USA — ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Online Inbox Goes Live

WASHINGTON — A new online inbox that enables ser­vice­mem­bers and their fam­i­lies to com­ment anony­mous­ly about the impact of a pos­si­ble repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law has gone live.

The inbox will enable ser­vice­mem­bers and fam­i­lies to offer their thoughts about how a repeal of the law that pro­hibits gays and les­bians from open­ly serv­ing in the mil­i­tary might affect mil­i­tary readi­ness, mil­i­tary effec­tive­ness and unit cohe­sion, recruit­ing and reten­tion, and fam­i­ly readi­ness, a defense offi­cial explained. 

Defense Sec­re­tary Robert M. Gates cre­at­ed an intrade­part­ment, inter­ser­vice work­ing group to con­duct a fair, objec­tive, com­pre­hen­sive and dis­pas­sion­ate review of these issues, the offi­cial said. The online inbox is one method the group will use to sys­tem­at­i­cal­ly engage with the force and their families. 

A non-Defense Depart­ment con­trac­tor will mon­i­tor com­ments made through the inbox and elim­i­nate any iden­ti­fi­able infor­ma­tion inad­ver­tent­ly sub­mit­ted to ensure anonymi­ty, the offi­cial said. 

Source:
U.S. Depart­ment of Defense
Office of the Assis­tant Sec­re­tary of Defense (Pub­lic Affairs)