Subject: GovExec Story:
'Don't ask, don't tell' divides secretaries, commanders.
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1010/102210cd2.htm
Go to the link above to read the entire story and to the Vet's and familes and children of Please COMMENT.
'Don't ask, don't tell' divides secretaries, commanders
By Sara Sorcher CongressDaily October 22, 2010
The three service secretaries now with the power to discharge any openly gay officer under the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy have all voiced their support for a repeal of the controversial policy in the past, putting them at odds with the senior military commanders.
"It's the first time in the 20 years I've spent studying the military that there has been a split between the Defense Secretary and the Secretary of the Joint Chiefs [who have voiced support of legislative repeal] and the other chiefs," said professor David Segal, director of the University of Maryland's Center for Research on Military Organization.
A directive from Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday limited discharges under the policy to an elite team of five: the Air Force, Army, and Navy Secretaries in conjunction with the Pentagon's legal counsel and the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness.