DADT Repeal Process Released By Pentagon

Tagged with: Alexander Malcolm Nicholson      Don't Ask Don't Tell      Human Rights Campaign      James F. Amos      Pentagon      Repeal      Servicemembers United      United States Department of Defense

Even though General James F. Amos seems more than happy to delegate almost all the work and responsibility of implementing the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell to his small unit commanders, the Pentagon is taking a far more active approach to the repeal, which will take months. The repeal will occur in three stages with the military chaplains, lawyers and civilian public affairs officers receiving training first, and then commanding officers and then rank and file troops. Most notably, the plan does not require that all service members be trained and educated about the repeal and integration before final repeal is certified.

The plan requires that stage two of the education be finished before repeal is implemented. According to the HRC: “the plan requires that military experts, such as judge advocates and military equal opportunity advisors, and military leaders, such as commanding officers and civilian supervisors, are fully trained and educated prior to final repeal.”

The first progress update on repeal is due to the Under Secretary of Defense by 1 March. “The progress updates will include, at minimum, information on units trained, status of updated regulations, and other preparation activities as required,” according to the HRC.

The HRC also reported:

The repeal implementation plan also requires the military to engage stakeholders, such as advocacy organizations, during the pre-repeal phase – the current phase of the plan. In addition, it acknowledges that congressional hearings on implementation may begin during the certification process. Finally, it recognizes that it the military may need to continue to tweak their policies regarding lesbian and gay service members following implementation, as well as revise education and training programs for sustained education and training efforts.

Alexander Nicholson, the executive director of Servicemembers United, said in a statement to the Advocate:

“In typical military fashion, the plan is quite thorough and some steps may seem unnecessary or redundant, but overall we believe this plan continues to show a good faith effort on the part of the Department of Defense to swiftly move forward with training, certification, and repeal.”

The Navy expects to be finished with its training by 30 June.

Source: http://lezgetreal.com