Group ‘Outs’ DADT Survey

While avoiding the question of whether Don't Ask, Don't Tell should be repealed, the Pentagon's survey of 400,000 active-duty and reserve troops does seek to find out what the impact will be on individual and military readiness if the ban on gays serving openly ends.

The 32-page survey, a copy of which was obtained Military.com, asks whether having all heterosexuals in a unit is a factor in being able to fulfill the mission during combat.

Read the entire military survey on "Don't ask, don't tell."

That question, which appears on pages 22-23 of the survey, includes 12 other factors – among them unit morale, length of time serving together, clear task objectives and trust among unit members. (Participants are asked to pick the top three factors.)

The survey, developed by a special Pentagon review panel as background for the possible repeal of the ban on gays serving openly, was sent out July 7 to 200,000 active-duty Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Airmen and to 200,000 from reserve components, officials said.

The Defense Department intended to keep the contents of the survey under wraps, but a copy was acquired by the Palm Center, a California-based gay and lesbian research and advocacy organization. The center distributed the survey this morning to the media.

Though the actual questions were not known to the public until today, advocacy groups both for and against the repeal of the ban took issue with the survey as soon as it was released.

The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, a group advocating the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell discouraged troops from taking part in it because of the potential of accidentally revealing themselves to be gay or lesbian, which could result in them getting the boot from the service under the current law.

Another gay/lesbian advocacy group, Servicemembers United, believes troops can take the survey without fear of "outing" themselves.

But Alexander Nicholson, Servicemembers United's executive director, does slam the survey for what he calls its "biased and derogatory design."

"Flawed aspects of the survey include the unnecessary use of terms that are known to be inflammatory and bias-inducing in social science research, such as the clinical term 'homosexual;' an overwhelming focus on the potential negative aspects of repeal, and little or no inclusion of the potential positive aspects of repeal or the negative aspects of the current policy," he said in a statement this morning.

The survey does not ask for opinions on repealing the ban, but questions in it are intended to determine how individual and unit morale and performance would be affected by gays serving openly.

In the survey, the words "gay" and "lesbian" first appear on page 10, about a third of the way in.

The first part of the survey asks about the participants' marital status and living arrangements, including whether they spent most of the last two years in temporary facilities on deployment, onboard a ship or submarine, in a barracks or military dorms, on-base family housing, or civilian housing.

Other questions deal with unit morale and cohesion, including whether members work as a team, and sevicemembers' attitudes toward their chains of command. It also asks whether participants think it's important for unit members to socialize together off duty.

The survey includes a series of questions asking the participant to rate his unit's and his own mission readiness.

The survey asks questions about why the participant joined the military – pay, education benefits, family tradition, needed a job, see the world, etc. – and whether they intend to stay until retirement or leave when their current enlistment expires.

Other questions are aimed at finding out how participants believe repeal of DADT would affect their job ability, unit readiness, the relationship to leadership, their families' view of the military, their military career plans and their willingness to recommend the military to a friend or family member.

The last three pages include questions about whether participants have any family members, friends or acquaintances who are gay or lesbian. The possible answers are: "Yes, one;" "Yes, more than one;" or "No."

Army Gen. Carter F. Ham, commander of U.S. Army Europe who heads up the review panel said July 7 in that the "voice of the servicemembers is still vitally important" in planning for the possible repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. The panel expects to report its findings in December.