Training of Defense Department personnel on standards of conduct for when the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy is formally repealed is proceeding well, Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen told reporters Thursday in Washington, D.C. “Are there any glitches? We are going to have some challenges. This is not an insignificant change. That said, the training is going exceptionally well and I think we’ll get through it this summer,” said Mullen. He said he’s sat on several occasions with the four service chiefs and Coast Guard commandant to discuss the progress. All those leaders are “in the same spot,” he said, meaning they’ve given him positive feedback. (See Training for Post-DADT Policy Set to Begin from the Daily Report archives.)
U.S. Southern Command recently announced its first lethal strike on a suspected narco-trafficking vessel in two months, and the first under a newly formed permanent counter-cartel task force. The U.S. is also reportedly planning to transfer MQ-9 drones to Colombia to bolster its counter-cartel efforts.