Fifteen years ago, President Clinton signed the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which prohibited openly gay men and women from serving in the armed forces.

Since that time, nearly 13,000 American military personnel have been discharged due to their sexual orientation. These brave men and women have been denied the opportunity to serve the country simply because they are gay.

“Don’t ask, don’t tell” has not only been a discriminatory policy, but it has hurt American war efforts. For every soldier kicked out of the armed forces, another has had to fill those boots. The recruitment and training of these new troops costs money that doesn’t need to be spent. One study by UC-Santa Barbara in 2006 estimated that it cost the American taxpayer $350 million to replace all discharged gay soldiers since “don’t ask, don’t tell” was instituted.

We have literally spent hundreds of millions of dollars booting gays out of the military and training their replacements. These people have been denied their right to serve, and enough is enough. Fortunately, the American people are overwhelmingly on the right side of this issue.

A Gallup poll from earlier this year showed that 69 percent of Americans support allowing gay men and women to serve openly in the military, including 58 percent of conservatives and even 60 percent of weekly churchgoers. In an era when it’s hard to get broad consensus on much of anything, the repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy is widely popular.

Obama has repeated his campaign pledge to end this policy several times, so why hasn’t it happened yet? Harry Truman only had 26-percent approval for racially integrating the military when he ordered it done back in 1948.

Gay-rights activists are right to ask why progress has been nonexistent. Obama has been in office for nearly a year, Democrats have large majorities in both houses of Congress, and during that time, hundreds of gay service members have been kicked out of the military.

One reason for the delay has been the constant argument that the military needs time to adjust. Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said he hopes we move in a “measured way,” because, “we’re fighting two conflicts. [and] there is a great deal of pressure on our forces and their families.”

Being in two wars is even more of a reason to repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell.” The military is in desperate need of Arabic translators to communicate with people in the Middle East. Unfortunately, a high number of them have been kicked out because they are gay. Many more distinguished soldiers have faced the same fate. It makes no sense to continue to discharge these brave, talented people. It’s a waste of money, and it ultimately hurts our national security.

Opponents of racial integration of the military made the same arguments that are being made now in support of “don’t ask, don’t tell.” If blacks are allowed to serve alongside whites, they argued, unit cohesion would suffer. During the Korean War, however, integrated units proved these fears to be unfounded.

President Obama and Congress should act quickly to repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell” so we don’t continue to use taxpayer money to deny perfectly capable soldiers the opportunity to serve their country.

Reach columnist Chris Jordan at opinion@dailyuw.com.