Yes, You Can Sail The Seven Seas: DADT In The Navy

The U.S. Navy announced to the Pentagon this week that it will train personnel on the pending implementation of gay men and lesbians serving openly in the force. The report claims that training will be completed by April 30th of this year. All branches of the armed forces have submitted training strategies and will be receiving a teaching plan from the Pentagon.

Via The Advocate:

Alexander Nicholson, Executive Director of Servicemembers United, said in a statement Friday that the plan is a “comprehensive and deliberate path” to repeal the ban. He added, “In typical military fashion, the plan is quite thorough and some steps may seem unnecessary or redundant, but overall we believe this plan continues to show a good faith effort on the part of the Department of Defense to swiftly move forward with training, certification, and repeal.”

These training initiatives will also be delivered to deployed soldiers in combat zones. While this is a crucial step in the physical aspect of repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” precautions must be taken to avoid discrimination within the forces. Feedback mechanisms are in place that require service chiefs to annually meet to voice concerns and progress. I have spoken to active duty soldiers who have admitted that they have worked with gay service members for years and don’t see the repeal as being an issue. While this sounds promising, the only true gauge of the ultime success of the implementation is time.