The Washington Post is reporting that starting in February, the Pentagon will start a program to train commanders, chaplains and troops for the impending overturning of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.
Training should focus on reminding troops to treat each other with respect, that no policy will be established solely based on sexual orientation and that harassment or unlawful discrimination of any service member is prohibited, Gates said in a memo. The services must submit detailed training plans to him by Friday.
“Moving along expeditiously is better than dragging it out,” Gen. James E. Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs, said this week in a briefing with reporters.
Each of the military services will be responsible for the specifics of its training, which will occur in three phases, officials said. Military chaplains, lawyers and civilian personnel will go first, followed by commanding officers, then the rank and file. The services will focus on training troops before they deploy, but some training may take place at the battlefront, officials said.
The news comes at the same time that a California federal appeals court has denied a request by the government to suspend a lawsuit in which DADT was ruled unconstitutional. Since the government is in the process of ending the ban on gays in the military, they asked to be relieved from defending the case. Their request was denied.
