Military Chaplains in Support of DADT Repeal

by: Richard Allen Smith

Mon Nov 16, 2009 at 12:42:33 PM EST

Today, a group of retired O-6 military chaplains are coming out in support of repealing the discriminatory policy which harms our national security and wastes valuable American tax dollars.

In a Q&A released by VoteVets.org today, the Chaplains addressed common issues raised by supporters of the policy:

In explaining how they addressed implementation issues, Charles D. Camp, Chaplain (Colonel), USA (Ret.), John F. Gundlach, CAPT, CHC, USN (Ret.), and Jerry Rhyne, Chaplain (Colonel), USAF (Ret.) wrote, "In preparing these responses we were mindful of the primary mission of the Armed Forces to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. We consulted with fellow Chaplains as well as veterans representing all the Services in all ranks and ratings from E-1 through O-8. We also spoke with numerous combat veterans including those who recently returned from Iraq and Afghanistan."

Among the arguments the chaplains make is that during the first Gulf War, President George H.W. Bush issued a 'stop loss' order, at which time no gay and lesbian troops were discharged, and it had no effect on morale, good order, or discipline[.]

[...]

The 2009 Joint Forces Quarterly article states clearly, "After a careful examination, there is no scientific evidence to support the claim that unit cohesion will be negatively affected if homosexuals serve openly." A 1993 RAND Corp. report concludes the same, as do several other military-commissioned reports. In addition, 68 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan troops said, according to a 2006 Zogby poll, they either knew for certain (23%) or suspected (45%) there were gays [, lesbians and bisexuals] in their own unit.  That means there are tens of thousands of known gay service members currently working and fighting alongside their straight peers, and there is no demonstrable negative impact on unit morale, cohesion or combat readiness. In fact, 73% of troops in the poll said they were "comfortable" in the presence of gay peers.

[...]

The experience of our foreign military allies is unequivocal proof that the presence of known gays in the military has no negative effect on combat readiness.  Our British, Canadian and Australian allies, currently fighting with us in Iraq and Afghanistan, allow gays to serve without restriction.  They report no negative impact on military effectiveness.  Furthermore, the Israeli Defense Forces, charged with defending a country that is constantly threatened by its neighbors and virtually always in a state of war, have long allowed known gays to serve. Each of these allies has reported that when they lifted their bans on gay military service, contrary to the fears of negative impact on good order and discipline of some in the military and their supporters in the public, the result was a "non-event."  Most importantly, the U.S. military clearly has the leadership and professionalism to manage this issue, as it did when African Americans were fully integrated into the military and as it did when the roles of women in the military were expanded.

The full text of the Q&A can be found here.

This group of retired field grade officers understands that DADT is nothing but a harmful policy that discriminates against a group of otherwise qualified individuals who want nothing more than to defend their country.  "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" discharges valuable service members, wasting the cost and manpower used for training and the administrative task of actually conducting the discharge. It harms unit cohesion by removing valuable members of combat ready teams during a time of war. It forces service members to chose between exiting the service or violating their own sense of integrity which is instilled in every person who wears their country's uniform. It assumes that those who serve in the United States Armed Forces are less professional than the Soldiers of other nations' armies, who serve alongside openly homosexual comrades with no adverse impact on their force.  It also turns a blind eye to the fact that in our current combined operating environment, American service members are already serving alongside openly homosexual service members of other nations and members of other federal agencies such as the CIA and FBI who have no such ban on homosexual service.

Our Veterans and our military, including our uniformed men of the cloth, are ready for the end of this nonsensical policy. It's time for it's supporters, who have thus far shown nothing but enthusiasm for impeding the combat effectiveness of the American fighting force, to come on board.

VoteVets.org is gathering signatures on a petition to end DADT. Veterans can sign here and civilians can sign here.