Special Event | Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal: Reflections 10 Years Later

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September 20, 2021 marked the 10-year anniversary of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) repeal implementation, which ended the 17-year military personnel policy enforced by the Department of Defense (DoD) and the military services. Implementation of the policy’s repeal required coordination between Congress, DoD leadership, and service-level leadership, and included the perspectives of service members, veterans, and advocates.

On Monday, September 20, CNAS hosted a virtual panel with key decisionmakers involved in the change management required to fully implement the repeal of DADT.

Speakers included:

• Hon. Jeh Johnson, then-General Counsel for the DoD
• Hon. Gordon Tanner, then-General Counsel for the Department of the Air Force
• Virginia Penrod, then-Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Military Personnel Policy
• Hon. Patrick Murphy, former member of Congress
• Aubrey Sarvis, former Executive Director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network
• Sen. Susan Collins, United States Senator from Maine

The panel was moderated by Hon. Douglas Wilson, then-Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs. Katherine Kuzminski, Senior Fellow and Director of the CNAS Military, Veterans, and Society Program, provided opening remarks.