FederalDaily - July 17, 2007

OSC Seeks DOT Probe of DFW Operations

The Office of Special Counsel (OSC) has directed Department of Transportation (DOT) investigators to look into reports that Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) managers continue to cover up operational errors at the Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport (DFW)—in spite of managers’ earlier promises to correct the situation. The allegations of an ongoing cover-up surface two years after a February 2005 DOT Inspector General (IG) report found that FAA officials at DFW had undertaken a seven-year management campaign of underreporting operational errors. The IG report noted that FAA officials promised corrective actions which—according to whistleblower accounts—apparently have failed, Special Counsel Scott Bloch said in a July 12 statement. Instead of safety improving at the airport, things actually got worse, Bloch said, with whistleblowers telling OSC that managers were incorrectly reporting operational errors now as pilot errors. An operational error occurs when air traffic controllers fail to maintain safe separation between aircraft under their control. Bloch has asked DOT to determine whether a management cover-up of air traffic control operational errors continues today. To see more, go to: www.osc.gov/documents/press/2007/pr07_12.htm

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OPM Highlights LULAC Recruiting Partnership

As part of its drive to diversify the federal workforce, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) last week leverage d its partnership with the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) to expand federal employment opportunities for Hispanic workers, the agency said. OPM participated in LULAC’s Federal Training Institute and Youth-Collegiate Federal Career Forum, which were held last week at the LULAC annual convention in Chicago. “We’re happy to partner with LULAC in efforts to strengthen the leadership and entry-level ranks of the federal government,” said Kevin Mahoney, an OPM associate director.  To see more, go to: www.opm.gov/news/opm-partners-with-lulac-in-recruiting-outreach,1198.aspx

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National Guard to Cut Border Troops in Half

Over the next month, the National Guard plans to reduce by one-half the 6,000 troops now serving along the U.S.-Mexican border as extra security. The move, announced July 10, will reduce to 3,000 the number of National Guard members serving along the border in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California in support of the Border Patrol since June 2006. The troops, mostly volunteers, were serving as part of Operation Jump Start, and the reduction in their participation was planned from the beginning, said National Guard Bureau spokesman Army Maj. David Kolarik. “It was never meant to be a permanent solution,” Kolarik said. “It was just an intermediate measure to provide support for border security efforts until they brought the additional resources and personnel in line that they needed.” The Border Patrol is in the middle of a recruitment drive meant to add a significant number of agents at the border by next year. To see more, go to: www.ngb.army.mil/news/archives/2007/07/071207-Border_troops.aspx

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