WASHINGTON (Army News Service, July 26, 2010) -- Only about 10 percent of the 400,000 servicemembers asked to complete a survey about possible repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law have responded so far, and DoD officials said they need to hear from the rest.
"It's important for them to return the survey so we understand possible impacts associated by repeal of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell law," said DoD spokesperson Cynthia Smith. She added that officials need to know how the repeal would impact unit cohesion, military readiness, recruiting, retention and family readiness.
A total of 200,000 active servicemembers and another 200,000 in the Reserve and National Guard were e-mailed July 7 with a link to an online questionnaire about possible impacts of repealing the law that bans gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military.
So far, only about 40,000 of those randomly selected have completed the survey instrument, Smith said. Respondents have until Aug. 15 to complete the questionnaire.
Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the Defense Department needs objective information that the survey can deliver, and emphasized that no one is drawing conclusions about the survey until it is finished.
"To reach out at this point and try to predict either what they might say or what the results might say, I just think it's too early with respect to that," the chairman said.
"I think it is very important for us to understand from our men and women in uniform the challenges that they see," Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said during a Pentagon news conference earlier this month, noting that the department needs their views on the subject and the challenges they see to implementing a possible change to the law.
Gen. Carter F. Ham, commander of U.S. Army Europe, and Jeh Johnson, the Pentagon's top lawyer, are leading a review panel that's assessing the current law.
U.S. Army
