The Pentagon has announced that it is beginning the survey of enlisted personnel to gauge reactions in the ranks to repeal of DADT, which starts to seem less and less likely if you take a look at the survey and the way it is being conducted.
First, via Pam's House Blend, this report from CNN:
Here's part of the report as quoted at PHB:
The survey, which service members can expect to receive via e-mail, asks about such issues as how unit morale or readiness might be affected if a commander is believed to be gay or lesbian; the need to maintain personal standards of conduct; and how repeal might affect willingness to serve in the military.
The survey also asks a number of questions aimed at identifying problems that could occur when troops live and work in close quarters in overseas war zones. For example, the questionnaire asks military members how they would react if they had to share a room, bathrooms, and open-bay showers in a war zone with other service members believed to be gay or lesbian.
I take this as evidence of how deliberately clueless the Pentagon is being about this -- we already know that large numbers of troops know they are serving with gays and lesbians, sharing quarters and bathing facilities, and don't care. The ones who care are a bunch of upper brass whose fundamentalism is getting in the way of their being able to do their jobs.
I've long said that the brass is foot-dragging in an effort to derail repeal. The "survey" is unjustifiable by any rational standard, particularly given the evidence to date from the Pentagon's own studies (going back over 50 years now) and the experience of other countries who have abolished similar policies.
SLDN isn't buying it, as Spaulding reports. Here's SLDN's release:
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network Statement on Pentagon Survey of Troops on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
“At this time SLDN cannot recommend that lesbian, gay, or bisexual service members participate in any survey”
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), a national, legal services and policy organization dedicated to ending “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT), released the following statement today after learning the Department of Defense is launching a survey to troops concerning DADT. Late last week, SLDN asked the Department of Defense and the Pentagon Working Group for the text of the surveys, more information on possible certificates of confidentiality, and whether DOD or PWG could guarantee immunity from DADT and other armed services rules and regulations for service members who are inadvertently "outed" by the surveys. The Department of Defense was unable to satisfy our request.
Statement from Army Veteran and Servicemembers Legal Defense Network Executive Director Aubrey Sarvis:
“A number of service members have contacted SLDN to seek guidance on surveys concerning the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell -- the discriminatory law barring gay and lesbian service members from serving with integrity. At this time SLDN cannot recommend that lesbian, gay, or bisexual service members participate in any survey being administered by the Department of Defense, the Pentagon Working Group, or any third-party contractors. While the surveys are apparently designed to protect the individual’s privacy, there is no guarantee of privacy and DOD has not agreed to provide immunity to service members whose privacy may be inadvertently violated or who inadvertently outs himself or herself. If a service member still wishes to participate, he or she should only do so in a manner that does not reveal sexual orientation.”
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PENTAGON STATEMENT ON INVESTIGATIONS AND DISCHARGES: In a Denver Post story on June 9, 2010, Cynthia Smith, a Pentagon spokesperson, said: "The law is still in effect, and if someone were to out themselves, we would have to begin the discharge process." Link to story: http://www.denverpost.com/ci_15256223
I really hate a world in which there are no surprises.
How much do you want to bet that the "study" will show that there will be massive disruption in the ranks if the gay and lesbian service members that everyone knows are there are allowed to be honest? Any takers?
Spaulding asks some good questions. Read her posts, especially the second one.
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