admiral gary roughead usn naval chief of operations. general am as, u.s. marine corps. general norton schwarz, chief of staff, u.s. air force. general correlli, we thank you for standing in for general casey today and ask you to please extend our heartfelt condolences from all the members of the committee and the staff of the armed services committee to general casey and his family on the passing of his grandson jackson ryan casey. admiral roughead, you're moving closer to departure from your current position and may not have the opportunity -- should would probably not call it an opportunity to testify before this committee again. i want to express collective thanks of all the members of the committee for your 38 years of service and best wishes for the future. >> thank you. i join you in passing along my condolences to general casey. i welcome you all for being here and thank you for your incredible service to our country. don't ask, don't tell was put in place years ago. at the time it was hotly debated, discussed, studied and argued about. in the 18 years ó% to get

i welcome general chiarelli, general amos, general schwartz, admiral roughead. thankjo you for being here, and thank you for your incredible service to our country. don't ask, don't tell was put into place almost 18 years ago. since that time, i guess even an the time it was hotly debated, discussed, studied and argued about, and in the 18 years since that has continued. we have had countless studies and countless opinions expressed through those years, and i'll disagree a little bit with the chairman. this committee has had many hearings on precisely this subject on the subcommittee level, and we've also debated it on the full committee level over the course of the last several years. i don't think it's fair to say that we haven't thought about this or that the military services haven't thought about this, of course, culminating in the very, very large study of service members to get their feedback and their opinions. i believe we have analyzed this at enormous length over an e enormous period of time, and at some point you have to make a an decision. i'm pleas

gary roughead, general amos, general schwartz, chief of staff airforce. general chiarelli, we thank you for standing in two general casey and please extend our condolences from all the members of this committee and a staff of the armed services committee to general casey and his family on the passing of his grandson. admiral roughhead, your moving further toward not being able to testify in this committee again. i want to express a collective thanks for your 38 years of service and best wishes to your future. ranking member smith? d best wishes for the future. >> i welcome all of you. thank you for being here and thank you for your service to our country. don't ask, don't tell was put into place some must 18 years ago. since that time, and even at the time, it was hotly debated, discussed, and argued about. in the 18 years sense, it has continued. we have had countless studies and opinions expressed and i will disagree a little bit with the chairman. this committee has had many hearings on precisely this subject, at the subcommittee level, and in the full

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