Tag Archives: Robert Gates

Even though advocates for gay troops are worried that the anonymity of the survey may not be airtight and have advised them not to participate. Note that Gates says “when and IF” when referring to the repeal of DADT.

In a videotaped Memorial Day message to the nation’s soldiers, Defense Secretary Robert Gates urges his audience not to to “become distracted” over the possible repeal of DADT. Gates then asks that active duty soldiers participate in the repeal study so that “changes can be done right.”

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has issued a lukewarm endorsement of the DADT compromised reached yesterday by the White House and Congress. “Secretary Gates continues to believe that ideally the DOD review should be completed before there is any legislation to repeal the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell law,” Gates’ spokesman Geoff Morrell emailed journalists this morning. “With Congress having indicated that …

Ben Smith at Politico is floating the rumor that Hillary Clinton is being considered to replace Robert Gates as Secretary of Defense. Gates, for his part, has saved Clinton from a different kind of marginalization by a powerful White House staff, which has a sometimes-rocky relationship with her own staff of loyalists, a residue of the bitter 2008 campaign. He’s …

Could this be part of the DADT repeal implementation study? A new online inbox that enables servicemembers and their families to comment anonymously about the impact of a possible repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law has gone live. The inbox will enable servicemembers and families to offer their thoughts about how a repeal of the law that prohibits …

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has fired back at yesterday’s statement by Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement in response to a letter sent this afternoon by Admiral Michael Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Defense Secretary Robert Gates concerning the repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy: “We …

This afternoon Defense Secretary told Congress not to attempt to vote to repeal DADT until the Pentagon has completed its study. The letter was co-signed by Joint Chiefs Chairman Mike Mullen. Both men have testified in favor of lifting the ban, eventually. In a sharply worded letter, Gates said he believes the Defense Department must be allowed to review the …

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has just announced changes to the enforcement of DADT which go into effect immediately. ”I believe these changes represent an important improvement in the way the current law is put into practice, above all by providing a greater measure of common sense and common decency for handling what are complex and difficult issues for all involved,” …

“A more humane enforcement and application”? It looks like third-party outings may be ignored going forward, but the new policy will not apply retroactively to those vindictively outed by others.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates is reportedly about to announce some changes in the way the DOD enforces Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. “I think he is prepared to offer a way ahead on that subject this week,” Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary, told reporters Tuesday. Gates will address “the changes that he is going to be making to the department’s …

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has gone from urging slow movement on the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell to saying it may not happen at all. “If we do it,’’ Mr. Gates told reporters on his plane enroute to Rhode Island, “it’s important that we do it right, and very carefully.’’ Mr. Gates was expanding on his answer to an …

Upon the revelation that there is money in the 2010 budget to continue DADT, Defense Secretary Robert Gates acknowledged that the repeal of the law banning gays in the military is going to be “pushed down the road a little bit” because he and the president “have a lot on our plates right now.” The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network responds: …

Barack Obama just held a press conference to officially name Hillary Clinton as his Secretary of State. In order to finalize the deal, Bill Clinton had to agree to a major curtailing of his Global Initiative: Reports said Clinton’s long-rumored pick was cleared after her husband, former President Bill Clinton, agreed to hand over the names of every contributor to …

Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced today that effective immediately, the 146,000 U.S. soldiers in Iraq will have their tours of duty extended from one year to 15 months. Admitting that our forces have been “stretched” by the conflict, he denied that the tour extension is the result of poor stateside recruitment efforts. With troop morale in Iraq already said to …