National Security Agency, and Secret Service allow gays and lesbians to serve openly. These agencies have seen no decrease in unit cohesion or morale. Also, a study of San Diego’s Police Department found better relations among officers after the city lifted its gay ban.
B.) 24 nations and every member of NATO except the U.S. and Turkey allows gays and lesbians to serve openly. Our allies have lifted their bans on service by gays and lesbians with positive results. GAO Studies of four major militaries show no decrease in unit cohesion or effectiveness.
C.) American troops have served with openly gay and lesbian service members from other countries without issue or concern. They have served with our allies’ openly gay and lesbians soldiers including British soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan without any reported problems.
D.) Privacy concerns are unfounded. Privacy issues are being resolved through housing and unit plans that give service members their own bedroom or a shared bathroom with only one other person. Additionally, service members already serve with openly gay and lesbian soldiers without problems. In fact, an estimated 20of personnel in the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps know a gay or lesbian service member. Furthermore, studies from other countries have shown that a significant number of gays and lesbians will not out themselves once the ban is lifted.
E.) The decrease in gay and lesbian discharges during wartime clearly shows that arguments about unit morale and cohesion have no basis. There has been a 49drop in the number of discharges since 2001. If the service of gay people were actually detrimental to unit cohesion and morale, discharges would increase during war, when the stakes are highest.

2. Research demonstrates that Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is harming military readiness.
A.) DADT is costing the military valuable, mission critical personnel. This policy has lead to the discharge of over 10,000 service members in the last ten years with 653 in 2004 alone. The GAO reports 757 of individuals discharged from 1994-2003 were in “critical operations.” 730 discharged service individuals had intelligence-related occupations. Another 322 people were translators fluent in foreign languages such as Arabic, Farsi, and Korean. 41of those discharged from “critical operations” positions had 30 or more months of service. 38of those with intelligence-related occupations had over 30 months of service. Moreover, the number of service members lost due to this policy is much greater because many qualified and experienced gay service members choose not to re-enlist rather than serving with the DADT policy.
B.) The “witch hunts”, improper investigations, and harassment under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is potentially leading to the discharge of heterosexual service members and undermining unit cohesion and morale. In 2002, those aged 18-25 made up only 35of the Air Force but accounted for 83of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell discharges and this trend has continued into 2005. Investigations, like the one at the Defense Language Institute in California, can entrench units and decrease morale.
C.) Moreover, this policy is hurting the military’s ability to recruit individuals because it makes the U.S. Armed Forces seem outdated and archaic. At some high schools and colleges, recruiters are being protested or rejected by students and administrators because of DADT.
D.) Tens of thousands of qualified service members are being kept out or kicked out of the military even with serious recruiting problems in the army. Instead of getting the most qualified recruits, the Army is lowering standards for new recruits to make up for the shortage. 10of new army recruits do not have a high school diploma and 2of new recruits scored in the lowest acceptable range on the standardized screening test. This also comes a time when the Pentagon is asking Congress to raise the age of enlistees to 42. Moreover, because of the troop shortage, some recruiters are cutting corners to get more people enlisting with a reported 480 violations of recruiting standards.

3. Most Americans and many service members don’t support DADT.
A.) Polls show 79of Americans support allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly. This includes 91of those aged 18-29 support lifting the ban. Moreover, the poll finds a majority of Republicans, church goers, and even those with a negative view support lifting the ban.
B.) An Annenberg poll found that 50of junior enlisted service officers believe gays and lesbians should be allowed to serve openly.
C.) Polling shows that U.S. military personnel are not greatly uncomfortable around gays and lesbians.

4. DADT costs tens of millions of dollars each year to enforce.
The GAO put the cost of the policy during the last ten years at $191 million. However, as the report noted, some additional costs could not be estimated. Other estimates put the price tag at $35 million a year or over $280 million for the past ten years. The money used to enforce this policy could buy over 12,000 armored Humvees or other much needed equipment.

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