Government Executive - Authors - Rudi Williams

Military benefits are good, but could be better, Defense official says

Rudi Williams — Fri, 24 May 2002 00:00:00 -0400

Military benefits programs are good, but important areas need improvement, such as compensation, spousal employment and children's education, the Defense Department's top personnel official said recently.

In April, the General Accounting Office, Congress' investigative arm, issued preliminary findings on an ongoing study of military benefits. GAO concluded that the military benefits package is close to what most private companies have for benefits packages for their employees. The full report is expected this summer.

Meanwhile, David S.C. Chu, undersecretary of Defense for personnel and readiness, said, "Compensation between military and civilian pay isn't as good as we'd like to see it in the mid-career years. That's why we've consistently, both last year and this year, asked for increases for those years of service beyond the across-the-board pay increases."

The Defense Department's initiative is part of President Bush's fiscal 2003 Defense budget request. Chu said senators and representatives have indicated support in the past for such initiatives. "With luck, we'll get the additional target money we've asked for," he added.

Surveys show that more than half of today's service members in grades E-5 and above have some college education and more than 20 percent of grades E-8 and above have college degrees. However, private-sector pay for individuals with comparable education is higher than military pay scales.

In an effort to close the gap, the Defense Department's budget request sets aside about $301 million for targeting non-commissioned officers, warrant officers and mid-grade officers in the upcoming fiscal 2003 pay raise. The money will allow the Defense Department to provide pay raises of between 5 and 6.5 percent for selected pay grades. This includes the 4.1 percent across-the-board pay raise proposal.

Other quality-of-life programs impact retention and readiness. Spouse employment is one of these quality-of-life concerns. Military family readiness is essential to total force readiness, according to Defense officials. Chu said most spouses want to work and a large number of them do.

"But one of our most serious problems is (that) spouses feel they're either unemployed because of the spouse's military career or they're underemployed," he said. "They're not doing the kind of thing for which they're trained. This is an issue that the member can't buy his or her way out of. We have to set up structures and respond to them."

Children's education is another hot button issue, the undersecretary noted. "This is a matter of concern to all parents," he continued. "Overseas, we provide the benefit and we do a terrific job. Based on our standardized scores, if our overseas school system was a state, we'd be in the top five. Our people are doing a great job-the teachers, parents, the school system as a whole and the kids themselves.

"Our Defense Department schools in the U.S. also do a terrific job and their test score results show it," he said.

But there is a problem with some civilian school systems near major military bases stateside. "Some of the schools are not as strong as we'd like to see them," Chu noted. "We have to figure out how to work with those communities to bring those schools up to the standards that an individual should expect."

Reducing out-of-pocket housing expenses for military personnel is another issue Chu is concerned about. Currently, service members pay on average 11.3 percent over their basic allowance for housing. If the fiscal 2003 budget is passed, that percentage will drop to 7.5 percent on a path to elimination by fiscal 2005. "I think we've got this problem under excellent control," he said.

The Family Subsistence Supplemental Allowance program, which offers an alternative to food stamps for service members, is successful, Chu said. "What is surprising is that we have fewer people signing up than we thought would sign up for this program," he noted. "There's a little bit of stigma attached to this and there shouldn't be. This is available to anybody who has a family situation that requires it. We'll ensure that anyone who is eligible takes advantage of the program. The funding is available. But I think we've overestimated the need somewhat."

The supplemental food allowance was implemented in May 2001. However, the number of service members on food stamps has decreased from 19,400 in 1991 to an estimated 4,200 in 2001. Officials predict that number will drop to about 2,100 this year because of the large fiscal 2002 pay raise and more members choosing to take the allowance instead of food stamps.

Chu said service members involved in operations in Afghanistan, Kyrgykzstan, Jordan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and those serving in parts of Turkey in direct support of operations in Afghanistan receive combat zone tax benefits. They also receive $150 per month in imminent danger pay. Additionally, they qualify for hardship duty pay at a rate of $50 to $100 per month. And, if they're in a temporary duty status, they retain their full basic allowance for subsistence.

Service members aboard ships in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea and portions of the Arabian Sea also receive the combat zone tax exemption and imminent danger pay benefits.

Several weaknesses were discovered in the Defense Department's death benefits package after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that have since been corrected, Chu pointed out. "I'm delighted at the support of Congress. There was a potential inequity in the way pay for a surviving family worked," he noted. "If you were not eligible to retire, our death benefit was not adequate. We sought from Congress an alternative death benefit for those who die on active duty, but are not eligible for retirement."

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Pentagon repair work ahead of schedule

Rudi Williams — Thu, 31 Jan 2002 00:00:00 -0500

Military spouses get more flexible employment options

Rudi Williams — Tue, 05 Jun 2001 00:00:00 -0400

Military spouses who participate in a two-year pilot program called MSP Choice are allowed to accept an interim job without losing their rehire preference under the Military Spouse Preference Program, according to Defense Civilian Personnel Policy Office officials. Spouses of active duty service members, including the Coast Guard, who relocate to a new permanent duty station are entitled to hiring preference as long as they're among the best qualified for the position, officials said. In the past, military spouses who took temporary jobs and time-limited jobs lost their hiring preference. This meant they couldn't compete if more desirable jobs became available later. Under MSP Choice--the first significant change in the military spousal employment provision since 1989 --the spouses lose their spousal preference only if they accept or decline the offer of a permanent full-time or a permanent part-time position. The pilot program applies to all DoD appropriated fund and nonappropriated fund positions in Europe. Spouses in Europe who lost their preference rights before the pilot started may be eligible for reinstatement under MSP Choice. Individuals who believe they may be eligible should contact their local human resources office. "MSP is restricted to employment of military spouses in the European Theater," said civilian personnel policy spokesperson Diane Hart. "There are no plans to start the program in other areas before the test is over. "We will monitor the European Command policy and continue to review spouse preference to determine if any further modifications are necessary," she said. "As with any pilot, we need to evaluate its effectiveness and ensure there are no unintended, negative consequences." Officials pointed out that veterans retain preference for initial employment over military spouses. So do employees displaced from their positions through no personal cause and selected employees placed under the Defense Equal Opportunity Employment Program.

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DoD works to fill civilian 'skills gap'

Rudi Williams — Mon, 26 Jun 2000 00:00:00 -0400

DoD has a potential civilian employee problem, and Jerome Smith is working on preventing it.

The problem is that thousands of highly skilled "baby boomers" will become eligible to retire shortly. Any mass exodus would leave a giant skills gap in DoD's civilian workforce. Smith said DoD should starting planning to fill the gap now, before it's too late.

When Smith was sworn in as DoD's first chancellor of civilian education and professional development on Oct. 2, 1998, Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen touted the appointment as a new era in DoD's education of its civilian workforce. He tasked Smith with creating a world-class education and professional development system for civilian employees patterned after the best aspects of the military system and corporate America.

"We're looking at the lessons corporate America has learned and is willing to share with us about being world-class competitors," said Smith. "We'd like to take the best of what they've learned and incorporate it into our system."

He noted that a lot of the baby boomers' replacements are already in DoD's workforce and looking at a new era of tremendous technological and socioeconomic change. Smith said DoD must ensure its education and professional development programs prepare these new leaders and managers to do as well or better than their predecessors.

And then there's another high hurdle to cross-recruiting.

"We must compete with a robust economy for top-quality people we need to make the department operate effectively," said Smith, the principal advocate for the academic quality and cost-effectiveness of all DoD civilian education and professional development activities.

Successful world-class companies know their workforce is their most important asset and so they use education and professional development programs to attract and retain quality people, he noted.

"That's what we need to do if we're going to be competitive with those same corporations for the workforce," Smith emphasized. He said potential employees need to know what DoD can offer that would make defense the place they want to work.

Smith visited several firms in Northern California's Silicon Valley to see how those high-tech, high-performance companies treat their employees. "They offer wonderful education and professional development to their people for many reasons," he said. "Part of it is to help them get their product out. Part is to keep their people at the front of the technological revolution, and part of it is to meet their employees' personal needs for their own personal growth.

"That's our competition," he emphasized. "If we want to play in that market, we have to provide the same type of high-quality education and professional development for our workforce." Smith said all DoD civilian employees should know they will receive the appropriate training required for advancement and to do their jobs as well as they can be done. He said he's working toward an education and professional development system that will be personally rewarding for DoD employees.

"We're going to provide a system that makes us competitive," Smith said. "And, it will make our people enjoy their work and feel that they are current and are building their own educational portfolio as they progress through their defense career. We want people to feel good about working in DoD because it's an important enterprise and critical to our nation's survival."

Ensuring that all of DoD's educational institutions gain accreditation is Smith's first goal. The second is to publish standards that DoD demands of institutions and identifies programs that are suitable for the workforce.

"Another goal would be to build a true community of DoD civilian educators," he said. "We need coherence because that's what characterizes the good parts of our volunteer education program, K through 12 program, and our military education and training program. We need the same thing on our civilian side."

Smith said his office has become a broker for accreditation of DoD institutions through the voluntary accreditation process in use in American higher education and recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Some DoD educational institutions, such as the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences, lead the way with multiple accreditations. The university, in Bethesda, Md., has regional and specialized accreditations for its doctor, nurse and doctorate programs.

War colleges and military academies have been accredited for a long time, said Smith, a former leader of a couple of colleges at the National Defense University, a fully accredited institution authorized to give master's degrees.

"We have other institutions that have specialized accreditations, such as the Defense Information School at Fort Meade, Md., which trains military journalists, broadcasters and photojournalists," Smith said. "It has been accredited by the Council on Occupational Education, a specialized accreditor recognized by the Department of Education."

But, he pointed out, not all DoD institutions are accredited-yet. "We can do it," he said.

Since DoD is moving toward an information-based department from a production-based operation, Smith said DoD's workforce should be educated in the jobs workers will have in the new information age.

For example, Smith said Jacques S. Gansler, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, is already encouraging his staff to keep learning. "He has issued a continuing education policy document, which requires a certain number of hours of education and professional development every two years for that large workforce- about 150,000 people," Smith said.

DoD also has a superb voluntary education program that allows service members and civilian workers to attend off- duty classes at civilian education institutions, according to Smith.

"What we really don't have is a similarly organized civilian education program," he noted. "That's what we're focusing on improving now."

Smith said since becoming chancellor, he has established a fully manned office and created a Web site. He and his staff planned and hosted the first DoD conference on civilian education and professional development and scheduled the second for Aug. 8-9 at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.

He has also organized the DoD Metrics of Excellence Task Force, which is laboring to produce standards for DoD educational institutions. The third steering committee meeting is scheduled for June 28 at Smith's office in Arlington, Va.

Smith wants his legacy to be an education and professional development system that results in a world-class civilian workforce. He said the workforce should be comparable and suitable for the support of DoD's already world-class military.

Calling himself "a product of the military education system," Smith said he's a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. The Navy also sponsored him through a Stanford University doctoral program.

"That education had some bearing on most every job I was assigned in the Navy," he said. "That ultimately led to my assignment as the commandant of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces-one of our two senior joint war colleges. So I've participated in the education program from the beginning to the end.

"Those exposures convinced me that the military has a very fine professional military education system with the kinds of characteristics that a system needs to have-clear goals, clear assignment of responsibility," said Smith. "There are feedback mechanisms, and tracking mechanisms which measure the quality of the outputs at all the key points.

"I'm convinced those characteristics are what makes the military system so good," he said. "We don't have that same systematic approach in civilian education because we are, for many reasons, divided up in a different way. But there are elements in that process that we can bring into our civilian education system to improve the process."

More information about the Smith's office and DoD Education and Professional Development is on the Internet at http://www.cpms.osd.mil/dlamp/education/.

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