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Former JCS chairman: It’s time to give ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy another look

The man who served as the nation’s senior military officer when the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on gays in the military was enacted says it’s time to rethink that policy.

Army Gen. John Shalikashvili, who retired in 1997, says he supported “don’t ask, don’t tell” when it was put in place in 1993 but argues that current circumstances — a military straining to deal with two wars amid calls for a bigger force — dictate that it’s time for the country to revisit the issue.

“I now believe that if gay men and lesbians served openly in the United States military, they would not undermine the efficacy of the armed forces,” Shalikashvili said in an op-ed piece Jan. 2.

Shalikashvili has met with several gay and lesbian service members over the past year, some with recent combat experience, and said he has come to believe that their sexual orientation would not have the detrimental effect on morale that many say it would.

“Don’t ask, don’t tell” allows gays and lesbians to serve in the military as long as they keep their orientation secret and do not engage in homosexual sex. It also forbids commanders and supervisors from directly questioning a service member’s sexual orientation.

Shalikashvili is the most senior and prominent retired military member to call for a change to the policy, which was a compromise to President Clinton’s campaign call in 1992 to allow gays to serve openly in the military.

Many rank-and-file service members do not want homosexuals serving actively and openly, saying homosexuality isn’t compatible with military service and would hurt unit morale.

But attitudes may be changing. A Zogby poll of more than 500 service members released Dec. 19 found that 73 percent of military members are “comfortable” with lesbians and gays, and 23 percent “know for sure” that someone in their unit is homosexual.

The 2006 Military Times Poll, which surveyed more than 6,000 subscribers, indicated 30 percent of active-duty personnel think homosexuals should be allowed to serve openly. That percentage has increased slightly every year since the poll began in 2003.

Shaliksahvili said that 24 other nations, including Great Britain and Israel, allow gays to serve openly, “with none reporting morale or recruitment problems.”

However, if Congress does consider the issue, he said, it should do so very carefully.

“By taking a measured, prudent approach to change, political and military leaders can focus on solving the nation’s most pressing problems while remaining genuinely open to the eventual and inevitable lifting of the ban” on gays serving openly, he wrote. “When that day comes, gay men and lesbians will no longer have to conceal who they are, and the military will no longer need to sacrifice those whose service it cannot afford to lose.”