The Pentagon announced that it mailed out 150,000 new “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” surveys on Aug, 23 seeking input from military spouses about the proposed repeal of the law that bars openly gay men and lesbians from serving in the military.
“We understand the inextricable link between the families, servicemembers and readiness, and this survey is a way to try to better understand that,” Army Gen. Carter F. Ham, U.S. Army Europe commander said recently in an interview.
The spouse survey is not as lengthy or as comprehensive as the one sent to servicemembers, and it “zeroes in” on family readiness, Ham said. Unlike the other survey, the spouse survey is in hard copy rather than in the digital e-mail form sent to troops.
“We know there’s a very real connection between family readiness and military readiness,” Ham said. “We want to make sure we understand what that dynamic might be if the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy were to change.”
The spouse surveys were mailed to 80,000 reserve-component and 70,000 active duty spouses.
