Pentagon Revises DADT Discharge Procedures

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Memos intended to ''ensure greater uniformity and care'' in implementation of ''Don't Ask, Don't Tell''

by Chris Geidner
Published on October 21, 2010, 5:17pm |

Discharges under the military's ''Don't Ask, Don't Tell'' policy will now take the approval of the service branch secretary, and only in consultation with the defense department general counsel and the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, according to a pair of memoranda issued by senior military leadership today.

Until further notice, pursuant to a memorandum from Defense Secretary Robert Gates and a follow-up memorandum from Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Clifford Stanley, no service member can be discharged under DADT without the ''personal approval of the secretary of the military department concerned, and only in coordination with me and the General Counsel of the Department of Defense.''

A senior defense department lawyer briefed reporters on Thursday afternoon about the memos, saying, ''These two memos are primarily in reaction to ... the temporary stay last night. We are clearly in a legally uncertain territory.''

When asked if the ''coordination'' required would allow Johnson or Stanley to effectively ''veto'' the decision of a service secretary, the lawyer said that that is not the case. He said that the purpose of the change was ''to ensure greater uniformity and care in the enforcement of the law.'' He also noted it was ''not a substantive change in the decision making'' involved in the enforcement of DADT.