The Pentagon has confirmed that it officially discharged an Air Force airman on April 29 under Don't Ask, Don't Tell—the first DADT discharge since President Obama signed repeal into action. 

This weekend the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) honored the DADT survey with its annual Policy Impact Award. Somewhere in Arizona John McCain has his head in the ground.

After a House oversight hearing on the repeal implementation of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the Pentagon revealed that the discriminatory law won't be fully extinct until the end of summer, at the earliest. Details, after the jump.

Even with the ongoing debate over “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in 2010 headlines, the Pentagon managed to senselessly kick out hundreds of American heroes last fiscal year. Find out how many lives were unnecessarily turned upside down after the jump.

It's flown under the gaydar and occurred in the shadows of huge political news today, but this afternoon's awaited unveiling by the Pentagon of its plan to implement DADT repeal is not without significance. 

As expected, the Pentagon's official plan focuses on training and instilling respect for all soldiers in the coming months, a three-tiered strategy of education the military is relying on the secretaries and leaders of each of its branches to enforce.

The Pentagon has laid out a March 1 deadline for the first progress reports from each military secretary. Following the progress reports, the military will enter the second phase of repeal, labeled the "Certification Phase." During this period, military officials will report to President...

As expected, the Pentagon today revealed its plan of action for DADT repeal. 

Though repeal is not anticipated to be fully enacted for at least three more months, the military will begin a three-tiered training approach in early February with a goal of instilling respect for all soldiers, LGBT or straight. The three tiers of the training program will be administrators, relevant leadership and finally, the rest of the military.

Also unveiled during today's press conference is news that the U.S. military will no longer ask recruits about their sexual identity and will cease tracking the private sexual lives of current servicemembers. 

But the biggest morsel out of today's Pentagon statement might be that the military has decided...

The soundbytes from today's Senate hearing on DADT that you'll most likely be subjected to all weekend unfortunately come from those who support discrimination. Army Chief of Staff General George Casey and Marine Corps. Commandant Gen. James Amos helped fuel Sen. McCain's bigoted push for continued anti-gay practices in the military by telling the Senate panel that DADT repeal shouldn't be considered until 2012.

Said Gen. Casey, "I would not recommend going forward at this time, given everything that the Army has on its plate."

Gen. Amos expanded on the unrealistic concern (which I had thought the comprehensive Pentagon study had disproved..?). "My suspicions are that the law will be repealed," Amos said. "And all I'm asking is the...

The final day of the Senate Armed Services Committee hearings on the Pentagon DADT report are happening right now. You can watch the proceedings live by following this link to Pentagon TV. 

Though even the most hardened and once-opposed military officials agree that the Pentagon's DADT study is comprehensive, Senator John McCain on Thursday increasingly distanced himself from reality, logic and the majority of Americans by reiterating disapproval for the landmark research. 

At the start of today's Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on DADT repeal, Sen. McCain insisted that a "rush to repeal" without further examination of the report would be harmful to the military. 

"I'm not saying this law should never change," McCain said in his opening statement. "I am simply saying that it may be premature to make this change and in this manner without further consideration of this report."

As we reported earlier, General...

As expected, the Pentagon has decided that a repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell would not harm the troops. In case you're interested to see how the military enlightened itself, Joe Jervis has uploaded the full document and study. Check it out after the jump. After (or even while, if you're an experienced multi-tasker) reading the findings, why not call your Senator to tell them they must repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell NOW?

Under a headline titled "Don't Ask, Don't Tell Report: Little Risk to Enlisting Gays," The Washington Post gives us a heads-up on what to expect from the Pentagon's DADT report ahead of its 2:30 p.m. release. 

According to a survey sent to 400,000 service members, 69 percent of those responding reported that they had served with someone in their unit who they believed to be gay or lesbian. Of those who did, 92 percent stated that their unit's ability to work together was very good, good, or neither good nor poor, according to the sources.

Combat units reported similar responses, with 89 percent of Army combat units and 84 percent of Marine combat units saying they had good or neutral experiences working with gays and lesbians.

At ...

Just ahead of the expected Pentagon report on DADT-repeal readiness, Lady Gaga has issued a video plea for fans to urge their Senators to end military discrimination immediately.

Says Lady Gaga, "The senate needs to get this bill passed this year to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell otherwise it can take years to happen. Social oppression is currently running rampant in this country, as many of you know. This recent horrific news of gay suicides is proof of our social oppression, and ultimately government oppression that is killing our youth. We have to end this law because it reinforces discrimination and is setting a bad example."