Congressional Record: April 27, 1995 (Senate) - Pages S5805 - S5843
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access - DOCID:cr27ap95-42: Part 2
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
Subtitle D--Other Matters
Section 571. Indefinite reenlistments for career enlisted
members
Currently, section 505(d) of title 10, United States Code,
authorizes the Secretaries of the military departments to
accept reenlistments in regular components for a period of at
least two but not more than six years. Accordingly, even
senior enlisted members of the armed forces who have made
military service a career must periodically reenlist. This
proposal would eliminate the administrative efforts and
associated costs that occur as a consequence of the
requirement to reenlist continually senior enlisted members.
Under this section, the Secretaries of the military
departments could accept indefinite reenlistments from
enlisted members who have at least ten years of service on
active duty and
who are serving in the pay grade of E-6 or above. The vast
majority of enlisted members with these characteristics
will make military service a career. Thus, an enlisted
member who serves 30 years would avoid the necessity of
continually reenlisting over a 20-year period. The
paperwork for reenlistment and its processing is not
burdensome, but it is not insignificant. Savings should
result. The proposal would also increase the prestige of
the noncommissioned officer corps.
Section 572. Chief Warrant Officer promotions
This section amends sections 574(e) and 575(b) of title 10
to reduce the minimum time in grade necessary for promotion
to two years rather than three, and to authorize the below-
zone selection for promotion to the grade of chief warrant
officer, W-3.
Reduction of the minimum time in grade required for
promotion would result in actual promotion after three years
in grade. It is not now possible for below zone
consideration, even to chief warrant officer, W-4. This
legislation would also authorize chief warrant officer, W-3,
below-zone selection opportunity. This change will permit
recognition of the small number of chief warrant officers, W-
3, deserving of promotion ahead of their peers. The average
chief warrant officer, W-2, has almost eighteen years
enlisted service when commissioned in that grade.
Prior to 1 February 1992 when the Warrant Officer
Management Act became effective, temporary warrant officer
promotions were made under such regulations as the service
secretary prescribed, as authorized by section 602 of title
10. Under this section, repealed by the Warrant Officer
Management Act, warrant officers were temporarily promoted
well ahead of the criteria for permanent regular warrant
officer promotions under section 559 of title 10, also
repealed, and it was also possible for a limited number of
outstanding individuals to be selected early from among
below-zone candidates for the grade of chief warrant officer,
W-3.
Under section 574(e) of title 10, a chief warrant officer
is not eligible to be considered for promotion to the next
higher
grade until he or she has completed three years of service
in current grade.
Additionally, section 575(b)(1) of title 10 limits below-
zone selection opportunity to those being considered for
promotion to chief warrant officer, W-4, and chief warrant
officer, W-5.
This legislation is intended to improve the management of
the Services' chief warrant officer communities by reducing
the minimum time in grade required for chief warrant officers
to be considered for promotion to the next higher grade from
three years to two years, thereby allowing the opportunity
for early selection, and to authorize below-zone selection
opportunity for promotion to the grade of chief warrant
officer, W-3, similar to that currently authorized for
promotion to the grades of chief warrant officer, W-4, and
chief warrant officer, W-5.
With due-course promotions occurring after four years' time
in grade, as they now occur in the Department of the Navy,
the requirement for chief warrant officers to have three
years in grade to be considered for promotion has the effect
of not permitting any early selections. Reducing the minimum
time in grade for promotion consideration to two years would
allow for a small number of individuals to be selected from
among below-zone candidates, and to be promoted one year
early after actually serving three years in grade.
Additionally, authorizing early selection to chief warrant
officer, W-3, would permit recognition as appropriate of the
experience and competence of these individuals. For example,
the average Navy chief warrant officer, W-2, has almost 18
years enlisted service when commissioned in that grade.
Chief warrant officers provide the services with
commissioned officers who possess invaluable technical
expertise, leadership and managerial skills developed during
enlisted service and through formal education. This
legislation is needed to identify and reward the small number
of exceptionally talented chief warrant officers whose
demonstrated performance and strong leadership are deserving
of special recognition by being selected for promotion ahead
of their peers, thereby enhancing morale and maintaining the
vitality of the entire community.
This proposal would not result in any increased cost to the
Department of the Navy, other services, or the Department of
Defense.
Section 573. Retirement of Director of Admissions, United
States Military Academy, for years of service
This section would amend section 3920 of title 10 to
authorize the Secretary of the Army to retire the Director of
Admissions, United States Military Academy, after 30 years of
service as a commissioned officer. Currently, under section
1251(a) of title 10, the permanent professors at the Academy
and the Director of Admissions can serve until the age of 64.
Under section 3920, however, the Secretary of the Army may
direct the retirement of a permanent professor after 30 years
of service. This section would provide the Secretary of the
Army with the same retirement authority over the Director of
Admissions.
Title VI--Compensation and Other Personnel Benefits
Subtitle A--Pay and Allowances
Section 601. Military pay raise for fiscal year 1995
The purpose of this section is to obtain one-time relief
from the provisions of 37 U.S.C. 1009 and, thereby, permit an
adjustment to monthly Basic Allowance for Quarters (BAQ)
rates that exceeds the overall average percentage increase
permitted in subsection (b)(3) without recourse to
Presidential action authorized in subsection (c). With regard
to January 1, 1996, the annualization of the General Schedule
rates by statute would result in a basic allowance for
quarters average rate increase of 2.4 percent to those rates
in force on January 1, 1995. As the result of the recent
Department of Defense study addressing military quality-of-
life issues, the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with
the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff agreed to the programming
and budgeting of an additional $43 Million in Fiscal Year
1996 and equivalent out-year Basic Allowance for Quarters
funding through Fiscal Year 2001 to improve service member
reimbursement and living accommodations. Execution of the
Fiscal Year 1996 program at this funding level, as an augment
to annualization of the General Schedule rates, will result
in an
overall Basic Allowance for Quarters rate increase of 3.4
percent to those rates in force on January 1, 1995.
As noted by the joint House-Senate Conference Committee
that considered the 1988/1989 Defense Authorization Act, ``in
1985 the basic allowance for quarters rates [were]
restructured so that they would cover 65 percent of national
median housing costs in each pay grade.'' Since the 1985
restructuring, BAQ rates have declined to under 59 percent of
the national housing median. Combined with funding caps to
the variable housing allowance program, service members now
absorb over 21 percent of their housing costs instead of the
congressional intent of 15 percent. Support for the use of
this additional funding and establishment of the 3.4 percent
increase in basic allowance for quarters for Fiscal Year 1996
is executed to reduce the percent of out-of-pocket housing
costs service members pay by one percent through Fiscal Year
2001.
This improvement of quality-of-life initiative will help
defray the cost of off-base housing for military members,
improve the adequacy of these quarters and, as result,
contribute to force readiness via improved morale, individual
readiness and retention of personnel.
The following amounts are included in the President's
Fiscal Year 1996 budget submission to reflect enactment of
this legislation:
[In millions of dollars]
Fiscal year 1996...................................................43.0
Fiscal year 1997...................................................43.8
Fiscal year 1998...................................................44.6
Fiscal year 1999...................................................45.6
Fiscal year 2000...................................................46.9
Fiscal year 2001...................................................48.2
Section 602. Evacuation allowances that permits equal
treatment of military dependents to civilians and their
dependents
Subsection (a) amends section 405a(a) of title 37 by
changing ``ordered'' each place it appears to ``officially
authorized or ordered'' in each instance. The purpose for
this change is to equalize evacuation allowances to ensure
that treatment of dependents of military personnel is equal
to that of civilian dependents.
The Foreign Service Act of 1980 (Public Law 96-465)
broadened section 5522 of title 5 to allow advance pay along
with travel and transportation allowances to civilians and
[[Page S5814]] their dependents whenever they are officially
authorized or ordered to leave an overseas area due to
unsettled conditions. Congress believed this change was in
the best interest of the Government and the individual by
providing flexible requirements in this area and by allowing
the Government to more easily order departures of dependents
and nonessential personnel without ordering a full scale
evacuation. Similar treatment for military dependents is
required as a matter of equity since military dependents are
evacuated from an overseas location along with civilian
employees and their dependents. This small change will allow
the Chief of Diplomatic Mission authority to treat military
dependents identical to civilians and their dependents by
``authorizing'' as well as ``ordering'' military dependents
to evacuate and ensure our policies are consistent with the
Department of State's evacuation procedures.
Enactment of this legislative proposal will not cause an
increase in the budgetary requirements of the Department of
Defense.
Section 603. Continuous entitlement to career sea pay for
crewmembers of ships designated as tenders
The purpose of this section is to modify current law by
specifying duty on board submarine and destroyer tenders as
qualifying for career sea pay, removing the requirement for
the tender to be away from homeport in order to support
career sea pay eligibility.
Title 37 distinguishes between ships with a primary mission
accomplished underway (continuous career sea pay entitlement)
and ships with a primary mission accomplished in port (non-
continuous career sea pay entitlement).
In 1980, when the Secretary of the Navy Hidalgo presented
to Congress the proposal that led to the current career sea
pay legislation, he explained that tenders were the most
representative class of ships that met non-continuous career
sea criteria because their primary mission, at that time, was
accomplished in port.
In 1988, the fact that assignment to tender duty involved
the same intensive, arduous operational environment as other
shipboard duty (with accompanying continuous career sea pay
entitlement) was recognized by Congress when section
305a(d)(2) of title 37 was amended by Public Law 100-456 to
credit tender crewmembers with all time performed (both
underway and in port) aboard those ships as cumulative day-
for-day longevity for sea service time. Before that time,
both sea service time (longevity) and the actual entitlement
to career sea pay for non-continuous entitlement ships
accrued only after the ship was underway for more than 30
consecutive days.
Navy's drawdown in recent years has added to the demands on
tender crews, making them unquestionably deserving of
continuous career sea pay entitlement. This considerable
increase in operational tempo has resulted from continuing
demands preparing deploying units for overseas duty, as well
as being required to assist in the numerous decommissioning
as a result of Navy's ship drawdown.
These demands on the crews of our tenders are further
exacerbated by the drawdown of the tenders themselves. By
October 1, 1995, the tender fleet will have been reduced from
17 to 4 ships (two homeported overseas (La Maddalena,
Sardinia and Guam) and the remaining two in the United States
(one per coast)).
Today, tender crews, on fewer ships, are experiencing more
underway time and, when in port, are facing the same or more
rigorous demands and working hours as the crews of the
continuous career sea pay ships they support. The proposed
legislation would remove the significant pay inequity that
currently exists for crewmembers assigned to those submarine
and destroyer tenders.
Enactment of this proposed legislation would result in the
following expenditures by the Department of Defense (Dollars
in Millions):
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fiscal Fiscal Fiscal Fiscal Fiscal
year year year year year
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Army N/A................... ....... ....... ....... ....... .......
Air Force.................. N/A ....... ....... ....... .......
Navy....................... 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0
Marine Corps\1\............ ....... ....... ....... ....... .......
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\Negligible (<50K/yr)
Section 604. Increase in the subsistence allowance payable to
a member of the Senior Reserve Officers' Training Corps
This section would increase the monthly subsistence
allowance for Senior Reserve Officers' Training Corps cadets/
midshipmen to $200 per month, effective August 1, 1996 (start
of 1996-97 school year). The current stipend, using
cumulative increases in the Consumer Price Index, CPI-Food
component, and subsistence allowances of active duty members,
is worth only $25 to $28 in 1994 dollars. The increase would
be in addition to the $50 monthly increase authorized in
section 603 of the National Defense Authorization Act for
Fiscal Year 1995 (Public Law 103-337; 108 Stat. 2782), and is
necessary to reverse a growing shortage in Reserve Officers'
Training Corps enrollment. Currently, the Army and the Air
Force are operating approximately 20 percent short of
enrollment goals. Navy is meeting overall enrollment
objectives, but the mix of academic disciplines does not
fully match its objectives.
Section 605. Dislocation allowance (DLA) for base realignment
and closure (BRAC) moves
This section would authorize the current dislocation
allowance entitlement to Service members who must relocate in
a base realignment and closure location when their mission
has not changed. Current law requires that a Service member
must change jobs (receive orders) and have a government
funded movement of household goods to be entitled to
dislocation allowance. The requirement to change jobs to be
authorized this entitlement places a financial strain on some
Service members at base realignment and closure locations.
Most members move to a new duty station with base realignment
and closure but some (recruiters, ROTC instructors, etc.)
must remain in the area because their mission has not
changed. Although most of these members move locally, the
costs (security and utility deposits) incurred during
preparation for and during the move require an outlay of
funds that should be defrayed by a dislocation allowance.
Section 606. Family separation allowance (FSA-II)
This section would continue the authorization for
entitlement to FSA-II for members embarked on board a ship
(away from their home port) or on temporary duty (away from
their permanent duty station) for 30 consecutive days, whose
dependents were authorized under 37 U.S.C. 406 (permanent
change of station (PCS)) to accompany the member to the
homeport or permanent duty station, but voluntarily chose not
to do so. Although this allowance historically has been paid
to continental United States (CONUS) geographic bachelors,
and continued payment is funded in Service budgets, the
Defense Finance and Accounting Service has advised that
recent legal interpretations prohibit continued payments
unless the statute is amended. This would apply needed
corrections. Since this action simply sustains the status
quo, there are no new funding demands associated with
enactment.
Section 607. Authorization of payment of basic allowance for
quarters to certain members of the uniformed services
assigned to sea duty
This section would provide the entitlement of basic
allowance for quarters (BAQ) and variable housing allowance
(VHA) (or overseas housing allowance (OHA) if assigned to
ship homeported overseas) to single E-6 (Petty Officer First
Class) personnel assigned to shipboard sea duty. Currently
only pay grades E-7 (Chief Petty Officer) and above are
entitled to BAQ-VHA (or OHA) based on section 403 of title 37
while assigned to shipboard sea duty. This proposal would
provide quality of life/compensation relief to a small-but-
senior leadership group (ages 26-40+; 4,000 people) whose 60
month-at-sea/24-to-36-month-ashore assignment rotations
prevent them from establishing and maintaining permanent
residence ashore commensurate with their leadership position.
Subtitle B--Income Tax Matters
Section 611. Exclusion of combat pay from withholding limited
to amount excludable from gross income
There is no income tax withholding under section 3401(a)(1)
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 3401(a)(1))
with respect to military pay for a month in which a member of
the
Armed Forces of the United States is entitled to the
benefits of section 112 of the Internal Revenue Code of
1986 (26 U.S.C. 112) (sec. 3401(a)(1)). With respect to
enlisted personnel, this income tax withholding rule
parallels the exclusion from income under section 112;
there is total exemption from income tax withholding and
total exclusion from income. With respect to officers,
however, the withholding rule is not parallel; there is
total exemption from income tax withholding, although the
exclusion from income is limited to $500 per month. The
bill makes the income tax withholding exemption rules
parallel to the rules providing an exclusion from income
for combat pay.
Subtitle C--Bonuses and Special and Incentive Pays
Section 621. Aviation career incentive pay (ACIP) gates
This section would reduce the initial ACIP operational
flying requirement (known as the ``flight gate'') from 9 of
the first 12 years to instead stipulate 8 of the first 12
years. As a result of the drawdown, the loss of flying
billets, the increased time to promotion, and the increased
emphasis on non-flying duty (Washington, joint duty, graduate
education), nearly 30% of Naval aviators in year groups '86,
'87, and '88 will fail to meet their initial flight gate.
Similar patterns are found in other Services. This proposal
would provide a more reasonable (based on prevailing career
patterns) way for aviators to ``make their gates'' and
continue to receive ACIP, while still generating a tougher
standard than that which existed immediately prior to
enactment of the current (9/12) gate. There are no new costs
associated with enactment, because affected Services have
budgeted under the assumption that waivers (which currently
are authorized under law) would continue to be Service-
approved. This change adjusts the standard, to recognize the
current density of career-enhancing (non-flying) duty
demands, while reducing the overhead associated with
processing of those waivers.
Section 622. Expiring authorities
Subsections (a) through (e) amend sections 308b(f),
308c(e), 308e(e), 308h(g) and 308i(I) of title 37, United
States Code, to extend the authority to pay bonuses for (1)
enlistment,
reenlistment or affiliation with the Selective
[[Page S5815]] Reserve, (2) enlistment, reenlistment or
extension of an enlistment in the Ready Reserve other than
the Selected Reserve, and (3) enlistment in the Selected
Reserve of individuals with prior service. These authorities
currently expire on September 30, 1996. Termination of these
Reserve bonus programs would adversely impact the readiness
of Reserve component units by limiting the ability to recruit
individuals possessing critical skills or qualified to train
for critical skills and to ensure necessary manning levels in
specific critical units.
Subsections (f) through (h) amend section 2130a(a)(1) of
title 10, United States Code, and sections 302d(a)(1) and
302e(a)(1) of title 37, United States Code, to extend the
authority to pay (a) a nurse officer candidate accession
bonus, (b) an accession bonus for registered nurses, and (c)
incentive Special pay to military Certified Registered Nurse
Anesthetists. The original legislation was effective November
29, 1989 as part of the National Defense Authorization Act
for Fiscal Year 1990. Under current legislation, the
authority for these programs will expire on September 30,
1996. Each of these valuable programs has been successful in
helping the Military Departments obtain needed numbers of
professional nurses on active duty. Shortages of nurses with
a qualifying degree continue to make recruiting of nurses
difficult in light of intense competition with the private
sector. The Department believes that the nurse accession
bonus is necessary to attract new graduates from colleges and
universities that award a Bachelor's of Science in Nursing.
Subsection (i) amends section 308(g) of title 37, United
States Code, to extend the authority to pay reenlistment
bonus to active duty service members who reenlist or who
extend their enlistment in a regular component of the service
concerned for at least three years. This authority currently
expires on September 30, 1996.
Subsection (j) amends section 308(c) of title 37, United
States Code, to extend the authority to pay enlistment bonus
to a person who enlists in an armed force for at least four
years in a skill designated as critical, or who extends his
initial period of active duty in that armed force to a total
of at least four years in a skill designated as critical.
This authority currently expires on September 30, 1996.
Subsection (k) amends section 308f(c) of title 37, United
States Code, to extend the authority to pay enlistment bonus
to a person who, among other qualifications, enlists in the
Army for at least three years in a skill designated as
critical. This authority currently expires on September 30,
1996.
Subsection (1) amends section 308d(c) of title 37, United
States Code, to extend the authority to which permits the
payment of additional compensation to enlisted members of the
Selected Reserve assigned to high priority units, so
designated by the Secretary concerned because that unit has
experienced or reasonably might be expected to experience,
critical personnel shortages. This authority currently
expires on September 30, 1996.
Subsection (m) amends section 2172(d) of title 10, United
States Code, to extend the authority which permits the
repayment by the Secretary concerned of educational loans of
health professionals who serve in the Selected Reserve and
who possess professional qualifications in a health
profession that the Secretary of Defense has determined to be
needed critically in order to meet identified wartime combat
medical skill shortages. This authority currently expires on
October 1, 1996. Termination of Reserve health professional
incentive programs would limit the ability of the Reserve
components to fill shortages in the designated health
professionals.
Subsection (n) amends section 613(d) of the National
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1989 (37 U.S.C. 302
note) to extend the authority which permits payment of
special pay to a health care professional who is qualified in
a specialty designated by regulation as a critically short
wartime specialty and who agrees to serve in the Selected
Reserve for at least one year. This authority currently
expires on September 30, 1996. Extension of this authority
will allow the Department of Defense to conclude a test
program of a reserve medical bonus.
Subsections (o) through (q) amend sections 312(e), 312b(c),
and 312c(d) of title 37, United States Code, to extend the
authority to pay certain bonuses to attract and retain top
quality nuclear career officers. These authorities currently
expires on September 30, 1996 or October 1, 1996. Nuclear
officer shortfalls still exist, and the Department of the
Navy is experiencing a climate of particularly law
retention among junior nuclear trained officers. Submarine
junior officer retention is at a 15-year low.
Historically, the special pay for nuclear qualified
officers extending period of active service and the
nuclear career annual incentive bonus have been
instrumental in correcting these shortfalls. The
Department of the Navy continues also to come short of
nuclear officer accession goals (92% of goal reached in
fiscal year 1994). The nuclear career accession bonus is a
tool that allows the Department of the Navy to attract top
junior officers into the nuclear program.
Subsections (r) through (t) amend sections 3359(b),
8359(b), 3380(d) and 8380(d) of title 10, United States Code,
and section 1016(d) of the Department of Defense
Authorization Act, 1984, to extend certain reserve officer
management authorities extended by section 514 of the
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1994
(Public Law 103-160; 107 Stat. 1649). These authorities
currently expire on September 30, 1995. No further extension
will be necessary; the Reserve Officer Personnel Management
Act, which takes effect on October 1, 1996, provides
permanent fixes for the problems addressed by the extension
of these expiring authorities.
Subsection (u) amends section 1214 of the Merchant Marine
Act, 1936, to extend the authority to provide war risk
insurance. This authority currently expires on June 30, 1995.
Use of the self-insurance authority saved $500 million during
Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm.
Subsection (v) amends section 301b(a) of title 37, United
States Code, to make permanent the aviation officer retention
bonus. This authority currently expires on September 30,
1996. Making this authority permanent is necessary to counter
a decade-long problem in aviator retention that has not been
solved, and will not be solved by the time the current
authority expires in September 1996. This bonus represents a
vital component of aviation readiness since it keeps seasoned
aviators in the military, assuring a higher level of
performance and safety. Moreover, the cost of this bonus
represents a fraction of the costs associated with training
new aviators to overcome retention deficits that would worsen
if this authority were allowed to lapse.
Aviation continuation pay is a Congressionally authorized
incentive program paid to eligible aviators who, upon
completion of their minimum service requirement, agree to
remain on active duty in a flying status through their
fourteenth year of commissioned service. The sole purpose of
aviation continuation pay is to ensure adequate inventories
of pilots and other flight officers to meet each aviation
sub-community's department head requirements.
Despite the drawdown in the Department of Defense, aviation
continuation pay is still used as a valuable tool to ensure
critically manned aviation sub-communities maintained enough
aviators to fill department head billets. For example, Naval
Aviation has sub-communities that did not downsize. As a
matter of fact, the FA-18 community continued to grow through
the downsizing years.
As aviation forces begin to stabilize, retention of
qualified and well trained aviators will continue to be an
issue. For example, the numbers of aviators accessed into the
Navy in the 1990's is considerably less than what was brought
in the 1980's. Although the Navy is paying aviation
continuation pay to only 6 to 14 aviation sub-communities
today, that number is predicted to increase in the out years
because of the need to keep a higher percentage of the
smaller force throughout Naval Aviation. In addition, the
airline industry will have 20,000 of 57,000 pilots that will
reach retirement age between 1994 and 2004, opening up
employment opportunities for military pilots. The Navy will
have a tougher job keeping qualified aviators in the service,
and aviation continuation pay is the one tool the Navy has to
ensure enough aviators remain in the service to meet
requirements. The Army and the Air Force are similarly
situated.
Pilot retention in the military departments is not a
temporary problem; the effect of airline hiring and the
persistent strength of the economy of the United States is
likely to exert a steady demand for military trained pilots
in the commercial airline industry for the foreseeable
future. Additionally, a need exist; to provide permanent and
increased bonus authority in order to have the flexibility to
solve critical skill shortages as they manifest themselves in
projections, rather than incur losses in critical skills and
lose
the time and experience levels that would result while
training replacement aviators.
Subsection (w) amends section 5721 of title 10 to make
permanent the authority for temporary promotions of certain
Navy lieutenants.
The Navy has a shortage of available qualified officers to
fill key engineering billets. To counter this shortage, some
exceptional lieutenants are assigned to lieutenant commander
engineering related assignments. These are extremely
difficult and challenging assignments that include Engineer
Officer on nuclear powered submarines, Engineer Officer on
Nuclear powered cruisers, Engineer Officer on Ticonderoga
class cruisers, Engineer Officer on CLF ships, Members of the
fleet Commander-in-Chief's Nuclear Propulsion Examining Board
or Propulsion Examining Board.
SPOT promotion authority provides a flexible low cost
solution to precisely target the shortfall of skilled
engineering officers. It is limited by the Secretary of the
Navy's policy to only key engineering billets for which a
shortage of available qualified officers exists. SPOT
promotions occur within statutory lieutenant commander
ceilings with a 1:1 reduction of regular promotions to
lieutenant commander. Officers are promoted only while
serving in a qualifying billet. The program accounts for 100-
120 SPOT promotions a year.
An absolute shortage of permanent lieutenant commanders
exists within those line communities that fill Lieutenant
Commander SPOT billets. The table below summarizes the
specific shortages of permanent Lieutenant Commanders by
community.
[[Page S5816]]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Community
Designator Total specific Shortfall
inventory billets
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1110............................. 1,317 1,406 89
1120............................. 635 819 184
6400............................. 62 67 5
6130............................. 55 73 18
6230............................. 25 24 -1
--------------------------------------
Total........................ 2,094 2,389 295
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The shortfall becomes significantly more pronounced if the
inventory is limited to those permanent Lieutenant Commanders
with the skills required for SPOT promotion billets.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Community
Designator Total specific Shortfall
inventory billets
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1110............................. 1,095 1,406 311
1120............................. 436 819 383
6400............................. 62 67 5
6130............................. 55 73 18
6230............................. 25 24 -1
--------------------------------------
Total........................ 1,673 2,389 716
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The qualified lieutenant commander inventory includes those
officers who are Engineering Officer of the Watch qualified
(for conventional assignments) or have current nuclear
engineer qualifications (for nuclear assignments).
The number of community specific billets actually
understates the billet fill requirements in the case of
unrestricted line officers who must also fill a fair share of
1000/1050 billets.
The following table summarizes the distribution of SPOT
promotions that have helped correct some of the depicted
shortfalls:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Filled by
Total SPOT Filled by SPOT Filled by
Designator billets lieutenant\1\ promoted permanent
LCDR LCDR
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1110.............. 171 37 49 85
1120.............. 187 33 8a1 73
6400,6130,6230.... 62 15 322 15
-----------------------------------------------------
Total......... 420 85 162 173
------------------------------------------------------------------------
These lieutenants have not met the three month evaluation time in billet
requirement to be recommended and approved for SPOT promotion.
The continued use of SPOT promotions remain necessary due
to the critical shortage of officers qualified to fill
engineer officer, engineering departmental principal
assistants, engineering material officer and engineering
staff billets directly supporting fleet engineering
readiness. Originally enacted in 1965, SPOT promotion has
proven its value as a strong incentive and retention tool for
our top officers. It remains a very effective management tool
to ensure our ability to fill extremely demanding billets
with the best officers.
Subsection (x) amends section 1105 of title 10, United
States Code, as enacted by the National Defense Authorization
Act for Fiscal Year 1994 (Public Law 103-160, Nov. 30, 1993;
107 Stat. 1691) by repealing subsection (h) which is a sunset
clause for the provision to expire as of September 30, 1995.
The specialized treatment services program (STS)
established new requirements for CHAMPUS beneficiaries to
obtain certain highly specialized health care services from
selected sources, either military or civilian. The program
will not be fully implemented by its expiration date. Full
implementation is necessary for managed care within the
Department of Defense. This program will provide for DOD
beneficiaries quality care while assuring for appropriate
utilization of specialized medical health care services at
the most reasonable cost.
Certain military and civilian treatment facilities, based
on demonstrated capability, are being designated as
Specialized Treatment Services Facilities for some highly
specialized types of medical care. The mechanism for
requiring CHAMPUS beneficiaries to use the STS Facilities is
similar to the familiar Non-availability Statement but with
either a nationwide or 200-mile catchment area instead of the
normal 40-mile catchment area. Criteria for demonstrated
capability for STS designation have been developed by the
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs and
provided to the military departments. Nationwide STS
designations have been approved for bone marrow
transplantation and liver transplantation. The Regional Lead
Agents are in the process of developing mechanisms for
approving STS designation within their respective regions.
STS authority should be extended to allow completion of this
program.
Subtitle D--Travel and Transportation Allowances
Section 631. Authority to expend appropriated funds to pay
certain actual expenses of Reservists
This section amends section 404(j) of title 37 (as added by
section 622 of the National Defense Authorization Act for
Fiscal Year 1995 (Public Law 103-337; 108 Stat. 2784)) by
authorizing the expenditure of appropriated funds to pay for
contract quarters as lodging in kind when on-base quarters
are not available during annual training or inactive duty
training for Reservists who are otherwise entitled to travel
and transportation allowances in conjunction with their duty.
The Department of Defense Appropriations Acts for Fiscal
Years 1993, 1994 and 1995 have included a provision which
authorizes such expenditures. This recurring provision also
provides that ``if lodging in kind is provided, any
authorized service charge or cost of such lodging may be paid
directly from funds appropriated for operation and
maintenance of the reserve component of the member
concerned.'' The recurring provision in the Appropriations
Act reaffirms actual practice over more than two decades
which has provided cost-efficient accommodations to
Reservists who travel at their own expense to components for
skilled and trained manpower.
Section 632. Flexibility when authorizing shipment of a motor
vehicle incident to permanent change of station orders
Subsection (a) of this section amends section 2634(a)(4) of
title 10 to authorize the shipment of privately owned motor
vehicles for a member of the armed forces by the most
economical means. Current statute only authorizes shipment by
surface means. In some underdeveloped or remote areas of the
world, shipment by air is oftentimes more economical than
shipment by surface transportation.
If enacted, this proposal will not increase the budgetary
requirements of the Department of Defense. By amending this
section, the permanent change of station (PCS) funding would
not increase, and should actually decrease. Significant
numbers of privately owned vehicles would not be shipped by
air; however, cost savings would be realized. Personnel
quality of life improvements would also be realized since
surface transportation
in these areas often take many months in addition to being
an expensive mode of transportation.
Section 633. Authorization of return to United States of
formerly dependent children who attain age overseas
This section would authorize the return of certain
formerly-dependent children to the United States. By law, a
child 21 or 22 years of age who is a full-time student may
travel at government expense to a member's overseas duty
station. However, if the child loses that dependent status
while in the overseas area, the government will not return
the child to the United States until the member receives
subsequent permanent change of station (PCS) orders. This
proposal would expand the entitlement to include those
dependents over 21 who are full-time students and
subsequently lose their dependency eligibility by either
turning 23 or because they are no longer enrolled full-time
in school. In other words, this simply would permit
acceleration of the final-authorized trip to the continental
United States (CONUS). This is a no-cost initiative.
Subtitle E--Retired Pay, Insurance, and Survivor Benefits
Section 641. Retired pay for non-regular service
This section amends section 1331 of title 10, United States
Code, by inserting a new subsection (d), and by redesignating
the existing sections (d) and (e) as (e) and (f),
respectively. The new subsection (d) provides that a non-
regular member is not eligible for retired pay if he or she
is convicted by court-martial of an offense under the Uniform
Code of Military Justice, and the executed sentence includes
death, dishonorable discharge, a bad-conduct discharge, or
dismissal from the service. The new subsection conforms a
nonregular members's eligibility for retired pay with that of
a regular member who is convicted by court-martial, and whose
executed sentence includes death, dishonorable discharge, a
bad conduct discharge or dismissal from the service. See
generally, 44 Comp. Gen. 51 (1964); 44 Comp. Gen. 227 (1964).
See also 5 U.S.C. 8312-8322 concerning forfeiture of
annuities and retired pay.
Section 642. Fiscal Year 1996 cost-of-living adjustment for
military retirees
This section makes the military retired pay cost-of-living
adjustment payable for March 1996 rather than September 1996.
Section 643. Automatic servicemember's group life insurance
(SGLI)
This section would automatically enroll members at the
maximum insurance level of $200,000 instead of the $100,000
level currently in law. Members may now increase their
coverage up to $200,000 by making an election for such
coverage. However, sometimes such elections are not passed to
the finance offices for immediate collection of premiums, and
survivors have complained that their member did not have the
proper opportunity to elect the highest benefit level. Having
automatic coverage at the maximum would ensure coverage is no
less than desired. Coverage could be declined or reduced if
the member does not want the maximum. Those who currently are
insured and who have not made elections and are in receipt of
coverage of $100,000 would automatically have their coverage
increased to $200,000.
Section 644. Improved death and disability benefits for
Reservists
This section amends sections 1074a and 1481 of title 10 and
sections 204 and 206 of title 37 by providing reservists
performing inactive duty training the same death and
disability benefits as active duty members. Although previous
authorization bills have corrected some of the inequities,
there are still instances when a reservist is not covered for
certain disability or death benefits if the occurrence
happens after sign-out between successive training
periods.This proposal would
[[Page S5817]] extend death and disability benefits to all
reservists from the time they depart to perform authorized
inactive duty training until the reservist returns from that
duty. Reservists who return home between successive inactive
duty training days would be covered portal to portal only.
There are no additional costs associated with this provision.
Subtitle F--Separation Pay
Section 651. Transitional compensation for dependents of
members of the Armed Forces separated for dependent abuse
This section would amend authorization to include
transitional compensation for dependents whose sponsor
forfeited all pay and allowances, but was not separated from
the Service (e.g., members court-martialed). Current language
of section 1059 of title 10, as added by section 554(a) of
the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1994
(Public Law 103-160; 107 Stat. 1663) and redesignated and
amended by sections 535 and 1070(a)(5) of the National
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1995 (Public Law
103-337; 108 Stat. 2762 and 2855) does not allow this
payment. This appears to be an administrative oversight. This
change would allow payment as apparently intended by
Congress. No additional cost would result, since costs
associated with this technical amendment would previously
have been recognized in the course of enactment of the
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1995.
Subtitle G--Other Matters
Section 661. Military clothing sales stores, replacement
sales
This section amends title 10, United States Code, to add
new section 7606. The purpose of this amendment is to provide
the Navy and Marine Corps the same statutory authority
currently granted to the Army and Air Force under title 10,
United States Code, section 4621 and section 9621
respectively.
Based on a variety of studies and tests, the Marine Corps
has determined that it is most cost effective to conduct in-
kind replacement sales through the Military Clothing Sales
Stores managed by the Marine Corps Exchange system. These in-
kind replacement sales are lost, damaged, or destroyed
individual equipment for which individual Marines and sailors
are responsible to the Government.
Unlike the authority granted to the Army and Air Force
under title 10, United States Code, section 4621 and section
9621 respectively, there is no specific statutory authority
allowing the Navy or Marine Corps to sell individual
equipment. This
legislation will create parity throughout the Department of
Defense.
This proposal will be effected at no additional cost to the
Department of Defense or the Department of the Navy.
Title VII--Civilian Employees
Subtitle A--Civilian Personnel Policy
Section 701. Holidays and alternative work schedules
This section would amend title 5 to change the designation
of holidays for employees on alternative work schedules. When
Monday holidays fall on an employee's day off, under section
6103 of title 5, he or she must take the preceding Friday
off. This creates a severe staffing shortage on Fridays
before holiday weekends. The proposed language would make
Tuesday the employee's day off rather than the preceding
Friday.
Section 702. Elimination of 120-day limit on details
This section amends section 3341 of title 5 to eliminate
the requirement that temporary assignments (details) of
employees be made in 120-day increments and allows details to
be documented and authorized up to the time required (within
the limits specified in other statutory, regulatory and
administrative provisions).
Section 703. Elimination of part-time employment reports
This section strikes section 3407 of title 5 which requires
that agencies report progress on the part-time career
employment program to the Office of Personnel Management
twice yearly. Information for reports is available through
the Central Personnel Data File and agencies can monitor the
program through personnel management evaluation programs.
Subtitle B--Compensation and Other Personnel Benefits
Section 711. Repeal of prohibition on payment of lodging
expenses when adequate Government quarters are available
The purpose of the proposed legislation is to repeal
section 1589 of title 10, which prohibits the Department of
Defense from paying a lodging expense to a civilian employee
who does not use adequate available Government lodgings while
on temporary duty. Although the purpose of section 1589 is to
reduce the Department of Defense travel costs, the law can
increase travel costs because it considers only lodging
costs, not overall travel costs. Deleting the provision would
enable Department of Defense travelers, supervisors and
commanders to make more efficient lodgings decisions, with
potential cost savings for the trip as a whole.
The title 10 provision (added in 1985 to codify similar
provisions in the Department of Defense Appropriations Acts
from 1977) prohibits payment of a lodging expense to civilian
employees who don't use adequate available Government
quarters. The Fiscal Year 1978 Committee Report on Department
of Defense Appropriations (H. Rep. No. 95-451) notes that if
employees on temporary duty at military installations for
school, training and other work assignments were directed to
use available Government quarters, ``many thousands of
dollars could be saved.''
When a temporary duty trip involves business on and off-
base, the cost-effective business decision, considering
factors such as rental car costs, must be made on a case-by-
case basis. The current law allows no flexibility for the
cost-conscious resource manager. To be reimbursed for
lodging, the traveler must stay on-base whether it is
efficient or not. Further, in temporary travel when team
integrity is essential, the mission may preclude employees
staying in available government lodgings. To maintain team
integrity under current law when quarters are adequate for
only the less senior members of the team, quarters must be
determined ``not available'' for each member of the team,
imposing an unnecessary administrative cost.
The Department is committed to improving the efficiency of
the temporary duty travel system to enhance mission
accomplishment, reduce costs, and improve customer service.
The proposal would be a significant step in this direction.
Enactment of the legislative proposal will not cause an
increase in the budgetary requirements of the Department.
Section 712. Overtime exemption for nonappropriated fund
(NAF) employees
This section amends section 6121(2) of title 5 so that
nonexempt NAF employees may be put on a compressed schedule
without the entitlement to overtime for hours worked in
excess of 40 hours a week.
Subtitle C--Separation Provisions
Section 721. Continued health insurance coverage
Section 8905a of title 5, as amended by this proposal,
extends continued health insurance coverage and payment of
employer portion of the premium plus administrative fee for
surplus employees who voluntarily resign in response to
realignments, installation closures, and downsizing of the
Department of Defense. This proposal will help avoid
reduction-in-force (RIF) by increasing the number of surplus
employees voluntarily resigning. Currently, employees must
wait to receive a RIF notice to qualify for this benefit.
Increased cost would be more than offset by the savings
generated by earlier separation of 120 days or more. This
benefit would only apply to employees who have been
designated as surplus by the Department of Defense.
Section 722. Lump sum severance payments
This section concerns lump sum payment of severance pay.
Currently severance pay is paid on a bi-weekly basis for up
to one year based on years of service and age of the
employee. This proposal would permit, at the discretion of
the agency, lump sum payment of the severance pay credit to
the employee upon request. Many eligible employees would
prefer to receive the total amount in order to start new
businesses or relocate.
Section 723. Civilian Voluntary Release Program
This section would allow employees who are not affected by
a reduction-in-force (RIF) to volunteer to be RIF separated
in place of other employees who are scheduled for RIF
separation.
Some employees (e.g., retirement eligible, employees with
their own businesses, employees with good prospects for
employment elsewhere), whose RIF retention standing them
from RIF, can afford to volunteer to be RIF separated in
place of other employees who are scheduled for RIF
separation. The proposal would permit these more senior
employees to volunteer to be RIF separated. Management
would be tasked to publish implementing regulations.
Title VIII--Health Care Provisions
Subtitle A--Health Care Management
Section 801. Codification of CHAMPUS Physician Payment Reform
Program.
This section would codify a provision of the Department of
Defense Appropriations Act for 1995, section 8009, which
establishes a process for gradually reducing CHAMPUS maximum
payments amounts down toward the limits for similar services
under Medicare, with special consideration given to
preserving access to care and limiting balance billing by
providers. The payment limits in use for Medicare are the
product of long-term efforts to achieve a rational payment
system for physicians, using resource-based relative values
to determine appropriate payments rather than basing payment
on the historical charges submitted by providers. The
Medicare payment limits represent a determination by the
largest Federal payer of what is fair and reasonable payment
for health care services; as such, they provide appropriate
target values for CHAMPUS. Additionally, this provision
includes special authority to exceed the allowable amounts in
cases where managed care plan enrollees obtain emergency care
from non-network providers, to enhance the benefits of
enrollment.
Additionally, this provision would build on the successful
example set for inpatient hospital reimbursement: the CHAMPUS
DRG-Based Payment System is modeled closely on the Medicare
Prospective Payment System, with modifications as necessary
to reflect the differences in the programs and the
beneficiaries they serve. The Department of Defense
Authorization Act, 1984 (Public Law 98-94), provided CHAMPUS
with statutory authority to
reimburse institutional providers following Medicare
reimbursement rules.
[[Page S5818]] Under the authority proposed in this
section, the Department would make a transition from its
current system of prevailing charges for professional
services to payment limits similar to the Medicare Fee
Schedule. CHAMPUS allowable payment limits for physicians are
approximately 30 percent higher than those under Medicare, so
there is room for constraint without unduly penalizing
providers or limiting beneficiary access to high quality
care. Exceptions to the Fee Schedule limits would be made to
maintain higher payments when needed to assure adequate
access to care for our beneficiaries. In order to assure a
smooth transition to the new payment limits, reductions in
payments for specific procedures would be restricted to no
more than 15 percent per year.
In order to protect beneficiaries, limitations on balance
billing for CHAMPUS would be established similar to those in
effect for Medicare, which limits balance billing to 15
percent above the allowable amount. This step will complement
the Congress' action in the Department of Defense
Authorization Act for 1992 to require providers generally to
file claims for beneficiaries.
This section amends Section 1079(h) of title 10, United
States Code, to limit CHAMPUS payments to the amounts payable
under Medicare for similar procedures, and provides for a
gradual transition of CHAMPUS payment amounts to Medicare
levels. Additionally, it provides for exceptions if needed to
protect beneficiary access to care, and limits beneficiary
liability for excess charges (balance billing) to the limits
established for Medicare. It also includes a provision to
permit payment of amounts greater than allowable amounts when
needed to protect managed care plan enrollees from balance
billing when they obtain emergency care from non-
participating providers.
Because CHAMPUS payment limits were substantially higher
than Medicare's, implementing this approach for individual
professional providers should produce cost avoidance of
approximately $500 million over the next five years. These
estimates of cost avoidance have been incorporated into
Department of Defense budget projections, which assume
continuation of the current Appropriations Act provisions
for physician payment reforms.
Section 802. Repeal of certain limitations on reductions of
medical personnel
This purpose of this section is to repeal the following
provisions of law:
Section 711 of the National Defense Authorization Act for
Fiscal Year 1991, as amended by section 718(a) of the
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 1992 and
1993;
Section 718(b) of the National Defense Authorization Act
for Fiscal Years 1992 and 1993; and
Section 518 of the National Defense Authorization Act for
Fiscal Year 1993, as amended by section 716 of the National
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1995.
Section 711 prohibits reductions in military and civilian
health care personnel below the number of such personnel
serving on September 30, 1989, unless the Department of
Defense certifies to Congress that the number of personnel
being reduced is excess to current and projected needs of the
Services and that the reduction will not increase Civilian
Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services
(CHAMPUS) costs.
Section 718(b) requires that effective fiscal year 1992,
the total number of Navy officers serving on active duty in
health professions specialties be not less than 12,510,
unless Department of Defense certification is accomplished.
Section 518, as amended by section 716 of the National
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1995 (Public Law
103-337; 108 Stat. 2803), requires certification for any
reduction in Reserve Component medical personnel. Any Reserve
reduction must be excess to the current and projected needs
of the military department and be consistent with the wartime
requirements identified in the final report on the
comprehensive study of the military medical care system
pursuant to section 733 of the National Defense Authorization
Act for Fiscal Years 1992 and 1993.
With the implementation of TRICARE, the adoption of
capitation based financing, and the completion of the ``733
Study'', the Department has in place the tools necessary to
size and shape the Military Health Services System, without
increasing CHAMPUS costs. The Department will maintain
sufficient active duty and Reserve Component medical
personnel to meet all wartime requirements (consistent with
the ``733 Study''), and using military treatment facilities
and at risk managed care support contractors, meet the
peacetime health care needs of Department of Defense
beneficiaries. This prohibition on personnel reductions
contained in current law significantly and unnecessarily
restricts the Secretary's capability to manage the
Department's military and civilian personnel strengths as the
Department of Defense downsize its manpower inventories.
This provision will not increase the budgetary requirements
of the Department of Defense.
Subtitle B--Other Matters
Section 811. Recognition by States of military advance
medical directives
Subsection (a) of this section amends title 10 by inserting
a new section 1044c in chapter 53. The purpose of the
amendment is to ensure that advance medical directives
prepared by members of the armed forces, their spouse, or
other persons eligible for legal assistance under section
1044 of title 10 are recognized as valid even though a
directive might not meet the precise requirements of the
state where the member, spouse, or other person is located at
the time of incapacitation.
An advance medical directive is a document that indicates a
person's desire concerning the medical care to be received if
that person becomes incapable of making health care decisions
or gives to another person the authority to make those
decisions under like circumstances. The Patient Self-
Determination Act (42 U.S.C. 1395cc(f)(1)) requires certain
medical facilities to have procedures to handle advance
medical directives. The Act, however, left the substance of
the law concerning the preparation of advance medical
directives to the states. The states have
adopted different procedures and requirements. Because
members of the armed forces and their family members
travel so frequently from state to state due to
reassignments and duty requirements, it is very difficult
to ensure that an advance medical directive they prepared
in one state will be honored in another. The American Bar
Association has endorsed this proposed legislation.
Subsection (a) of the proposed section 1044c would exempt a
military advance medical directive from any state requirement
concerning ``form, substance, formality, or recording'' and
require that a military advance medical directive be given
full legal effect.
Subsection (b) of the proposed section 1044c defines a
military advance medical directive.
Subsection (c) of the proposed section 1044c would require
a military advance medical directive to include a statement
that clearly identifies it as such and, thus, would put
health care professionals on notice of the requirement to
give the advance medical directive full effect.
Subsection (d) of the proposed section 1044c defines a
``state'' to include the District of Columbia, the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and a possession of the United
States.
Subsection (b) of this section would amend the table of
sections at the beginning of chapter 53 of title 10 to
reflect a new section 1044c. Subsection (c) of this section
would clarify that a military advance medical directive
declared prior to enactment of the amendment would be covered
under the amendment.
Section 812. Closure of the Uniformed Services University of
the Health Sciences
This section requires an orderly phase-out and closure of
the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.
Subsection (a) repeals the statutory authority for the
University.
Subsection (b) establishes and orderly phase-out process,
beginning in fiscal year 1996, and ending with the closure of
the
University not later than September 30, 1999. Under the
phase-out, the Secretary of Defense will have all
necessary authorities to operate the University so as to
achieve an orderly phase-out. The last student class will
enter in fiscal year 1995 and graduate in fiscal year
1999.
Subsection (c) makes clear that the closure of the
University will not affect previously established service
obligations of University graduates, nor other medical
education, research, and related activities of the Department
of Defense that are conducted under other authorities under
law.
Subsections (d) and (e) sets forth conforming and clerical
amendments.
Section 813. Repeal of the statutory restriction on use of
funds for abortions
This section repeals section 1093 of title 10, United
States Code, which prohibits using funds available to the
Department of Defense to perform abortions except where the
life of the mother would be endangered if the fetus were
carried to term. The provision being repealed is sometimes
referred to as the ``Hyde Amendment''.
Title IX--Department of Defense Organization and Management
Subtitle A--Secretarial Matters
Section 901. Additional Assistant Secretary of Defense
This section increases the number of Assistant Secretaries
of Defense by one. This increase will allow the Secretary of
Defense to change the position of Director of Program
Analysis and Evaluation to the Assistant Secretary of Defense
for Program Analysis and Evaluation.
Section 902. Change in name of Assistant to the Secretary of
Defense for Atomic Energy to Assistant to the Secretary
of Defense for Nuclear and Chemical Programs
This section would change the name of the Assistant to the
Secretary of Defense for Atomic Energy to the Assistant to
the Secretary of Defense for Nuclear and Chemical
Programs. Section 142 currently provides a statutory
designation for the subject position. The revision is
required to reflect more precisely the current functions
of the position. Further the term ``atomic energy'' is
obsolete with regard to current lexicon. Within the
Department of Defense, the Assistant to the Secretary is
responsible for advising the Secretary on nuclear energy,
nuclear weapons, and chemical and biological defense
program matters. The Assistant to the Secretary also
serves as the Staff Director for the Nuclear Weapons
Council. That
[[Page S5819]] function is reflected in section 179 of title
10. The amendment to title 5 is a conforming amendment
necessary to reflect the proposed change in name designation.
Subtitle B--Professional Military Education
Section 911. Inclusion of Information Resources Management
College in the National Defense University
The purpose of this legislation is to add the Information
Resources Management College (IRMC) to the definition of the
National Defense University (NDU) contained in section
1595(d)(2) of title 10 and to add it and the Institute for
National Strategic Studies (INSS) to the definition of the
National Defense University contained in section 2162(d)(2)
of title 10. This legislation would update the statutes to
include all of the component parts of the University in both
definitions and to eliminate the inconsistency between the
two definitions. Further, it would clarify the authority of
the Secretary of Defense to hire professors, lecturers, and
instructors for the Information Resources Management College
under section 1595 just as he does for the other integral
components of the National Defense University. It also would
update the Institute for National Strategic Studies name from
``Study'' to ``Studies.''
The National Defense University was founded by the Joint
Chiefs of Staff in 1976 and initially consisted of the
National War College (NWC) and the Industrial College of the
Armed Forces (ICAF). The University's mission has grown as
joint education and interservice strategic thought have
become more dynamic and vastly more significant. Though the
passage of the Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense
Reorganization Act of 1986
dramatically highlighted the significance of its joint
mission, the National Defense University has been
continually evolving to meet its enhanced mission
requirements since its inception. In 1981, the Armed
Services Staff College (AFSC) joined it. In 1982, what is
now the Information Resources Management College was
established, and, in 1984, the Institute for National
Strategic Studies became the last major component of the
National Defense University.
Through this evolution, the statutory definition of the
National Defense University has not kept pace with the
University's adjustment to its enhanced mission. The
existence and mission of the National Defense University were
first recognized statutorily in the Goldwater-Nichols Act
(e.g., see 10 U.S.C. 663(b)); however, the University was not
statutorily defined until the National Defense Authorization
Act for Fiscal Year 1990 added section 1595 to title 10
(Public Law 101-189; 103 Stat. 1558). There the University
was defined as consisting of the Air War College, the
Industrial College of the Armed Forces, and the Armed
Services Staff College. The National Defense Authorization
Act for the Fiscal Year 1991 (Public Law 101-510; 104 Stat.
1626) enacted the same definition of the National Defense
University by adding section 2162(d)(2) to title 10. The
Institute for National Strategic Studies was added to the
definition in section 1595(d) of title 10 in 1991 by the
National Defense Authorization Act for the Fiscal Years 1992
and 1993 (Public Law 102-190; 105 Stat. 1452). However, that
amendment did not add Institute for National Strategic
Studies to section 2162(d)(2) of title 10 nor add Information
Resources Management College to either sections 2162(d) or
1595(d) of title 10. This legislation will cure that
inconsistency.
The proposed legislation also would further clarify the
Secretary of Defense's title 10 hiring authority for the
faculty of the Information Resources Management College. As
with the other components of the National Defense University,
the General Service grading system does not meet the needs of
the traditional academic ranking system. This legislation
would ensure that the Secretary has the same latitude in
employing civilian faculty for all components of the National
Defense University as the Service Secretaries have for their
professional military schools. This is appropriate as the
Information Resources Management College's mission is
commensurate in importance with those of the other
components of the University.
The Information Resources Management College's mission is
to provide an intensive graduate level curriculum for senior
Department of Defense officials, both civilians and military,
in an exponentially expanding field of knowledge crucial to
twenty-first century national defense. That field is the
joint management of information resources as a component of
national power and the integration of those resources into
national strategy. The keystone of the curriculum, the
Advanced Management Program, is an accredited course of
graduate study. The course content includes the latest in
information technology, information based warfare,
acquisition and functional analysis. It demonstrates the
sophistication and complexity of the subject matter as well
as the Information Resources Management College's success in
addressing it to date. However, Information Resources
Management College is also recognized by the Defense
Acquisition University to be among its level-3 Acquisition
Corps granting consortium. More recently, Information
Resources Management College has launched a pilot, 10-month,
senior military course in the information component of
national power. This course, of equal stature to National War
College and Industrial College of the Armed Forces, educates
future defense leadership in the art of possible future
conflict and operations other than war. These courses
underscore the necessity for nationally recognized faculty to
maintain the highest level of instruction. To attract and
retain such faculty, the Information Resources Management
College needs title 10 hiring authority, just as the other
components of the University do.
Enactment of the proposed legislation would not result in
an increase in the budgetary requirements of the Department
of Defense.
Section 912. Employment of civilians at the Asia-Pacific
Center for Security Studies
The purpose of this section is to grant the Secretary of
the Defense the authority to appoint, administer and
compensate the civilian faculty to the Chester W. Nimitz
Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies. The National
Defense University (10 U.S.C. 1595), United States Naval
Academy (10 U.S.C. 6952), the United States Military Academy
(10 U.S.C. 4331), the United States Air
Force Academy (10 U.S.C. 9331), the Naval Postgraduate
School (10 U.S.C. 7044), the Naval War College (10 U.S.C.
7478), the Army War College (10 U.S.C. 4021), the Air
University (10 U.S.C. 9021) and the George C. Marshall
European Center for Security Studies (10 U.S.C. 1595) have
such authority for their civilian faculty.
The Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies is a new
institution chartered by the Secretary of Defense to be under
the authority, direction and control of the Commander in
Chief, United States Pacific Command. The center's mission is
to facilitate broader understanding of the United States
military, diplomatic, and economic roles in the Pacific and
its military and economic relations with its allies and
adversaries in the region. The center will offer advanced
study and training in civil-military relations, democratic
institution and nation building, and related courses to
members of the United States military and military members of
other Pacific nations. The mission of this critically
important and innovative center will require first-rate
faculty and scholars with international reputations.
Under current authority available to the Commander in
Chief, United States Pacific Command, civilian faculty for
the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies must be
appointed, administered and compensated under title 5. The
faculty must be classified under the General Schedule (GS)
and recruitment and compensation must be limited to GS grade,
occupational series and pay rates. However, the GS grading
system does not meet the needs of the traditional academic
ranking system wherein faculty members earn and hold rank
based on educational accomplishment, experience, stature and
other related academic and professional endeavors. The GS
grading system also will not allow the center to hire non-
United States citizen academics from international
institutions. Legislation is required for the Commander in
Chief, United States Pacific Command to utilize title 10
excepted service authority which will provide greater
flexibility to appoint, administer and compensate the
center's civilian faculty.
Section 1595 of title 10 provides for employment and
compensation of civilian faculty at certain Department of
Defense schools. There is no provision for civilian faculty
of the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies.
The proposed legislation provides excepted service
authority for appointing, administering and compensating the
civilian faculty of the Asia-Pacific Center for Security
Studies.
