This post is from Jarrod Chlapowski, a U.S. Army veteran who recently joined the Human Rights Campaign to consult on ending the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. Having been trained as a Korean linguist and cryptologic voice interceptor, he served in Korea, supporting the 3rd Military Intelligence Battalion on more than 300 sensitive reconnaissance operation missions. Chlapowski chose not to re-enlist in the Army because of the excessive burden of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law.
As some of you may recall, a few months ago Marine Commandant General James T. Conway spoke at the National Press Club regarding the future of the Marine Corps, at which ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ came up as it tends to nowadays. Conway, avoided specifically taking a public position on the merits of repeal of DADT, but focused on reasons why repeal may not be timely.
This week Conway is again in the DADT spotlight, in a Washington Times article all but labeling the Commandant as the face of the opposition within the Pentagon.
Conway’s public position is unchanged from when he spoke before the National Press Club, again focusing on the two wars as a deterrent to dealing with the issue. However, now, in the Washington Times article, Conway’s spokesman Major David Nevers states “When the time is right, we have full confidence that we will be asked to provide the best military advice concerning the readiness of the Corps as it relates to this issue.” This is concerning, as it is not at all clear what Conway’s ‘best’ military advice will be.
Of even great concern are the anonymous, but seemingly well-informed sources referenced in the article who are sharing Conway’s internal Pentagon advocacy against repeal. It appears that Conway’s personal beliefs that allowing gays to openly serve would be ‘disruptive’ to the military, and that he is leading the internal fight against repeal. Not provided by the article are the reasons why Conway would feel open service would be disruptive, and as these whispers are again unofficial, there is no forum available as of yet to publicly debate Conway on these remarks. One can presume those reasons are personal and not based on fact, particularly given the wealth of information proving otherwise. Regardless of the reasons for Conway’s personal position on DADT, it is disturbing to learn of active opposition within the Pentagon to the President’s clear policy determination that DADT must be repealed.
As troubling as this article is, the most important lesson it provides is that the debate is coming swift and hard, and we cannot presume that this fight will be easy.
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