Testifying today before the Senate Armed Services committee, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Adm. Michael Mullen expressed their support for repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. But Pentagon officials say that a study of the repeal could take up to a year.
Gates announced that a civilian and a military officer will be in charge of the commission: Jeh C. Johnson, the Pentagon’s legal counsel, and Gen. Carter F. Ham, commander of the U.S. Army in Europe.
Today’s hearing was the first in 17 years on the military’s policy, which prohibits openly gay men and women from serving in the armed forces.
Vice President Biden thought the full repeal would come sooner, telling MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell today that he expects it done by the end of the year.
At today’s hearing, Gates said he asked the Pentagon to look into making the policy more fair in the meantime, with a recommendation due in 45 days.
“We believe that we have a degree of latitude within the existing law to change our internal procedures in a manner that is more appropriate and fair to our men and women in uniform,” he said, according to the New York Times. It was an apparent reference to the possibility that the military will stop investigating servicemembers who’ve been outed by third parties.
Mullen threw his weight behind the repeal, saying it is his his “personal belief that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do.”
“No matter how I look at this issue,” Mullen said, “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.”
A repeal, which must be done legislatively, may face some hurdles in Congress. The ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee, Sen. John McCain, for example, said today that he believes the policy is sound.
