Support to the DoD Comprehensive Review Working Group Analyzing the Impact of Repealing 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'. Volume 2: Findings from the Qualitative Research Tasks

摘要

The DoD Comprehensive Review Working Group (CRWG) was charged with systematically engaging members of the Armed Forces to assess any significant impacts of repeal of DADT on military readiness, unit cohesion, morale, and family readiness. Participants in all groups were encouraged to describe their experiences in working with presumed gay or lesbian Service members, express opinions about features that should be part of an implementation plan, and suggest issues to be addressed by military leadership. This report presents the results of systematic thematic analysis of five sets of qualitative data: * Notes from 81 Information Exchange Forums (IEFs) and 29 Leadership Discussion Groups (Discussion Groups). * Notes from 119 Service Member Small Member Focus Groups (military focus groups) conducted with Service members at these same locations. * Notes from 7 Family Small Focus Groups, 9 Family Readiness Coordinator Discussion Groups, and 12 Family Information Exchange Forums (Family IEFs) and 4 Service Member IEFs with family members attending. * Transcripts of 160 on-line dialogs from the confidential communication mechanism web site, 80 with Service members who identified themselves as gay, lesbian, bisexual or uncertain of their sexual orientation and 80 with those self-identifying as heterosexual. * Inbox comments: for Phase 1, a total of 546 free-form verbatim 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' inbox comments received during April, May and June, roughly twice as many from females as from males; for Phase 2: 1505 inbox comments received from April through August, divided more or less equally by Service.