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Not so fast on 'don't ask, don't tell' repeal, say top Pentagon brass

Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs Chair Adm. Mike Mullen have been strong backers of a repeal of 'don't ask, don't tell.' But the heads of the Army, Marines, and Air Force said Friday the repeal could cause problems and should be delayed.

The heads of the US Army, Marines, and Air Force recommended against repealing the "don't ask, don't tell" ban on openly gay troops, at least in the short-term, in testimony on Capitol Hill Friday 鈥� clearly dissenting from the secretary of Defense and the nation鈥檚 top military officer.

The Air Force chief of staff, for instance, said repealing "don't ask, don't tell" could impact military effectiveness. He called some of the assessments endorsed by Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen on the subject "too optimistic."

The Army chief of staff recommended repealing "don't ask, don't tell" only after America pulled back from its current war footing.

The testimony provided Republican opponents of the repeal with plenty of ammunition. Sen. John McCain (R) of Arizona suggested that many more hearings on the issue might be needed before Congress makes a decision.

Meanwhile, the testimony marked a setback for Democrats eager to overturn the ban, as well as Mullen and Secretary Gates, who traveled to Capitol Hill this week to 鈥渟trongly urge鈥� Congress to repeal "don鈥檛 ask, don鈥檛 tell" 鈥� a policy that became law 17 years ago this month. Mullen said it is the right thing to do 鈥渇or our nation, our military, and our collective honor.鈥�

Service chiefs have their say

Last month, Mullen publicly rebuked the new Marine Corps commandant, Gen. James Amos, for expressing his reservations about repealing the ban, which were based on the fact that marines work and live in close quarters.

But the service chiefs spoke openly about their reservations Friday. Among the service chiefs, only Chief of Navy Operations Adm. Gary Roughhead recommended repealing the ban now.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey, who commanded the war in Iraq before Gen. David Petraeus took over, said in his opening statement that in the near-term repealing the ban 鈥渨ill add another level of stress to an already stretched force.鈥�

What鈥檚 more, Casey told the committee repealing the ban would be 鈥渕ore difficult for the Army than the report suggests.鈥�

That said, he added that the Pentagon鈥檚 鈥渄on鈥檛 ask, don鈥檛 tell鈥� report, released Tuesday, provides a suitable framework for moving forward, and the Army could implement repeal with 鈥渕oderate鈥� impact on military effectiveness.

The Marine Corps' Amos expressed a similar opinion. Assimilating openly homosexual troops into the 鈥渢ightly woven fabric鈥� of Marine Corps units 鈥� particularly combat units, he added 鈥� has 鈥減otential for disruption鈥� within the Corps.

鈥淚 do not know how distracting that effort would be nor how much risk it portends,鈥� he told the committee.

Uncertain effect on infantry's 'tightly woven culture'

Nearly half of Army combat units and 43 percent of Marine combat units expressed worries in the Pentagon survey that repealing the ban would affect unit cohesion and effectiveness.

鈥淲e asked for their opinions, and they gave it to us,鈥� Amos said. 鈥淚n the final analysis I鈥檓 faced with two questions.鈥�

The first is 鈥渃ould we implement the ban?鈥� The answer, he said, is yes.

The second question, 鈥渋s should we at this time?鈥� Based on 鈥渢he very tough fight in Afghanistan,鈥� and the 鈥渁lmost singular focus鈥� of marines on combat today, when coupled with 鈥渢he necessary tightly woven culture of those combat forces that we are asking so much of at this time,鈥� my recommendation is that we should not implement repeal at this time.鈥�

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz concurred. He does 鈥渘ot agree with the study assessment that the short-term risk to military effectiveness is low,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat assessment in my view is too optimistic.鈥�

Senator McCain, an opponent of gay troops serving openly in the military, seized on the testimony. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 pretty obvious,鈥� he said, 鈥渢hat there is significantly divided opinion on this issue. It鈥檚 very obvious to me that there is a lot more scrutiny and work to be involved before passing this legislation.鈥�

He hinted that he would like to see many more hearings on the issue before Congress takes up any votes. In 1997, there were some two dozen hearings before "don鈥檛 ask, don鈥檛 tell" became law, he noted. He added that it would be helpful to 鈥渉ear from senior enlisted personnel who will bear he brunt of the responsibilities for the training and implementation of any change in the law.鈥�

Support for ending the ban 鈥� eventually

But while the majority of the service chiefs said that the time is not right to lift the ban, they added that it could and, some added should, ultimately be lifted.

The Air Force's Schwartz recommend that this take place in 2012 鈥渁t the earliest.鈥�

The Army's Casey recommended that repeal should begin 鈥渨hen our singular focus is no longer on combat operations.鈥� At that point, he said, 鈥渢hen I鈥檇 be comfortable with implementing repeal.鈥�

The question within the halls of the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill, however, is whether the courts will act if Congress defers a decision.

鈥淭hose who chose not to act legislatively are rolling the dice that this policy will not be abruptly changed鈥� by the courts, said Gates, adding that such a scenario is one of his 鈥�worst fears.鈥�