Palm Center Issues DADT Recommendations to Pentagon

The Palm Center, which has dedicated the past decade to studying gays in the military, has released its key recommendations regarding "don't ask, don't tell" as well as the presence of homosexual troops in general.

Its press release specifies the eight recommendations presented to the Pentagon Working Group, ranging from sending study teams to other nations where gays and lesbians serve openly to recognizing and repairing damage done by DADT. The list of recommendations from Aaron Belkin, the director of Palm Center, states, "Although our independent findings as well as the vast majority of other government, military, and academic research have concluded that ending the gay ban will not harm military effectiveness, our offer of support and recommendations below to not assume any outcome."

The key recommendations include:
- Consulting existing literature as a road map;
- Assessing the impact on unit cohesion properly;
- Consulting troops for relevant information rather than to ask their
permission for reform;
- Sending study teams to Britain, Israel, Australia, and Canada;
- Using an appropriate standard for assessing the likely impact of change;
- Consulting research on the timing of implementation;
- Noting that leadership and consistency are more important than
second-order effects; and
- Correcting for biases introduced by "don't ask, don't tell."