Building the Case for Repealing DADT

From Boston.com:

The Obama administration today has more research to help make its case for allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the armed forces.

A survey of troops who served in Iraq and Afghanistan has found that having gay or lesbian soldiers in fighting units has no significant impact on unit cohesion or readiness. (Read it here.)

The data raises new doubts about the underlying assumption of the congressional ban, namely that military discipline will fall apart if gays and lesbians were permitted to serve openly.

“Service members said the most important factors for unit cohesion and readiness were the quality of their officers, training, and equipment,” said Laura Miller, a sociologist at the government-funded RAND Corp. that conducted the study along with the University of Florida. “Serving with another service member who was gay or lesbian was not a significant factor that affected unit cohesion or readiness to fight.”

The study, which was commissioned by the Palm Center at the University of California, Santa Barbara — whose researchers have advocated lifting the ban — is the latest high-profile assessment to question the validity of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which requires gays and lesbians to keep their sexual orientation secret or risk discharge.

RAND and the University of Florida found that “40 percent of the military members surveyed expressed support for the [current] policy, while 28 percent opposed it and 33 percent were neutral — less support than seen in previous surveys,” according to a release this morning by RAND, which also advises the Pentagon on a host of security matters.

More here