During the debate over repealling the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT) policy, several conservative media figures argued that the policy should remain intact because it was working. For example, in an editorial headlined “Don't Mess With Success,” Weekly Standardeditor Bill Kristol wrote that DADT was a “successful policy” and stated that it “works pretty well at accommodating the complex demands of a war-ready military nestled in a liberal society.”

Well today we got confirmation of what we already knew, that arguments like Kristol's don't hold water. On January 20, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released its report on the “Personal and Cost Data Associated with Implementing DOD's Homosexual Conduct Policy,” and found that 39 percent of the military personal discharged becuase of the policy “held critical occupations,” but even that number “could be an underestimation:”

According to GAO's analysis of Defense Manpower Data Center data, 3,664 servicemembers were separated under DOD's homosexual conduct policy from fiscal years 2004 through 2009. Of the 3,664 separations, 1,458 of these separated servicemembers held a critical occupation or an important foreign language skill as determined by GAO and the services. More specifically, 1,442 (39 percent) of the servicemembers separated under the policy held critical occupations, such as infantryman and security forces, while 23 (less than 1 percent) of the servicemembers held skills in an important foreign language, such as Arabic or Spanish. Seven separated servicemembers held both a critical occupation and an important foreign language skill. However, the number of separated servicemembers with critical occupations could be an underestimation because of a number of factors. For example, the Air Force provided the occupations eligible for enlistment bonuses from fiscal years 2006 through 2009, but could not provide this information for fiscal years 2004 and 2005 because the Air Force's data were incomplete.

Additionally, the GAO calculated that it cost the military $193.3 million to “separate and replace” the officers discharged.

Using available DOD cost data, GAO calculated that it cost DOD about $193.3 million ($52,800 per separation) in constant fiscal year 2009 dollars to separate and replace the 3,664 servicemembers separated under the homosexual conduct policy.

Kristol recently wrote that while he still opposes repealing the policy, he believes conservatives who are “hyperventilating” should “cool it,” because the troops will be handle the “burden” the repeal places on them. Actually, as the GAO confirmed yesterday, it was the policy that was the “burden” on the military, and fortunately, thanks to Congress' actions, they won't have to handle it much longer.