Military lays out plan to implement gay ban repeal

[WestVirginiaRebel]

TBO.com:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Military training to apply the new law allowing gays to serve openly will begin in February and will move quickly, senior Pentagon leaders said Friday.

They said there is no intent to delay but would not guarantee full implementation of the repeal this year.

The hedge on scheduling came despite assertions by President Barack Obama in his State of the Union speech this week that the repeal of the 17-year-old ban will be finalized in 2011.

Speaking to Pentagon reporters, Gen. James Cartwright said he expects the military services to move expeditiously to train the bulk of their units, and that a year for completion is "a good goal."

Still, he added, "there's nothing that tells us that it's not reachable, but we have to allow for the fact that we may discover something between now and then."

Cartwright, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he expects the services will know within the first month of training how well they are doing and how quickly they will be able to proceed.

Cartwright and Clifford Stanley, the defense undersecretary for personnel, said the military services will have a lot of latitude to determine their training process and schedule.

Both men appeared unable to describe what would be unacceptable behavior from service members, such as those who might crack jokes about sexual orientation.

Instead, they said it will be up to individual unit commanders to make sure their troops are professional and respectful. In fact, Stanley said, as a commander on the battlefield, he would be more concerned about insuring that his troops are focused on their mission and that they come home alive.

"I'm not sure I'm going to be too concerned with your orientation," said Stanley, a retired two-star general in the Marine Corps.

Calling this a milestone event for the armed services, Defense Secretary Robert Gates in a memo Friday said a guiding principle is that "all personnel will be treated with respect."

"Harassment or unlawful discrimination of any member of the armed forces for any reason will not be tolerated," he said, adding that he wants the implementation done in a timely, comprehensive way.

The implementation plan will go to Gates next Friday, and training materials will be delivered to the services at the same time. Gates wants progress updates every two weeks.
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We'll see how this works out...

[pollyannaish]

This makes me feel so very sad. Not because I don't know that gays have been serving our country honorably for years...but because the emphasis is now just on whether or not people can crack jokes. This is princess and the pea territory which distracts us from the missions at hand.

[Sabre86]

This is nothing but a disaster in the making.

 

The queers will be allowed to scream harassment and you'll see good soldiers drummed out of the ranks because of the accusations.

 

However, not one single queer will be punished when he grabs another soldier's privates, or tries to use his rank to force an underling to be his/her sexual toy. It will be covered up and the victim likely dismissed from the service.

 

Then of course, will come the issue of queers and their "partners" getting base housing and other such privileges. Since the DOMA is still in effect, they cannot legally do so, which means even more lawsuits designed to force queer marriage on the nation.

 

And of course, once that happens, the legal assault on Christian churches will be right behind.

[Saltbag]

The middle east is burning, the world is about to lose the US dollar as a standard due to our country's incompetence, and we needed to go down this route. Repealing DADT was incredibly important...

 

Pure kick in teeth to the people in our military. But who cares, as long as it creates opportunities to give the media some "outs" to distract from real issues.

 

This whole repeal has made me sick from day one. The timing was impeccable.