Reply #54: Just because you are Commander in Chief doesn't mean you don't consult with your military advisors

[onenote]

and senior military officials.

Ultimately, Obama's responsibility as Commander in Chief is to ensure a properly functioning military. That means consulting with those who are more directly involved with military operations than the CIC. That means seeking their advice and obtaining the best information possible. That of course is what Truman did -- he did not issue his excecutive order establishing integration as the policy of the military until he had received a report on civil rights recommending that policy be implemented. And having declared the policy, he did not expect it to be implemented overnight. Instead, he appointed a Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services (the Fahy Committee) to oversee the implementation, a process that took between one and two years, depending on the branch of service. That Committee specifically acknowledged that "the services, though subject to civilian control, are old institutions with long established customs and habits. The Committee believed that reforms would be more readily accepted and make headway faster if they represented decisions mutually agreed upon. Imposed decisions can be enforced by discipline but joint decisions engage the loyalty of those who have concerted them. Therefore the Committee decided that it would confer with the services at each step of the way, confident that its recommendations would win support as the services became convinced they were sound in principle and would improve the efficiency of the military establishment.


In other words, the process of desegregating the military under Truman's watch was built around a cooperative effort with the military, not merely dictating a result. It is because of the same sorts of issues that concerned the Fahy Committee with respect to ensuring that the implementation of the desegregation order was coordinated to avoid disruption that the Obama administration is wary of having DADT abolished by court order rather than by the repeal of DADT by COngress.

I still hold out hope that Congress will get it done. Maybe I'm dreaming, but I think it can still happen.