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Approximately 60,000 Defense Department civilian employees will shift to the new National Security Personnel System during the first phase of its launch, which is scheduled for the summer of 2005, Pentagon officials said Wednesday.

Navy Secretary Gordon England, who is heading up the NSPS effort, also announced that a new NSPS labor relations system will be implemented across the department at that time.

The 2004 National Defense Authorization Act gave the Pentagon the authority to dramatically overhaul its personnel system. Those changes are expected to include a performance pay system and reduced collective bargaining powers for labor unions. Pentagon leaders also indicated they wanted to streamline the department's appeals process.

The first phase of the deployment of the new system--dubbed "Spiral One" - is scheduled to begin as early as July 2005. It will include 60,000 employees. The next two waves will follow within 18 months.

Spiral Two "will comprise the remainder of the eligible workforce and will be initiated following an assessment of Spiral One and after the secretary of Defense certifies the department's performance management system," the NSPS program office said in a press release.

Spiral Three is slated to include employees at Defense Department laboratories - despite the fact that these personnel are not yet eligible to take part in NSPS.

"Spiral Three will comprise the DoD labs should current legislative restrictions be eliminated," the press release said.

By the end of all three waves, 300,000 Defense Department civilians will have been shifted into NSPS.

The Pentagon released a breakdown of which facilities and activities will have their civilian personnel transferred during Spiral One.

England said NSPS will provide the Pentagon with "a modern, flexible and agile human resource system." Mary Lacey, program executive officer for NSPS, asked employees to provide feedback as the system is put in place.

Pentagon officials expect to finish writing new personnel regulations by the end of the month, according to a Dec. 3 letter from Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and Office of Personnel Management Director Kay Coles James.

The development of the new personnel system has generated its share of controversy. Labor union leaders have accused Defense personnel officials of shutting the unions out of the process and withholding information on the new system.

Several top lawmakers have called for transparency and cooperation in developing the NSPS. The Defense Department said it will share details about the system when the proposed regulations are published in the Federal Register.

COMMENTS

• The NSPS did not allow feedback by designing a survey that ask quesitons with multiple choice answers all in an effort to limit any honest feedback. This must be the manner in which they designed the welfare system in this country or we wouldn't have such a continual problem of generation dependency on a system clearly meant to keep lower class in existence. Without a survey that allowed the employee to input their self-designed thoughts and rationales on canvass, there was no true feedback, but a politically designed apparatus for imposing the will of a few. What NSPS really is meant to create is McCarthyism, the systemic process of weeding out gays and lesbians and non-golfers and non-smokers and non-drinkers and mixed couples and arabs and blacks and vertically challenged and trekkies and non-english speakers and medically weak and stereotypes and quiet people and those who speak up for themselves and non-college graduates and republicans or democrates and non-catholics and non-moral majority and especially non-whites. It gives license to witch-hunts and speculation and rumors and division within the ranks of government employees that is counter-productive to homeland security and anti-terrorism. All of which are the cracks within a wall that was designed to resolve such issues and it is called civil rights. Nothing in the NSPS upholds civil rights. Nothing in the NSPS holds individuals accountable for violations of such rights or creates a system of checks and balances that executes improvements in areas where there are those who have abused and misused the system and taken advantage of all those I have outlined above. It is a system with good intent, but because it does not address the issues of known mistreatment and civil violations within the United States Government Offices, it is destined to cost the American tax payer billions upon billions of dollars to resolve the differences of opinion generated world wide by this attempt at rewarding like minded employees over those most people just don't personally care for. This is for all those who support this fiasco - Idiot! James Posted August 5, 2005 7:20 AM
• In 20 years of Government employ, I have watched this organization go from "Great" to one of "Decay". Team Leaders who are not trained in the commodity of their workforce, making decisions on the best way to do the job. Deputy Commanders who can only tout the retoric, commanders rotating out every three years and Generals staying with us only long enough to "Change the way we do business" before leaving also. This is just some of our problems. Management is fighting to survive and the reality of it is "We might be better off to privatize the whole Federal Government". Look at the people making all these new changes. Are they affected by it? Of course not. Thank goodness I am not a young person just starting out in a "Career" with the federal government. What a surprise they are in for. Tired of taking the hit GovExec.com reader Posted February 15, 2005 7:02 PM
• Hey, wait, though!! It's probably worse than it looks. All you people are complaining that your step increases, the only sure thing you can count on in the govt. are about to be taken away. Just a fun fact - Did you know that your pay can also be adjusted downward? Nope, I'll bet Ms. Lacey didn't disclose that. In the original plan that the Naval Surface Warfare center devised back in 1997 - the "voluntary", "experimental" pay banding system that some employees went under stated that a supervisor could cut a subordinate's pay under circumstances such as "poor" performance or matters of fiscal emergency. Naval Surface Warfare Center, by the way, is Ms. Lacey's alma mater. FED UP GovExec.com reader Posted January 6, 2005 7:57 AM