Government Executive - Authors - Paul Stone

DoD defers decision to cut reserve components

Paul Stone — Tue, 28 Dec 1999 00:00:00 -0500

Defense Secretary William Cohen has deferred plans that would have cut another 25,000 personnel from the Army National Guard and Reserve.

The 1997 Quadrennial Defense Review had recommended reserve component cuts of up to 45,000 personnel. Reductions of 17,000 in the Army National Guard and 3,000 in the Army Reserve have already been completed.

Charles Cragin, principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for reserve affairs, said three factors prompted deferment of the cuts. First the Army is currently conducting a redesign of Army National Guard divisions and is developing a new vision of how the Army will work and fight in the next century.

"Secretary Cohen did not want to do anything at this time that would hinder those plans," Cragin said.

Second, DoD will begin the process of conducting another QDR in January 2001, which will provide another opportunity to analyze existing force structures and future requirements.

Third, and perhaps most important Cragin said, DoD is highly dependent on reserve component forces for operations throughout the world.

"We couldn't do it without them," he said. "They are critically important, and in many instances they have at least a majority of core competencies needed in ongoing operations." He cited civil affairs and medical specialties as examples.

Cragin said current missions in Bosnia, Kosovo, Kuwait and over Iraq are heavily dependent on reserve forces, and pointed out that a total of 32,000 reserve component service members have supported the Bosnia mission during the past four years.

"This is not just an Army issue, it's a total force issue," the reserve chief said. "There's been a dramatic change in the way we're using the force today compared to when the decision to make the cuts was made."

For example, Cragin said that several years ago DoD was using reserve component personnel at a rate of about one million duty days a year. "In the last three years, with a guard and reserve force that is about 25 percent smaller than a decade ago, we are using reserve component personnel at a rate of about 13 million duty days a year."

This change, Cragin said, is the equivalent of adding 35,000 men and women to the active end strength of the total force.

"We really can't sustain any operations anywhere in the world today without calling on the reserve components."

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400,000 DoD jobs cut since '89; 100,000 to go

Paul Stone — Fri, 20 Aug 1999 00:00:00 -0400

It's been a long 10 years, and Diane Disney will not hesitate to say it's been painful at times. But she will also tell you DoD's downsizing of its civilian work force has been successful and achieved with a transition program that's better than any other in government and better than almost any in the private sector.

Disney is DoD's deputy assistant secretary of defense for civilian personnel policy. She has been a key player in the programs and policies that have taken the civilian work force from a September 1989 figure of approximately 1.1 million to its present 700,000-and done so "humanely as well as efficiently," she emphasized.

She's particularly proud of the fact that of the 400,000 jobs eliminated or transferred to private contractors, only about 9 percent resulted in actual layoffs. "That is a record I don't think any private sector business could meet," she said.

Three programs proved particularly successful in drawing down the civilian work force without having to resort to layoffs, Disney said. The Priority Placement Program helped place about 70,000 workers in other positions in and outside DoD. The program is a permanent one used routinely to place workers in other federal jobs when installations or agencies close or downsize.

The other programs, Disney noted, are the Voluntary Early Retirement Act and the Voluntary Separation Incentive Pay programs. Under VERA, employees can retire early and begin collecting benefits. VSIP pays employees to leave federal civil service -- up to $25,000, depending on length of service and other factors. Some employees were able to take advantage of both programs. She said about 126,000 DoD civilians have opted for VSIP since 1989 and 56,000 have retired under VERA.

Disney said DoD has received authority to continue the VSIP program through 2001 and is proposing an extension through 2003, and authority already exists to continue the VERA program. Both will be important during the next several years because, she said, DoD must eliminate about 100,000 more civilian positions between now and 2003.

In addition to these popular and effective programs, Disney said DoD has experimented with other incentives. For example, anyone who leaves federal service may elect to continue federal health care coverage for up 18 months if they pay the premiums.

"We went a little further in defense and got the authority to continue making the payments for them to help ease the transition period," she said. The benefit made a profound difference to some people, she added.

One program that has not worked well is the Nonfederal Hiring Incentive Program. The program offers private sector businesses up to $10,000 for each DoD civilian they retrain or relocate, as long as the employee is retained for at least a year. Disney said that, because of low private sector interest in the program, DoD won't seek congressional authority to continue it after this fiscal year.

While understanding how difficult downsizing has been, Disney is also proud of the way the military departments and agencies have handled the process.

"Unlike other kinds of organizations, DoD must always be ready for its mission," Disney said. "And that doesn't mean it can be in a full state of readiness in Germany but not Korea. We have to be ready at all sites at all times. We've tried to manage the downsizing humanely and efficiently, but we couldn't have managed it at all if the people who work for DoD had not remained consistently dedicated to the mission."

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New DoD office to monitor Y2K transition

Paul Stone — Tue, 10 Aug 1999 00:00:00 -0400

The space in the Arlington, Va., office complex is mostly empty right now-wired, but still awaiting people, phones, computers and other equipment. By early September, the emptiness will be transformed into a hub of activity as DoD's Year 2000 Decision Support Activity comes on line.

The DSA is designed to serve as a focal point for monitoring defense infrastructures, such as telecommunications, power and transportation systems. It will also address any problems that may occur during the Y2K date transition, according to Jeff Gaynor, director of Year 2000 Operations in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Command, Control, Communications and Intelligence, where the DSA is located.

Once fully staffed with a core group of about 25 personnel, the activity will focus on three key areas.

First, the DSA will monitor DoD's cyber systems and physical infrastructures, Gaynor said. It will track reports of potential infrastructure problems and inform Defense Secretary William's Cohen's Executive Support Center, which is responsible for coordinating any further action needed. Gaynor said monitoring DoD's systems will help assessment efforts and ensure problems are addressed before they can adversely affect DoD operations.

Second, by monitoring global and national news sources, the DSA will track throughout the world where problems may be occurring. Gaynor said the information-gathering effort will help differentiate problems that routinely occur in some systems from those that may be caused by the Year 2000 date transition. He noted that such information will help DoD identify events that may or may not need the department's assistance.

"We [DoD], like any organization that uses and is dependent on modern information and infrastructure technologies, experience system problems," Gaynor said. "Our focus is on those problems that may have an impact on the department's operations. If we learn an area is experiencing power outages, that's good information. But if those outages can be managed by local or state authorities, that's better information." He noted refined information will help DoD more efficiently apply its resources.

Third, in order to ensure requests for DoD's assistance are accurately received and processed, the DSA will operate a small "Call Center." The center will receive requests for foreign or domestic assistance made by the Department of State or Federal Emergency Management Agency. The DSA will document the requests and forward them to the Executive Support Center. The center's personnel will coordinate the request with the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Staff and the Army's director of military support. The center will then forward the results of its coordination to the department's leadership for approval.

Gaynor said that "there are some who view DoD's Y2K preparations as somehow ominous. But given the American military's history and DoD's national security responsibilities, it's simply our culture to be ready."

In contrast to some of the hype surrounding Y2K, Gaynor said that "the biggest problems we're likely to face are those created by the effects of overreaction to Y2K."

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DoD says personnel files safe from Y2K problems

Paul Stone — Tue, 04 May 1999 00:00:00 -0400

Defense Department officials say those who are concerned that the year 2000 computer problem could suddenly erase their very existence as DoD employee at the stroke of midnight on Dec. 31, should worry no more.

DoD officials say the services are making steady and strong progress in fixing computer systems that manage and store personnel files. Indeed, the Marine Corps and the Air Force personnel files systems are already Y2K-compliant, according to Norma St. Claire, director of Joint Requirements and Integration for the Office of the Undersecretary of Personnel and Readiness.

That's good news, because every personnel action processed on you is stored in those files. From enlistment papers to promotion orders, from training records to awards, from re- enlistment to changes of duty station-it's all there.

"The Marine Corps and Air Force systems have been tested, fielded, verified as Y2K-compliant and are working today," St. Claire said. "The Navy and Army are making steady progress and are expected to have all their systems ready by the end of September. They both have ambitious and aggressive fielding schedules for updating software and replacing existing systems that cannot be fixed."

In addition to fixing current systems, the services all have back-up data should any unexpected Y2K glitches occur, according to Mike Monteleone, St. Claire's information technology chief and Y2K manager.

"All the services regularly and routinely back-up their data on off-line storage systems," Monteleone said. "This is done not just because of Y2K, but for any number of problems that could occur, such as electrical outages from storms that may corrupt or delete existing files." An example of "off-line" storage is copying all the files in a system onto a CD-ROM. That way, in case parts of, or an entire system should fail, the files can still be retrieved and reinstalled.

While both St. Claire and Monteleone are confident all services will have their personnel systems ready for the Year 2000, what remains uncertain at this point is processing of personnel actions late into the year. Both DoD and the services are considering either accelerating or delaying certain personnel actions beginning in December.

Among those that could be included are re-enlistments and extensions, awards, separations, retirements and discharges, promotions, training, transfers and nonessential travel.

"DoD and the services are considering it, but no decisions have been made at this time," St. Claire emphasized. "There's no easy answer to this one. It's just something we're going to have to monitor throughout the year."

St. Claire said DoD is considering such action to try to reduce the paperwork and stress on the entire system, since personnel actions often require actions by a host of other agencies. For example, promotions automatically prompt pay changes, and the Defense Finance and Accounting Service has already recommended minimizing pay changes in the month of December.

"So we have to keep in mind that our actions are not just affecting our systems," St. Claire said. "It's not that we don't believe the systems will work, it's just that personnel systems interact with so many others, the less stress we put on all of them at the end of the year the better."

There are also factors beyond the control of the services, Monteleone said. "If power failures occur because of Y2K, regardless of whether your system works, without electricity, you'll have to process personnel actions manually, and that will just slow things down." The good news, he added, is that personnel actions normally slow down in December anyway.

"Usually a large portion of personnel are off during the holidays and incoming transactions are substantially less," he said. "It's not like the first week of June, when you've got many people changing duty stations."

Monteleone said the personnel actions at greatest risk are those occurring in the final days of 1999 that may not yet have been stored on back-up systems. "But even with those, there is a paper copy and the information can be recreated in the systems, he said.

So will there be any glitches with personnel files because of Y2K?

Possibly, St. Claire and Monteleone say. Personnel information systems involve literally thousands of computer applications and interfaces, and something may fail.

"We're good at fixing things, but we're not perfect," Monteleone said. "What we and the services are ensuring is that there will be no critical impact. There may be some power outages, there may be an interface that's down for a couple of days and will slow things down, but personnel files will still be there."

The bottom line, St. Claire said, "is that I think we're going to be in good shape. I have every reason to believe all our systems will be compatible and ready."

Y2K or not, however, St. Claire said it's important for service members to maintain copies of important documents in their files, such as promotion orders, awards and training.

"It just makes good sense to have those kinds of records in hand in case you need them," she concluded.

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Desert Fox target toll climbs past 75 Iraqi sites

Paul Stone — Sat, 19 Dec 1998 00:00:00 -0500

U.S. and British air and naval forces attacked more than 75 Iraqi military targets in the first two nights of bombing in Operation Desert Fox, Pentagon leaders said.

As the Pentagon prepared for additional strikes, Defense Secretary William Cohen and Army Gen. Hugh Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, updated Pentagon reporters on the status of operations.

Shelton said Dec. 17 bombings, for the first time in Desert Fox, involved both joint and combined operations. U.S Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force assets, as well as those from Great Britain, worked together in a coordinated strike effort, he said.

"We're very, very proud of our combined forces and very satisfied with the results thus far," Cohen said. "Our forces are intensely and intently focused on their jobs and doing [them] well."

Cohen emphasized there have been no U.S. casualties to date, and all aircraft and personnel have returned safely following their missions. He also announced Desert Fox has now employed more Tomahawk cruise missiles than were used in the 1991 Persian Gulf War, though he declined to provide exact figures.

Shelton and Cohen said the second night's air strikes continued to focus on weapons of mass destruction sites, security sites and forces, integrated air defense and airfields, and Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's military command and control infrastructure.

"We haven't destroyed his total capability, but we have certainly reduced his assets," Shelton said.

Defense officials summarized the targets during the briefing: 27 surface-to-air missile sites, 18 command and control facilities, 19 sites housing security details for Hussein's weapons of mass destruction program, 11 weapons of mass destruction industrial and production facilities, eight Republican Guard facilities, and five airfields.

Cohen said it's too early to assess the overall success rate, but added he's satisfied with the results so far. He declined to say whether more attacks are planned and re-emphasized that the objective of Desert Fox is to degrade Iraq's military capabillities, not to destabilize Hussein's regime.

Defense officials at the briefing said many attacks focused on destroying or degrading targets in southern Iraq, such as surface-to-air missile sites, airfields, and command and control sites. This, they said, has helped create a safer corridor for pilots to reach northern targets.

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