DADT Updates

There are a few changes on the DADT front...

First, there are new guidelines on enforcing DADT.

The Pentagon issued new rules on Thursday making it harder for the U.S. military to discharge gay personnel, an interim step to ease enforcement of the existing "don't ask, don't tell" policy while Congress considers repealing it.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the directives were the result of a 45-day review of what the Pentagon can do in the short term within the confines of existing law to allow implementation in a "fair and more appropriate manner."

He said the goal was to bring "a greater measure of common sense and common decency" to the process while the Pentagon conducts a broader review slated for completion by December 1.

And the inevitable questions about how the implementation would work, as though the questions themselves are an impediment to the change in policy.

If gay service members are allowed to serve openly, the military will face another tough question: Should gay partners be entitled to military benefits?

Momentum appears to be building for ending the ban on gays in the military. New rules ordered Thursday by Defense Secretary Robert Gates make it harder to discharge men and women under the policy known as "don't ask, don't tell." His decision is intended as a stopgap measure as Congress weighs whether to go along with President Barack Obama's request to repeal the law.

Since the draft ended in 1973, spousal benefits have increasingly been used as an incentive to recruit and retain an effective force. Today, more than half of all troops sport a wedding ring.

Benefits for married service members include college tuition for a spouse and the right of a spouse to be at a wounded service member's bedside. Spouses also have access to military health care and commissaries worldwide, and married service members receive better housing and even extra pay when they go to war.

By: Brant