Military Study Recommends Ending DADT

The death knell is ringing over the DADT policy in the military. A military study is being published which will recommend ending the policy for multiple reasons.

An article in the Pentagon’s top scholarly journal calls in unambiguous terms for lifting the ban on gays serving openly in the armed forces, arguing that the military is essentially forcing thousands of gay men and women to lead dishonest lives in an organization that emphasizes integrity as a fundamental tenet.

The article in the upcoming issue of Joint Force Quarterly, which is published for the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was written by an Air Force colonel who studied the issue for months while a student at the National Defense University in Washington and who concludes that having openly gay troops in the ranks will not hurt combat readiness.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of Pentagon leaders, but their appearance in a publication billed as the Joint Chiefs’ “flagship’’ security studies journal signals that the top brass now welcomes a debate in the military over repealing the 1993 law that requires gays to hide their sexual orientation, according to several longtime observers of the charged debate over gays in the military.

Reportedly Harry Reid has approached the White House about ending the DADT policy sooner rather than later. The efforts in Congress are being led by Rep. Patrick Murphy, a military veteran, and the bill has 176 co-sponsors. I wish the military would suspend the program pending review, it’s a waste of time and resources. It’s a policy that no longer reflects America and its views.