Pentagon Plans Friday News Conference on DADT Repeal Implementation
In response to an inquiry, a Pentagon spokesperson confirmed to Metro Weekly that the Pentagon has a news conference planned for Friday, Jan. 28, to discuss implementation of the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
The Associated Press obtained additional information about the Friday news conference, reporting that “Pentagon leaders will roll out a plan Friday that is expected to give the military services about three months to train their forces on the new law allowing gays to serve openly, officials said Wednesday.”
The news comes less than a day after President Barack Obama said in the State of the Union that “[s]tarting this year, no American will be forbidden from serving the country they love because of who they love.”
The AP report also detailed:
The plan, [Pentagon officials] said, will outline the personnel, recruiting and other regulations that must be changed. It will describe three levels of training for the troops, their commanders and the key administrators, recruiters and other leaders who will have to help implement the changes.
Under that training schedule, full implementation of the law could begin later this summer. Once the training is complete, the president and his top military advisers must certify that lifting the ban won’t hurt troops’ ability to fight. Sixty days after certification, the law would take effect.
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