GovernmentExecutive.com

Time spent while a student at a military academy is not creditable toward leave time in the civil service, a federal appeals court affirmed Tuesday.

The court upheld a Merit Systems Protection Board ruling that David Crawford, a former member of the Coast Guard and current employee of the Transportation Department, had not been discriminated against when refused leave time based on his cadet years.

When Crawford joined the civilian workforce after 23 years of military service, his three years and 11 months of cadet time was included in computing his service time.

However, a year after Crawford's employment with Transportation began, the Office of Personnel Management issued a memo stating that time spent in academies does not count towards service time. OPM directed the Coast Guard to correct the records of those currently receiving credit based on that time. The correction changed Crawford's leave rate from six hours per pay period to four hours per pay period.

Crawford filed a complaint with the Merit Systems Protection Board, claiming that the action violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994. An MSPB judge ruled against him, saying his employer was merely following OPM's instruction.

Crawford appealed to the full board, which ruled that federal law (10 U.S.C 971) clearly indicated that service performed as a cadet or midshipman did not count.

The appeals court affirmed the decision of the board.

Off the Hook

Dwight Watson, sentenced to six years in prison last week for threatening to detonate a bomb on the National Mall in Washington, will go free within weeks, after being given a much-reduced sentence Wednesday.

Watson became the third person to be affected by the Supreme Court's recent Blakely v. Washington decision, which stated that only juries can decide on facts used to extend sentences beyond the maximum penalty. In the Watson case, U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson extended Watson's sentence beyond the 16-month maximum by 56 months.

Jackson reviewed the sentencing Wednesday in light of the Supreme Court decision and decided to reduce the sentence from six years to 16 months. Watson already has served 15 months and 11 days.

The North Carolina tobacco farmer was found guilty of making threats and destroying government property after he drove his tractor into a pond in downtown Washington in March 2003, saying he would detonate "organophosphate bombs." Watson's standoff with law enforcement officials forced the closure of several government agencies and disrupted traffic for four days.

Jackson originally extended Watson's sentence beyond the maximum based on the fact that he had caused substantial disruption to the public, made numerous threats and false statements and had intended to cause harm.

Federal prosecutors have now filed an appeal in an attempt to prevent Watson's release and seek a longer sentence.

COMMENTS

• Because the employee is retired from the military due to 20 or more years of service, they are not entitled to credit for their military service towards SCD – leave (per the Dual Compensation Act of 1964). The argument has been, that since academy time is not credited towards their military retirement, it should be creditable in the civilian sector. This assumption was prevalent due to the omission of academy service in Title V (governing leave and retirement credit). This ruling negates that assumption and sites a passage in Title X, (governing military credit) where the service is specifically ruled as not creditable. OPM has not released any official updates to the GPPA on the matter, and the only unofficial information my agency has received from OPM states that academy time IS creditable unless you are retired. Although the Petitioner in this case was retired, the final ruling did not limit its findings to military retirees, but applied it to military academy attendees in general. In addition, the court questioned the current policy in giving the same credit for retirement SCD as well. I'm interested in seeing how (and if) OPM reacts to this latest ruling which contradicts OPM's current guidelines. A. Tillman Posted December 7, 2004 1:22 PM
• Wouldn't the employee get 8 hours of leave per pay period anyway based on his over 15 years of government (military) service? That is also regardless of if the employeed bought back military time at 3 percent of basic pay earned (Omnibus 66?). I would expect that the 4 hours vs. 6 hours of leave would apply to those who had cadet time only, with no follow-up time in the military after the academy. Jim Davidson Posted July 3, 2004 5:10 AM