Mullen: 'Don't ask' report on track

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MELBOURNE, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- The report on repealing the "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays and lesbians openly serving in the U.S. military is coming along officials said Monday.

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mike Mullen and Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the working group is examining how the Pentagon should respond to the repeal of the law, the Defense Department said in a release.

"I have great confidence that the review is tracking and will come in on time," Mullen, a Navy admiral, said in Melbourne, where he, Gates and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are attending the Australia-United States Ministerial Consultations. "I've met with all the service chiefs several times, and (they) understand the process, as well as the timing of all this."

A U.S. district judge in California ruled the law unconstitutional, but an appeals court stayed the judge's decision until the appeals process is completed.

Defense Department General Counsel Jeh C. Johnson and Gen. Carter Ham, commander of U.S. Army in Europe, are co-chairmen of the survey group. The deadline to present their findings to Gates is Dec. 1.