DADT By The Numbers
Over on Change.gov, the Obama transition team does a weekly video Q&A, responding to questions submitted by readers. On Friday, incoming White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs affirmed Barack Obama's plan to end "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Via AmericaBlog:
Thaddeus asks: "Is the new administration going to get rid of the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy?"Two weeks ago the Military Times conducted a survey in which 10% of active duty personnel said they would not re-enlist if DADT were repealed. Another 14% said DADT's repeal would force them to reconsider extending their service. 71% said they would continue to serve, regardless. The loathsome Elaine Donnelly of the Center For Military Readiness (also known as "one bitch with a computer") extrapolates the data:
Gibbs answers: "Thaddeus, you don't hear a politician give a one-word answer much, but it's 'Yes.'"
If the opinions of Reserve and National Guard troops are similar to those of active-duty personnel surveyed in the Military Times Poll, and if the poll’s findings approximate the number of military people who would leave or consider leaving if the 1993 law is repealed, combined losses (including Guard and Reserve forces) would be huge.Keep in mind that Donnelly's numbers call for every single servicemember against DADT's repeal to resign. Even if the Military Times survey were to prove accurate (which I seriously doubt), the latest Department of Defense numbers from November indicate that all military branches are presently meeting or exceeding their recruitment and retention goals. With the economy the way it is, expect those numbers to balloon.
—A rough estimate using Defense Department numbers for all service branches and components, totaling more than 2 million, indicates that a loss of one in ten (almost 10%) would cost the military approximately 228,600 people — more than the active-duty Marine Corps (200,000).
—If an additional 14% decided to leave, the voluntary exodus would translate into a loss of almost 527,000 — a figure approaching the size of today’s active-duty Army (more than 545,000).
—Estimates of losses in active-duty forces alone would range between 141,000 (10%) and 323,000 (23%).
The poll’s findings are not an exact prediction, but they are significant and ought to be of great concern to President-elect Barack Obama and members of Congress who are considering a vote to repeal the 1993 law. If that legislation succeeds, the Defense Department’s new policy would be forced cohabitation with homosexuals, 24/7, in all military communities, to include Army and Marine infantry, Special Operations Forces, Navy SEALS, and submarines.
Freepers react to Military Times survey:
-"Leaving the military is exactly what Obama wants! That sick bastard is out to cripple our country! He would not mind if all out military sounded like Barnie Fwank and looked like Rosie!"
-"Another ploy by the left to bring down the US military. Hussein knows this will be the outcome and by intention he will allow homos to have full access to any man that yet remains in the military. The disease continues unabated to ravage the country and all decent aspects of society."
-"Military personnel serve because they love their country. This makes them love it less. Why fight for a Marxist who will only impose further restrictions? This is one of many changes to come to our military."
-"And once they turn the military into just another leftist group of perverts, they will no longer have to worry about disqualifying absentee military ballots, dontcha know. Stealing elections will be much easier for them then."
-"If a nation is intent upon inflicting perverted sodomites upon it's noble young defenders, that nation might be better off without a defense."
Labels: "celibacy", Barack Obama, DADT, Elaine Donnelly, military