Gates Urges Troops to Take Survey

Defense Secretary Robert Gates is urging gay and lesbian soldiers to
take the Pentagon's survey on "don't ask, don't tell," since the resulting
information could be vital to repealing the 17-year-old law.

Gates, speaking to service members in South Korea, voiced his concerns about the 400,000 surveys issued to military personnel, and the outcry some have made in regard to the confidentiality of the surveys.

"If the law changes and we are told to implement it — and we will if the law changes — then how do we do this in a way that makes sense?" Gates said, according to United Press International. "How do we identify beforehand the problems, the issues, and the challenges that we're going to face? The kind of training requirements we're going to need, the kinds of changes in regulations, the impact on benefits — all of these things need to be addressed in advance.... That's where we want to hear from you all."