From a press release from VoteVets:
Three former military chaplains today announced their support for a full repeal of the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, and addressed implementation concerns in a Q&A released publicly.
In explaining how they addressed implementation issues, Charles D. Camp, Chaplain (Colonel), USA (Ret.), John F. Gundlach, CAPT, CHC, USN (Ret.), and Jerry Rhyne, Chaplain (Colonel), USAF (Ret.) wrote, “In preparing these responses we were mindful of the primary mission of the Armed Forces to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. We consulted with fellow Chaplains as well as veterans representing all the Services in all ranks and ratings from E-1 through O-8. We also spoke with numerous combat veterans including those who recently returned from Iraq and Afghanistan.”
Among the arguments the chaplains make is that during the first Gulf War, President George H.W. Bush issued a ‘stop loss’ order, at which time no gay and lesbian troops were discharged, and it had no effect on morale, good order, or discipline, and a recently released essay in the 2009 Joint Forces Quarterly similarly found a repeal of the law would not affect morale.
