Current News...Continued...
The New GI Bill
Provisions of the bill
For Active Duty Troops:
· The bill gets rid of the current enrollment requirements, replacing them with language mandating at least three months’ active duty service in the military since Sept. 11, 2001, for partial GI Bill benefits.
· Anyone who has served at least three years on active duty since then is eligible for four years of tuition costs at their home state’s universities, plus a monthly stipend for housing and living expenses which averages about $1100 nationwide, depending on where the veteran attends college.
· Each year, the veterans will also be eligible for $1,200 in tutoring services and $1,000 more to cover books. Altogether, the benefit could top more than $25,000 a year in the most expensive states.
· If troops or veterans attend state schools that are less expensive, they won’t get to pocket the difference – the benefit only covers what veterans are actually charged by their school. If they decide to go to a private school or out-of-state college, they’ll have to cover the difference between their higher tuition bill and the state-assigned reimbursement figure.
· The benefit lasts for 15 years now, instead of 10, giving troops extra time after leaving the military to either use their benefit or pass it along.
For Spouses and dependents:
· Under a provision backed by the Pentagon, troops who served at least 10 years on active duty will be able to transfer their benefit to a spouse or dependent child. Spouses can receive the money even sooner, if their servicemember has served at least six years and agrees to another four-year contract.
· Families can divide the benefit up however it benefits them most, as long as they don’t exceed those 36 months of college classes. For example, a retired soldier can use two years of benefits to pay for a two-year degree program, then transfer the last two years to a spouse or child.
· For long-serving servicemembers, the changes mean that their college-age children could get a free college education starting fall 2009, provided they attend a state-backed school.
For Reservists and Veterans:
· Guardsmen and reservists who served at least three years on active duty in the past seven years automatically qualify for the full tuition benefit just like other troops. Those who served less active time, but at least three months, will receive between 40 and 90 percent of the tuition benefit, based on a sliding scale.
· More importantly, the benefit can be used within 15 years of their separation from the service, instead of the current requirement that they remain in the Guard or Reserve to receive the money.
· For those veterans who have already used all of their GI Bill benefits, the changes don’t offer any new money. Many of the most vocal supporters of the bill, veterans upset over how little they received for college, acknowledged the changes will help the next generation of young servicemembers more than themselves.
· But veterans who have not yet used up their education benefits, or those who never signed up for the GI Bill when they were serving, can take advantage of the new rules.
· As long as they served at least three years on active duty after Sept. 11, 2001, they’re eligible for the same free tuition.
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Navy RDA Establishes Principal Civilian Deputy Position for Acquisition Workforce
Author: Lt. Cmdr. John T. Schofield, Research, Development and Acquisition Public Affairs
June 24, 2008
The Acting Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition, John S. Thackrah, announced today the establishment of the position of Principal Civilian Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Acquisition Workforce (PCDASN (AW)).
The PCDASN will be responsible for all acquisition workforce programs and functions under the cognizance of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition (ASN RDA). Mr. James E. Thomsen has been assigned the duties of the PCDASN (AW) effective immediately. Mr. Thomsen moves over from his current assignment as the Program Executive Officer for Littoral and Mine Warfare (PEO LMW).
The establishment of the new position is another step in the overall investment strategy in the workforce taken on by the Secretary of the Navy and Naval Acquisition leadership. Last summer, the Secretary announced the nomination of a Vice Admiral to serve as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for RD&A. VADM David Architzel is currently serving in that role.
“The Secretary recognizes the need for a strong investment into our acquisition workforce,” Thackrah said. “As part of that investment strategy, we recognized the need to bolster the acquisition workforce leadership. The establishment of the PCDASN (AW) position is indeed another critical step in the right direction.”
The focus on improving and reinvigorating the acquisition workforce is a major facet of the Department of the Navy’s new Acquisition Governance initiative. Acquisition Governance is a key component in a continual process to identify and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of acquiring weapons systems.
The Secretary of the Navy, Donald C. Winter, publicly introduced the initiative during his keynote address at the annual Sea Air and Space Exposition in March. “The overriding objective of Acquisition Governance is to implement changes that will facilitate our ability to make better decisions early in the acquisition process,” said Secretary Winter in that keynote address.
Those changes are already happening in the acquisition workforce. The Department of the Navy has initiated an aggressive examination of the acquisition workforce, with a view to understanding short-term and long-term staffing shortfalls and capability gaps, organizationally and enterprise-wide. That effort will ensure that the Navy and Marine Corps maintain a healthy technical authority within the various Systems Commands.
The Department of the Navy is also aggressively developing solid career tracks for both civilian and uniformed personnel within the acquisition workforce and will be seeking and recruiting the best talent from America’s universities and trade schools.
“Improvement and investment in our workforce is critical,” said Thackrah. “I am very confident that Jim Thomsen will provide the leadership and creativity necessary to get our workforce where it needs to be now and in the future.”
As part of this personnel move, Ms. Anne Sandel has been selected to replace Thomsen as the Program Executive Officer, Littoral and Mine Warfare (PEO LMW).
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Report calls for more BRAC information and aid
CongressDaily
June 20, 2008
Communities need more information and aid to deal with military base realignment, according to a new Government Accountability Office report.
The Pentagon and other agencies have provided some funding and other aid, but the issue has not received the “high-level leadership” needed, according to GAO, the Associated Press reported.
For example, Maryland's Aberdeen Proving Ground, Fort Meade and the Bethesda National Naval Medical Center are among 20 bases nationwide that the Defense Department expects will be seriously affected by realignment.
Traffic congestion, inadequate schools and a shortage of affordable housing are among the top concerns mentioned in the report.
Maryland officials have been pressing the Pentagon for more federal funding to pay for transit and highway improvements to deal with expected congestion around bases slated for growth.
Montgomery County, home to the National Naval Medical Center, has requested $21 million under a defense program that has traditionally been used for road improvements around rural bases. The county is seeking $20 million to build a Metro subway station entrance closer to the hospital, and $1 million to upgrade intersections.
“We're proud that we're going to be home to world's greatest military medical center,” said Phil Alperson, Montgomery's Base Realignment and Closure coordinator. “But we hadn't planned for it and don't have resources to address it.”
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Gates, Mullen Warn Congress Against Skipping Over FY ‘09 Defense Approps Bill
Emelie Rutherford
Defense Daily 238/37 (May 21).
Pentagon leaders warned Senate appropriators yesterday that multiple defense initiatives – including buying unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) – would be jeopardized if Congress skips over passing a base defense appropriations budget for next fiscal year, as has been rumored on Capitol Hill.
At the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee’s (SAC-D) budget hearing members also relayed concerns about Air Force tactical air and tanker programs to Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen.
Senate Appropriations Committee (SAC) Ranking Member Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) asked Gates and Mullen on what would happen if Congress defers consideration of the FY ‘09 defense appropriations bill – a move Cochran indicated he would not support.
House Appropriations Committee (HAC) Chairman John Murtha (D-Pa.) has said multiple times in recent weeks that there is a “50-50” chance that there will be a FY ‘09 defense appropriations bill, pointing to time appropriators are spending on the war supplemental bill.
Gates, at yesterday’s SAC-D hearing on the FY ‘09 base defense appropriations bill, said he “was very concerned when I read that there may not be an FY ‘09-base budget.”
If Congress instead passes a continuing resolution, he said, the Defense Department (DoD) would “not have access to” requested FY ‘09 funds for buying 14 new Predator unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Gates said DoD also would “lose” $8.7 billion for growing the Army and the Marine Corps--because DoD can only spend in a FY ‘09 continuing resolution what it spent in FY ‘08. Gates said DoD also would lose $246 million to stand up the new Africa Command, $1.8 billion for base-realignment efforts, $1 billion “on search and rescue and mobility.”
“Anything in which there is more money in the budget for reconstitution, for rebuilding our forces, for improving readiness, any increment between the ‘08 and ‘09 budget would be lost under a continuing resolution,” Gates said.
Mullen likewise warned of “consequences of great significance” if Congress does not pass a FY ‘09 base defense appropriations bill.
“As a former service chief who has had to go through multiple ... deadlines like this, it brings the organization almost to a halt,” said Mullen, the former Chief of Naval Operations. “And then when you get to execute, you execute very inefficient, very late contracts, which, in fact, is a significant waste of money.”
“If [money] comes late it has devastating impacts on the ability to execute, not even to speak to new programs,” Mullen added.
Cochran said he worries “that the Congress is becoming an impediment to the efficiency and to the capability of our government and our Department of Defense.”
“All of us are going to be at risk in some way because of the slowdown and slow-walking of the appropriations process by the United States Congress,” the senator said.
At the budget hearing Sen. Patty Murry (D-Wash.) also quizzed Gates about the Air Force’s contested aerial refueling tanker contract award – of which she has been an outspoken critic – to a Northrop Grumman [NOC]-European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co. (EADS) team over and Boeing [BA].
She argued the Air Force added requirements to the tanker, before the contract award, without required analysis. She pointed to two Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports she said support this assertion.
“The only comment that I would make, because I am far from expert on this subject, is that I look forward to the completion of the GAO response to the protest that was filed, to see how they come out on it,” Gates said, referring to Boeing’s contract protest.
Murray asked Gates if Congress should look at changing the law so DoD looks at factors beyond technology, cost and capability when assessing defense program proposals.
“My only caution in changing the law is that all of our companies sell a lot of equipment to other countries, and so I think we need to be very careful about how we limit access and bidding and the criteria we take into account, because what we gain over here we may lose over there,” Gates said.
Sen. Christopher Bond (R-Mo.) – a proponent of building more of Boeing’s F-15 fourth-generation fighters – grilled Gates and Mullen on a projected shortfall in the Air Force’s tactical air capability, and rising cost of buying the forthcoming fifth-generation Joint Strike Fighter (JSF).
Bond called for the Air Force to develop a “plan B,” like the Navy has, for extending the life of existing fighters.
“It seems to me that it is time for the Defense Department and the Air Force to come up with a plan to keep...upgraded legacy aircraft in production so that our fine pilots will have something to fly,” Bond said. He asked what is being done to address the Air Force’s projected fighter gap.
Mullen said he shares Bond’s concern about “the tactical air community, writ large.” and pointed out the JSF is coming.
While Mullen said he is concerned about a F-15 fighter that fell apart in flight last year, he reiterated: “I think it’s very important to get to the Joint Strike Fighter as soon as we can.”
Bond argued DoD could “solve some of the shortfall problems” by buying upgraded versions of the F-15 and Lockheed Martin’s F-16.
Mullen, however, noted, “We actually don’t have a very good history of upgrading airplanes” and that it’s been difficult to add modernization money for tactical aircraft to budgets.
In addition, Senate appropriators “will be looking at” adding funds to the FY ‘09 base defense bill for continuing the F-22 line past FY ‘10, SAC-D Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) said after yesterday’s hearing.
“We should be ready for some recommendations in about three weeks,” Inouye said.
Asked if he has a stance on continuing the F-22 line, the SAC-D chairman said, “Well I think we need some stealth, but it depends on what the military folks want.”
The Pentagon did not request any money for continuing the F-22 line, but also did not seek funds to shut it down, Mullen noted during the hearing.
“I’ve had a concern for some time about...how far we go with the F-22 program. It’s a very expensive airplane,” Mullen said.
He said he’s “comfortable that we at least left a F-22 line open and that it’s open to be determined whether that should continue in 2010.”
The SAC-D will hold a hearing on the FY ‘09 defense budget on June 4, where public witnesses will testify, Inouye said.
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Governor Crist Signs Military and Veterans Bills into Law
~ New laws expand benefits to current and former members of the military ~
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE – Governor Charlie Crist today signed four bills into law that will benefit and honor Florida’s military members and veterans during a visit to the 601st Air and Space Operations Center at Tyndall Air Force Base. The new legislation supports business owners with military service-connected disabilities and veterans residing in Florida’s State Veterans’ Homes. The Governor also signed bills enhancing the Family Readiness Program and expanding student access to Reserve Officers’ Training Corps programs.
“The brave men and women who serve in our nation’s Armed Forces deserve our deepest gratitude and utmost support,” said Governor Crist. “While we can never truly repay them for their sacrifices, we can demonstrate our appreciation through these important legislative initiatives along with our prayers for their safety and for their families.”
Executive Director of the Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs Rear Admiral LeRoy Collins Jr., U.S. Navy Reserve (Ret.); Adjutant General of the Florida National Guard Major General Douglas Burnett; Linda South, Secretary of the Florida Department of Management Services; and bill sponsors Senator Durell Peaden Jr. (R-Crestview) and Representatives Jimmy Patronis (R-Panama City), Debbie Boyd (D-High Springs) and Speaker Designate Ray Sansom (R-Fort Walton Beach) joined the Governor as he signed the bills into law.
Summaries of the new legislation are as follows:
House Bill 687, Service-Disabled Veteran Business Enterprises – Creates a preference in state contracting for small businesses owned by service-disabled veterans. In doing so, it promotes access for service-disabled veteran businesses to state contracts and encourages other such veterans to start businesses. The Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs will work with the Florida Department of Management Services to implement the preference.
Gary Harris, owner of American Building Inspectors Corporation based in Fort White, represented veterans who will benefit from the legislation at the signing ceremony. He and his wife Delayna established the business in November 2007 to offer commercial and residential building inspections for legal and real estate services.
Senate Bill 2120, Grants and Donations Trust Fund Flexibility – Provides the Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs additional flexibility in expending funds from its Grants and Donations Trust Fund. Initially only used for common recreational equipment and activities, trust fund dollars may now be used by the department to provide basic quality of life goods and services to residents in Florida’s State Veterans’ Homes.
“The Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs is grateful to Governor Crist, the Florida Legislature and Florida’s Veteran Service Organizations for their support,” said Admiral Collins of the FDVA. “The contract preference is a step in the right direction to help Florida’s veterans achieve their dreams after they complete their military service.
“In addition, the new trust fund flexibility will directly benefit veterans residing in Florida’s six Veterans’ Homes by paying for personal items that they previously had to pay for out-of-pocket, such as haircuts and personal hygiene items,” Collins continued.
House Bill 843, Family Readiness Program – Expands eligibility to single servicemembers who otherwise meet criteria to receive financial assistance through the Family Readiness Program. The program provides need-based emergency financial assistance to Florida National Guardsmen, U.S. Reservists and Coast Guard Reservists and their families for up to 120 days after servicemembers leave active duty. Approximately 1,410 members of the Florida National Guard and reservists are currently deployed abroad in the Global War on Terrorism.
Since the Family Readiness Program began in 2005, the Florida Department of Military Affairs has awarded approximately $735,000 to eligible servicemember families in 1,501 cases. For example, when Specialist Charles Catalanotto of Pensacola was deployed to Iraq in 2006, his wife Jennifer requested financial assistance to purchase a vehicle for their family, which consisted of her father and seven children between ages seven and 16. Both of the family’s vehicles had developed mechanical problems, and the family needed a reliable vehicle. The $10,000 in assistance they received helped them purchase a van to provide dependable and safe transportation.
House Bill 251, Reserve Officers’ Training Corps Programs – Prohibits school districts from banning Junior ROTC units in certain schools and requires school districts to allow students, under certain circumstances, to enroll in JROTC at other schools. The legislation also prohibits community colleges and state universities from banning ROTC programs and requires school districts, community colleges and state universities to grant military recruiters certain access to students, school facilities and grounds, and student information.
“On behalf of Floridians everywhere, I want to thank our defenders of freedom for their patriotism, their courage and their selfless service,” said Governor Crist. “Florida continues its reputation for being a military and veteran-friendly state by doing what is right – caring for our veterans and our troops serving our state and our nation at home and abroad.”
Later today, Governor Crist will visit Pensacola Naval Air Station to attend the reopening of the lighthouse for public tours. The lighthouse is an active aid to navigation and is maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard. He will be joined by Rear Admiral Joel Whitehead, commander of the 8th United States Coast Guard District headquartered in New Orleans, and Captain Edwin Stanton, Sector Commander of the United States Coast Guard, based in Mobile, Alabama.
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