UK’s People Management is reporting that the British army is advising the Pentagon’s Working Group on how best to eliminate Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell — part of that group’s ongoing effort to review the experiences of open service in foreign militaries:

Colonel Mark Abraham told PM that fears surrounding the removal of the exclusion policy had been unfounded, and the overnight lifting of the ban in January 2000 had resulted in “no notable change at all”. [...]

“We knew a lot of gay and lesbian people were serving quite successfully, and it was clear that sexual orientation wasn’t an indication of how good a soldier or officer you could be.”

He continued: “The reality was that those serving in the army were the same people the day after we lifted the ban, so there was no notable change at all. Everybody carried on with their duties and had the same working relationships as they previously had while the ban was in place.”

The UK dropped its restrictions after it lost a legal challenge in the European Court of Human Rights in 1999, and the new policy became effective in January 2000. “Thirty months after the United Kingdom changed its policy to permit open service, the Ministry of Defense concluded in a tri-service review of its army, air force, and navy that the change had been accomplished smoothly. The Royal Air Force reported that ‘the overwhelming view of RAF COs [commanding officers] is that the change in policy was overdue and represented recognition of the diverse culture in which we all live. All COs agreed that there had been no tangible impact on operational effectiveness, team cohesion, or Service life generally.’

For a sample of what the Brits may be recommending to the study group, click over to this report by CAP’s Lawrence Korb on how our allies implemented their open policies:

- CONDUCT: The British created a new Armed Forces Code of Social Conduct that applied equally to heterosexuals and homosexuals. The Code provides equal protection for all service members by focusing on an individual’s behavior rather than the individual’s specific characteristics. It steers clear of the potentially rancorous process of establishing explicit, separate regulations on conduct for gay and straight soldiers.

- DISCIPLINE: The United Kingdom provides opportunities for service members to seek redress if they believe that they have been treated unfairly by other members of the armed forces. These protections do not specify or depend on the sexual orientation of the involved parties.

- CO-HABITATION: Concerns about co-habitation turned out to be much ado about nothing and abruptly disappeared once openly gay men and women were integrated into the military and began living and sleeping in the same quarters as straight service members.

- REINSTATEMENT: After the United Kingdom removed its ban on open service, the armed forces offered former service members who had been discharged under the policy the opportunity to rejoin the force. Only a small minority re-joined.

Read Lawrence Korb’s entire report on what the Study Group can learn from other countries here. (H/T: LezGetReal)

Ron Johnson, the Republican candidate challenging Sen. Russ Fiengold (D-WI) this November said that he supports ending Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell but would want to see the results of the Pentagon’s study group before voting to end the ban against openly gay and lesbian servicemembers:

“I would like to see what the input of the military is before I would vote on something like that and I’m happy to take their information, either way,” Johnson said.

He said if the military’s conclusion is to get rid of the ban and the findings are convincing, he would vote for the repeal.

If elected, Johnson would then be one of two other Republicans — Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Susan Collins (R-ME) — to publicly voice support for ending the ban. Sens. Scott Brown (R-MA), Dick Lugar (R-IN) and George Voinovich (R-OH) are more likely than other Republicans to vote against the policy. Other than Collins, however, all of the other Republican Senators have (like Johnson) hinged their support on a positive study from the Pentagon’s Working Group.

Feingold, however, supports the existing amendment that already accommodates the Pentagon’s review and voted to end its filibuster in the Senate on Tuesday.

Air Force Major Margaret Witt — a lesbian discharged under Don’t Ask, Don’ Tell who recently won a court battle to reinstate herself in the service — told MSNBC’s Contessa Brewer that she was “ready” to return back to her job as a nurse in the Air Force and predicted that her unit would welcome her with open arms:

WITT: I’ve always had a career in the private sector as well, but no, I never once thought about giving up this fight. There has been over 13,000 people that have been discharged because of this and if I have the opportunity — which thankfully I do, there is no way that I would give up the fight. [...]

The people in my unit has been behind me 100 percent. You know, I think the most recent statistics are something like 65,000 [gay or lesbian] people are serving every day. All we want to do is our job, so all I want to do is my job. And I think they’ll welcome me back for that.

Watch it:

Sarah Dunne of the ACLU — the organization which helped mount Witt’s court battle — stressed that Witt’s case established an important precedent in the ninth circuit, requiring the federal government to prove the discharged soldier undermined military effectiveness. “If [servicemembers discharged in the 9th circuit choose], they’ll have an opportunity to go to court and show that their sexual orientation had no effect, no negative consequence on their unit or the military’s ability to do their mission or do their job.” “We hope actually that other servicemembers around the country who are facing discharge under Don’t Ask, Don’t tell will seek to challenge their dismissal,” she added.