A Regent University doctoral student is studying the psychology of religious coping of military personnel following exposure to combat, and he’s collecting data using an online survey. While the survey may cause some to remember their combat experiences, the questions themselves are otherwise benign, if a bit fuzzy at times.
If you’re a combat-experienced believer in God, you can contribute to the data through the survey here.
After last year’s to-do over the USAFA climate survey, it seems an outside agency will be conducting this year’s version.
The office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and Reserve Affairs decided in January to charge AFMA with conducting the Academy’s 2011 survey, said Col. Bill Hampton, executive secretary for the Academy’s Board of Visitors.
Brenda Gainey, the survey lead, apparently used the current Air Force surveys as a baseline and then modified them for the USAFA environment. Translation: Read more
The Department of Defense Inspector General recently issued a report of its investigation into the improper “leak” last fall of the DoD survey on the policy most often known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” (Ironically, the publicized IG report — available on a public website — is also annotated “For Official Use Only,” as was the leaked survey.)
The DoD IG appears to have come to the same conclusion as many critics of the report did last year: the statistics were creatively Read more
…or maybe it does. The report, entitled Report of the Comprehensive Review of the Issues Associated with a Repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”, was released yesterday (available here, or at the DoD DADT website). The following is a list of highlights from the report.
Statistics and Questions
As noted previously, fun with numbers will likely allow both sides of the DADT debate to cite the report in favor of their position.
For example, one of the most frequently cited statistics (as here and here) is the statement that
When asked about how having a Service member in their immediate unit who said he or she is gay would affect the unit’s ability to “work together to get the job done,” 70% of Service members predicted it would have a positive, mixed, or no effect.
However, using precisely the same numbers, one could also say
When asked about how having a Service member in their immediate unit who said he or she is gay would affect the unit’s ability to “work together to get the job done,” 62% of Service members predicted it would have a negative or mixed effect.
Obviously, the second statement holds quite a different meaning than the first – yet both are entirely accurate.
One of the main disconnects is that many reports have conflated Read more
The Department of Defense’s report on how to implement the proposed repeal of the law banning homosexuals from military service will reportedly be “released in full” next week, on November 30th — one day prior to the original date for which the report was supposed to be delivered to the Secretary of Defense.
The fact that the military’s entire emphasis has been how to react Read more
Despite General Conway’s prior anecdotal evidence, several news outlets have reported on “leaked” details of the Department of Defense’s study on the repeal of the policy known as “Don’t ask, don’t tell.” Reportedly, “a majority…would not object” to the service of open homosexuals.
The reports also indicated “some…but not a majority — objected strongly” and “said they would quit the military if the policy changed.”
Notably, whether or not personnel “objected” was not supposed to be the intent of the DoD study. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates repeatedly said the study was to determine how best to implement repeal, not determine whether to repeal.
Meanwhile, the previously reported response of retired Chaplains was Read more
As previously noted, the US Air Force Academy responded to Freedom of Information Act requests by holding a press conference and releasing the previously withheld results of the 2009-2010 climate survey.
The release was part of an official Air Force announcement; the Academy announcement contains a link to the presentation made by USAFA Superintendent Lt Gen Michael Gould at the press conference (available here, 5.6MB pdf).
The Academy made a concerted effort to explain the results (or, more accurately, describe how the results couldn’t be explained). It appears the Academy survey was “imperfect” in several respects: Read more
The Stars and Stripes apparently caught up with some servicemembers after they participated in one of the Defense Department’s working groups. Interestingly, the article says most of the concern was on “deckplate issues,” or how their everyday lives would be practically affected by the repeal (examples included berthing and marriage recognition).
Advocacy groups supporting repeal have said these very questions are why these discussion should not be happening.
In a related story, Politico reported the Department of Defense had begun mailing surveys to military spouses in an attempt to gather information on their response to the implementation of the repeal of DADT.