By Adam Entous and Susan Cornwell
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A wary U.S. military prepared on Tuesday for an eventual repeal of its "don't ask, don't tell" policy barring gays from serving openly, but made clear movement should be gradual on the politically charged change requested by President Barack Obama.
The Pentagon will take at least a year to act.
Obama called for repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" in his State of the Union address last week, putting a spotlight on the hot-button issue before congressional elections in November and in the middle of efforts to get his budget through a sceptical Congress.
Defence Secretary Robert Gates, who has voiced caution in the past against moving too quickly to repeal "don't ask, don't tell," said he "fully supported" Obama's decision and announced the appointment of a team of advisers to start reviewing steps the U.S. military would have to take to integrate openly gay servicemembers.
"The question before us is not whether the military prepares to make this change, but how we best prepare for it," Gates told the Senate Armed Services Committee. "We received our orders from the commander in chief and we are moving out accordingly."
Many top military officers and Republicans in Congress assert that having gays openly serve in uniform would undermine morale and discipline.
"At this moment of immense hardship for our armed services, we should not be seeking to overturn the 'don't ask, don't tell policy," said Republican Senator John McCain, who was his party's presidential nominee and lost the 2008 election to Obama, a Democrat.
The internal Pentagon review, to be led by Army General Carter Ham and General Counsel Jeh Johnson, is expected to look at sensitive issues, including how a change might affect unit cohesion, recruitment and retention, as well as the possibility of extending marriage and bereavement benefits to the partners of gay soldiers.
REVIEW BY END OF 2010
Gates said the review team would complete an implementation plan by the end of 2010, but that additional time would be needed to carry out the panel's recommendations.
"If legislation is passed repealing 'don't ask don't tell', we would feel it very important that we be given some period of time for that implementation, at least a year," Gates said.
As an interim step, Gates said the Pentagon would review existing policies within 45 days to determine how "don't ask, don't tell" could be enforced more "humane and fair manner." This could include halting disciplinary proceedings against gay servicemen who are "outed" by others.
Opponents of "don't ask, don't tell" say the policy is ineffective and unfair.
"Speaking for myself and myself only, it is my personal and professional belief that allowing homosexuals to serve openly would be the right thing to do," the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, told the Senate panel.
"I have served with homosexuals since 1968," Mullen added. "Everybody in the military has."
The "don't ask, don't tell" policy was signed into law in 1993 by Democratic President Bill Clinton as a compromise after the military objected to his calls to open its doors to gays.
It bans openly gay people from serving in the military but prohibits military officials from initiating inquiries on sexual orientation when soldiers are abiding by the rules.
In his State of the Union, Obama said he would work with Congress and the military this year "to finally repeal the law that denies gay Americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are."
More than 13,500 members of the military have been dismissed under the law, according to the Servicemembers Legal Defence Network, an advocacy group that opposes the ban.
But the Pentagon said "don't ask, don't tell" discharges were down sharply last year.
"The new trend is indeed welcoming news, but it is not a substitute for full repeal in 2010," said the Servicemembers Legal Defence Network, an advocacy group that opposes the ban.
(Editing by Anthony Boadle)
