Obama to sign repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” on Wednesday

By Adam Bink

We finally got word of the schedule for the President. According to press secretary Robert Gibbs, via the NYTimes, the President will sign repeal on Wednesday morning. He may also hold a news conference, and I’m told to expect a formal signing ceremony.

I’ll be bringing coverage of the bill signing and/or news conference. Plus, we may have a special treat here at P8TT afterwards to help folks understand the next steps on certification afterwards. Stay tuned.

As many of you know, after the President puts pen to paper, no one can serve openly. The Pentagon will spend the next several months revising regulations and various policies, implementing training, and so forth. Then, the President, Secretary of Defense, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs must send a joint letter to the Armed Services Committees is both houses of Congress, certifying repeal. There is no timeline or deadline on this process. Then, a 60-day waiting period inserted in the language of the bill  by the late Sen. Byrd (before he passed) will take effect. When the clock runs out on those 60 days, members can join and serve openly.

As of this post, 755 contributions totaling $19,669 poured in to help Courage Campaign work to make sure things don’t drag out and the process doesn’t get derailed. If you’d like to help us hit $20,000 and really generate some press, you can do so here. We’ll be closely observing the process and mobilizing around it as it becomes necessary. No more waiting.

Update 1: Chris Johnson at the Washington Blade has some comments from Gibbs explaining the process.

“My sense, without having a specific time at this point, is that … the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ will be signed by the president likely on Wednesday morning,” Gibbs said during a news conference.

But “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” won’t be off the books immediately after Obama’s signature. A provision in the measure requires that the president, the defense secretary and the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff certify that the U.S. military is ready for repeal before open service is implemented.

Asked by the Washington Blade how long he anticipates before certification takes place, Gibbs didn’t offer a timeline, but said an implementation process will soon be underway. He said the recent Pentagon study predicts that implementing repeal “won’t be overly burdensome.”

“Again, I think that is part of what groups of people are going to working on,” Gibbs said. “But I would say this, we learned that — because of the attitudinal studies that the Pentagon conducted — we know that the vast majority of those serving in our military don’t believe this in any way will be disruptive. I think that points to an implementation process that won’t be overly burdensome.”

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he wouldn’t certify “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal until training is instituted in the armed forces to handle open service and until he felt the military service chiefs were comfortable in moving forward. During testimony before the Senate, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz said that repeal shouldn’t be implemented until 2012.

Additionally, after the president and Pentagon leaders certify, repeal still won’t take place until an additional 60-day waiting period has passed.

At the news conference, Gibbs maintained Obama administration attorneys are working on legal issues related to repeal as well as the path toward implementing open service in the U.S. military.

“There are a series of implementation and legal issues that lawyers in this building as well in the Department of Defense and the Department of Justice are working through — and, obviously, working though a longer and larger implementation policy process once the president signs the repeal into law,” Gibbs said.

Update 2: Courtesy of JD Smith at Outserve, the following internal communique is an example of the process laid out.

From: CSAF [mailto:redacted]
Sent: Sunday, December 19, 2010 11:02 PM
Subject: Repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”

Fellow Airmen,

Yesterday, the Senate passed HR 2965, a bill designed to repeal Section
654 of Title 10 of the United States Code, known as the “Don’t Ask,
Don’t Tell” law.  Once the President signs the bill into law, the
Department of Defense will proceed to implement the change in a
responsible, deliberate, and careful manner.

It is important to understand that the President’s signing of the new
bill into law does not mean the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell law will be
repealed immediately.  Instead, the Congressional language stipulates
that repeal occurs 60 days after certification by the Chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Secretary of Defense, and the President that
the necessary policies and regulations have been prepared to implement
repeal and that repeal is consistent with standards of military
readiness, effectiveness, unit cohesion, recruiting and retention of the
Armed Forces.  To repeat, the implementation and certification process
will not happen immediately; it will take time.  Meanwhile, the current
law remains in effect.  All Air Force members should conduct themselves
accordingly.

In the coming days and weeks as we prepare for the repeal, we will
provide education and training material to help all Airmen understand
what is expected in a post-repeal environment.

Effective leadership, however, is key to implementing this change and
success will rest on the shoulders of senior leaders like me,
commanders, chiefs, first sergeants, and supervisors.  The standards of
conduct we expect of all Airmen will not change.  Moreover, we will
continue to treat each other, as members of the Air Force family, with
dignity and respect.

I know each of you will approach this issue professionally and that you
will continue to adhere faithfully to our core values of Integrity,
Service before Self, and Excellence in all we do.   By following our
core values, we will successfully implement this change with the same
unparalleled professionalism we have demonstrated with every
transformation we have undertaken in peace and war.

NORTON A SCHWARTZ
Chief of Staff