Hundreds get honorable discharges after Pentagon 'don't ask, don't tell' review
Hundreds of veterans who were dismissed from the U.S. military under the now-repealed “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy have been given honorable discharges.
Hundreds of veterans who were dismissed from the U.S. military under the now-repealed “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy have been given honorable discharges following a yearlong review, the Pentagon announced Tuesday.
“Even though the majority of service members discharged for their sexual orientation … were honorably separated, nearly 2,000 were separated with less than fully honorable characterizations,” Christa A. Specht, a legal policy director at the Defense Department, said in a news release Tuesday.
After the repeal, those who were dismissed due to the policy could appeal for an upgrade to an honorable discharge, which would make them eligible for full military benefits. However, Specht noted, many people affected by the policy were unaware they could do so. The “proactive review” sought to address this.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said 851 cases were proactively reviewed over the past year, and 96.8% of them, more than 800, qualified for “relief.”
“Brave LGBTQ+ Americans have long volunteered to serve the country that they love,” Austin said in a statement Tuesday. “Under President Biden’s leadership, the Department of Defense has taken extraordinary steps to redress the harms done by ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ and other policies on these former Service members.”
Rating: 5