Wednesday, January 26, 2011

DADT Repeal Implementation Plan To Be Released Friday

The Army Times is reporting that the Pentagon will release a plan Friday that is expected to give the U. S. military services about three months to train troops before DADT will be fully implemented. I can just hear the shrieks emanating from the delusional Elaine Donnelly and similar professional gay haters. With DADT gone, one has to wonder what Ms. Donnelly will do with herself. Imagine, she might even have to get a real job - the horror!! Frankly, given that thousands of gays are already serving in the military - the local troop ranks are full of them - the only training that would seem to be needed is making it plain to bigots and Christofascists that gays can serve in the military whether the haters like it or not and that either they get on board with repeal or they, not the gays, need to get out of the military. Here are some story highlights:
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The plan, they said, will outline the personnel, recruiting and other regulations that must be changed.
It will describe three levels of training for the troops, their commanders and the key administrators, recruiters and other leaders who will have to help implement the changes.
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Under that training schedule, full implementation of the law could begin later this summer. Once the training is complete, the president and his top military advisers must certify that lifting the ban won’t hurt troops’ ability to fight. Sixty days after certification, the law would take effect.
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The changes affect how troops are recruited, trained and discharged, as well as how same sex partners will be treated in terms of various health and other benefits.
Some will be easy to implement. For example, recruits will no longer be turned down because they are gay.
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But others involving benefits, housing and the execution of the training program will be more complex. According to officials, the training will be broken into three categories. One will be for administrators and other leaders who will have to be able to answer detailed questions about the new policy. The second will be for senior commanders who will have to enforce the policies and also be on the lookout for signs of unease or problems among service members.
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The third group will be the general training for the troops. That is the one that is expected to be the most difficult to complete because service members are scattered around the world, and many are in various phases of deployment to war or heading home.
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Advocates for gays have called for quick action. “For years, experts have said that a swift repeal process, accompanied by strong leadership, is the best way to repeal ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’ ” Aaron Belkin of the Palm Center, a California think tank, said Wednesday. “In promising ... to implement the repeal of the ban this year, President Obama has demonstrated leadership and committed to the path that has been proven to be best not only for gay service members, but for all of those who currently serve.”

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