Don't Ask Don't Tell

Mullen: DADT Repeal Is 'First And Foremost A Matter Of Integrity'

Jillian Rayfield | September 20, 2011, 2:52PM

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen Discussing the End of Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

The repeal of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that banned gays and lesbians from serving openly in the armed forces went into effect Tuesday, which Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta called "an historic day for the Pentagon and the nation."

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Don't Ask Don't Tell

Service Chiefs: Pro- Or Anti-Repeal, They Say The Military Can Do It

Rachel Slajda | December 3, 2010, 11:36AM

Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. George Casey, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead, and vice chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. James E. Cartwright

The day after Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen again called for Congress to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell, the joint chiefs themselves testified on Capitol Hill and, as promised, were "less sanguine" about repeal than their bosses.

But whether for or against repeal, they all said their branch could and would implement it.

"At the end of the day, we are Marines," said Gen. James Amos, the commandant of the Marine Corps, in his testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee. "Should Congress change the law, then our nation's Marine Corps will faithfully support the law."

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Don't Ask Don't Tell

Excuses, Excuses: Why Top GOPers Say They Can't Vote For DADT Repeal

Rachel Slajda | December 2, 2010, 3:06PM

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Michael Mullen, Department of Defense General Counsel Jeh C. Johnson, and U.S. Army Gen. Carter Ham

In his opening statement at a Don't Ask, Don't Tell hearing today, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen systematically blew apart the classic attacks on repeal.

"Repeal of the law will not prove an unacceptable risk to military readiness. Unit cohesion will not suffer," Mullen said. "And families will not encourage their loved ones to leave the service in droves."

"And I find the argument that war is not the time to change to be antithetical with our own experience since 2001," he said. "War does not stifle change; it demands it."

He destroyed Sen. John McCain's suggestion that the opinions of the service chiefs were more important than those of Mullen. McCain had said Mullen "is not directly in charge of the troops."

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John McCain

The DADT Review Has Apparently Not Changed McCain's Mind

Rachel Slajda | December 2, 2010, 11:39AM

Sen. John McCan (R-AZ)

At today's hearing on the Pentagon's Don't Ask, Don't Tell review, Sen. John McCain made it clear that the Pentagon's review of the policy has not changed his mind.

McCain, the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, started saying last Sunday that the review itself wasn't done correctly, nine months after it was announced and two days before he would see the report.

Now that he's seen the report -- which concludes that repealing DADT would not harm the military's effectiveness or unit cohesion -- McCain has apparently not changed his mind.

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Don't Ask Don't Tell

Pentagon: No Separate Facilities For Gay Servicemembers

Rachel Slajda | November 30, 2010, 5:15PM

Marines aboard the USS Blue Ridge

One of the more contentious points of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell debate was whether the Pentagon was considering building separate barracks and showers for gay servicemembers, with some fearing a "separate but equal" mandate.

But the Pentagon report on how best to repeal the policy, released today, recommends no separate facilities, saying such a move would "wrongly isolate and stigmatize" gay troops.

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Robert Gates

Gates And Mullen: Wikileaks Might Already Have Blood On Their Hands

Jillian Rayfield | July 29, 2010, 3:43PM

Defense Secretary Robert Gates

Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Admiral Mike Mullen held a press conference today to address the leak of 92,000 documents about the Afghanistan War by the website Wikileaks. Gates condemned the leaks, warning "the battlefield consequences" are "potentially severe and dangerous for our troops."

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