Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Discharge Data for 2009 Released

Washington, D.C., March 12th – Congressman Jim Moran, Virginia Democrat and senior member of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, released information today detailing the number of U.S. troops discharged from military service under the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy during the first month of 2009. These soldiers were the last to be discharged under DADT by the Bush Administration.

“At a time when our military’s readiness is strained to the breaking point from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the armed forces continue to discharge vital service members under the outdated, outmoded ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy,” said Moran.  “Our allies have overcome this issue, facing no adverse consequences from lifting bans focused on soldiers’ sexual orientation. Polls show the American people overwhelmingly support repealing this policy. Yet, how many more good soldiers are we willing to lose due to a bad policy that makes us less safe and secure?  I’m going to keep releasing this information each month until DADT is repealed.”  
 
In January 2009, the Army fired eleven soldiers for homosexuality including one human intelligence collector, one military police officer, four infantry personnel, a health care specialist, motor transport operator and water treatment specialist under the military's “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” law and policy.  Today’s release is a first in a series of monthly releases Rep. Moran plans to highlight until DADT is repealed.

"Are these the last of the discharges under 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell?'" asked Dr. Nathaniel Frank, Senior Research Fellow at the Palm Center, an academic think-tank at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
"Or will President Obama's Pentagon discharge more mission-critical intelligence specialists next month?" 

A forthcoming Palm Center study by a panel of military law experts argues that President Obama has the authority to suspend the gay discharge process today by issuing an executive order. While "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is a federal law, the new study argues, the President has the power as Commander in Chief to stop firing troops under DADT if doing so would promote national security.
 
A 2005 Government Accountability Office study reported that the military discharged 730 intelligence specialists under DADT during the policy's first decade.  Frank's new book, Unfriendly Fire, documents the stories of some of those specialists who were fired.

Moran, a member of the Military Appropriations subcommittee, is a long-time opponent of the DADT policy and an original cosponsor of the proposed law to lift the ban, the “Military Readiness Enhancement Act” (H.R. 1283) recently introduced by Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher (D-CA).

--30--