Obama told us to fall in line on ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ or resign: Coast Guard Commandant
WASHINGTON, D.C. , April 2, 2014 -- One of the nation's top military officials says President Obama told the heads of the Army, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard, and Air Force to back his repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell ( DADT ) or "resign our commissions and go do other things." In a video published by Buzzfeed, Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Robert Papp told Coast Guard Academy cadets on January 8, 2014 that President Obama called in the five service heads in 2010 to let them know of his decision to focus on repealing DADT. That policy, which was repealed in 2011, had been enacted in 1994 with bipartisan support, including President Bill Clinton's signature. It allowed homosexuals to serve in the military as long as homosexual relationships and attractions were not made known, though discretion was given to company commanders. Papp was speaking to the cadets about how officers should handle policies that they are required to uphold yet disagree with.