Watchdog puts price tag on ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’

The recently repealed law prohibiting gays from openly serving in the military has cost the government nearly $200 million during the past five fiscal years, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office.

The military lost more than 3,600 service members between fiscal 2004 and fiscal 2009 because of "don't ask, don't tell," which resulted in $193 million in replacement and administrative costs, GAO found. At least 39 percent of the service members discharged performed critical roles within the military such as infantry, intelligence specialist and cryptologic linguist; GAO said that figure could be an underestimate because of the Air Force's limited data.

GAO's report updates a previous study that examined the first decade of "don't, ask, don't tell." The earlier report could not calculate the total costs between fiscal 1993 and 2004 because the Defense Department did not have the relevant data. Around 9,500 service members were separated under the policy during the first 10 years of its implementation, with at least 8 percent of troops occupying critical positions within the armed services.

The report, released on Wednesday, coincides with the Defense Department's preparations for implementing the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell." After months of public debate over the 17-year-old law -- and what many saw as dwindling prospects for its repeal in 2010, the Senate overturned it near the end of the lame duck session in December.

"Our goal here is to move as quickly, but as responsibly, as possible," Defense Secretary Robert Gates said earlier this month, of repealing the law. Gates described the implementation of the repeal as a three-step process: establishing new regulations, policies and service member benefits; producing training material for military leaders; and training service members about the new guidelines.

The Defense Department is "trying to get the first two phases of that process done as quickly as possible," Gates said at the time, expressing hope that it could be finished "within a matter of a very few weeks."

Initiating the new law, however, is still months away. The repeal does not go into effect until 60 days after the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Defense secretary and President Obama all certify that implementing the repeal will not compromise military readiness or troop morale.

Legislation introduced this week by Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., could further delay the repeal. That bill would require certification of the Pentagon's plan from all four service branch chiefs -- two of whom opposed the law's repeal.