Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Adm. Mike Mullen speak to reporters this morning at the Pentagon.
This morning, I attended the Pentagon briefing on the new separation policies for “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” My first news article on the announcement is up:
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen announced this morning at a Pentagon news briefing changes to the military’s separation policies under ”Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” for both enlisted and regular and reserve commissioned officers.
The most significant change to the policy will raise the level of the officer who is authorized to initiate an inquiry or separation proceeding regarding the DADT policy to a general or flag officer in the servicemember’s chain of command.
Speaking to efforts to repeal DADT, Gates said, ”I do not recommend a change in the law before we have completed the study. … Doing it hasitly is very risky.”
Mullen said that he echoed the secretary’s statement.
Defense Dep't General Counsel Johnson
Following the initial briefing, Defense Department General Counsel Jeh Johnson also spoke with reporters:
Dept. of Defense General Counsel Jeh Johnson was asked about discharge proceedings that began based on information that would no longer be considered credible and which resulted in a servicemember later giving a statement admitting that they were gay or lesbian, and if the investigation would start over.
”That’s a good question and we’ll have to work that through,” Johnson said. Nothing in the revised separation procedures appears to require such admissions from being excluded as discharge proceedings go forward.
More to come . . .
Popularity: 6% [?]
Chris Geidner is the award-winning senior political editor at D.C.'s Metro Weekly and has written for The Atlantic Online, The American Prospect, Advocate.com, Salon and other publications, as well as at his blog, Law Dork. In 2011, he received the Excellence in News Writing Award from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his coverage of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repeal. Prior to moving to D.C. in 2009, he served as an attorney on the senior staff at the Ohio Attorney General's Office and had earlier worked for a leading Columbus law firm. An extended biography can be found