Nathaniel Frank, former Senior Research Fellow at The Palm Center, is the author of a just-released report detailing the financial and human costs of the military's failed "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.
Frank writes us:
"Far from protecting military readiness, the policy has harmed it, sacrificing badly needed personnel that is replaced with less qualified talent; undermining cohesion, integrity, and trust through forced dishonesty; hurting the morale of gay troops by limiting their access to support services; wasting hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars; invading the privacy of all service members—gay and non-gay alike—by casting a cloud of suspicion and uncertainty over the intimate lives of everyone in the armed forces; and damaging the military's reputation which makes it harder to recruit the best and brightest America has to offer.
Some defenders of the current policy say 'don't ask, don't tell' is 'working' and that there is no compelling reason to change it, particularly while the nation is engaged in two wars…
…This report details a litany of costs incurred by the military, the troops—both gay and non-gay alike, and the nation as a result of DADT. Indeed research and experience now show that the policy is a costly failure that has had the opposite of its intended effect."
Frank's full report, here:
