Don't Ask, Don't Tell: Failing in Strategic Leadership

摘要

Arguments have been made on both sides of the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy that was written into United States law in 1993. Many existing arguments are based on morality, religion, ethics, philosophy, and rational reasoning. This paper continues the exploration of this policy along a new dimension that focuses on military strategic leadership. The author investigated the relationship between key tenets of military strategic leadership doctrine and the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy. The key finding of this paper is that many critical facets of military strategic leadership doctrine are inconsistent with the policy. Based on this finding, he concludes that it is time for strategic leaders, both civilian and military, to re- evaluate this policy while considering the tenets of military strategic leadership.