Move To End 'Don't Ask' As GAO Reveals Gay Ban Cost $200 Million

by Doreen Brandt 365Gay.com Washington Bureau

"(Washington) On the heels of a new report by the Government Accounting Office showing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” has cost taxpayers more than $200 million since its inception in 1993 a group of congressmembers has announced plans to introduce legislation to end the ban on gays in the military.

The GAO report was sought by more than 20 lawmakers, concerned about the cost of the policy instituted in the Clinton administration. Of primary concern to the members of Congress were the costs associated with drumming out gay service members in "critical occupations" and "important foreign language skills."

The report will be released officially on Friday but the New York Times obtained an advance copy.

More than 10,000 service members have been discharged over the last 10 years under the policy according to statistics from the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network.

Since 9-11 the number of gay discharges has dropped which SLDN says is an indication that when the nation's security is at danger the military turns a blind eye to gays serving in the armed forces. (story)

The GAO report says that it cost taxpayers $10,500 a person, to recruit replacements for enlisted service members who were discharged from 1994 to 2003 for being gay. The figures do not include the hundreds of officers who also had been discharged under the policy.

The report said that GAO investigators could not quantify the cost of losing personnel discharged after having been trained in certain areas of expertise like intelligence or languages like Arabic, Chinese, Farsi or Korean.

Rep. Martin Meehan of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Terrorism, Conventional Threats and Capabilities, said he was shocked by the findings.

Meehan (D-MA) has drafted a bill to repeal "don't ask, don't tell. It will be introduced on March 2 and is already supported by a bi-partisan coalition of Congressional representatives, including Reps. John Conyers (D-MI) and Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) among others.

“Our homeland is more secure when every qualified, capable American who wants to serve is allowed to do so,” said C. Dixon Osburn, Executive Director of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN).

“The choice we now face is clear: Spend $191 million on firing patriotic Americans or spend the same amount on a dozen Blackhawk helicopters or 800 sidewinder missiles. Our priority should always be defense and security."

During the ten years that "don't ask" has been in force many of the United States’ closest military allies, including Great Britain and Canada, repealed their prohibitions on gay service personnel."

I don't know about the extra Blackhawks or sidewinders. It would be nice if the money were there to equip the soldiers with some protective armor.