DoD Releases Info on Next Deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan
DoD on May 19 announced the next wave of planned deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, including a
rotation of one Army division headquarters and seven brigade combat teams of approximately 25,000 personnel
in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Deployments of those troops will begin in late fall and continue
until the end of the year. Confirmed as part of the Army rotation are the 25th Infantry Headquarters,
2nd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.; 3rd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield
Barracks, Hawaii; 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kan; 3rd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division,
Fort Bragg, N.C; 172nd Infantry Brigade, Schweinfurt, Germany; 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort
Hood, Texas, and the 1st Brigade (Stryker) Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Fort Wainwright, Alaska.
In addition, more than 14,000 Army National Guard soldiers also are being notified to prepare for deployment
to Iraq in 2009. These include the 72nd Brigade Combat Team, Texas National Guard; 2nd Brigade Combat
Team, 28th Infantry Division, Pennsylvania National Guard; 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Louisiana
Army National Guard; and 278th Brigade Combat Team, Tennessee National Guard. In addition, another
3,100 members from the 86th Brigade Combat Team, Vermont National Guard, were told to ready for deployment
to Afghanistan, most of them in Spring 2010. For more, go to: www.defenselink.mil/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=11932; www.defenselink.mil/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=11933;
and www.defenselink.mil/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=1193.
DNI Announces Implementation of Pay-for-Performance System
Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Mike McConnell at a briefing last week said that his office
this fall will begin implementing a pay-for-performance system across the agencies that make up the
U.S. intelligence community (IC). “This initiative has the potential to truly transform the IC,” said
McConnell.” It will enable us to reward our employees when they meet or exceed our performance
expectations, while ensuring that they keep pace with our competition in the labor market. At the same
time, it will help us reinforce those common values and competencies that are central to a culture
of collaboration.” According to the announcement, the blueprint for new National Intelligence
Civilian Compensation Program derives from the pay-for-performance system developed over the last decade
at the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency. The 16 entities within the IC include all or part of
DoD, the Department of Homeland Security, the CIA, FBI and Office of the DNI. “We want to reward
excellence,” added IC Director of Human Capital Ron Sanders. “Those highest performers
should be recognized and rewarded. Those who fall below should also be held accountable.” For
more, go to http://www.dni.gov/nccp.htm.
House Panel Seeks TSP Changes, Universal Enrollment
Lawmakers are moving ahead with a bipartisan plan that would make significant changes to the federal
Thrift Savings Program (TSP), including a universal enrollment provision that would automatically sign
up all federal employees for the TSP. In a May 16 letter to Andrew M. Saul, chairman of the Federal
Retirement Thrift Investment Board (FRTIB), Reps. Danny Davis, D-Ill., and Tom Davis, R-Va., sought
input on the legislation now pending before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
In addition to universal enrollment, the bill also would make the L (life-cycle) Funds the default
option for employees who do not select a fund, and make a Roth option available to participants. In
addition, the bill would authorize FRTIB to add additional low-cost index funds or self-directed investment
options to the TSP, the letter noted, if the board determined that this would be in the interests of
plan participants. “The provisions in the [bill] reflect ideas for modernizing and strengthening
the TSP,” the letter said. To see more, go to: http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=1955.
The Senate Appropriations Committee has approved a measure that would broaden the federal telework
program, making the telework option available to a larger chunk of the government work force. The committee
adopted the measure, sponsored by Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, as an amendment to the war supplemental
funding bill that is now moving through Congress. Colleen Kelley, president of the National Treasury
Employees Union (NTEU), applauded the Stevens’ amendment. “This is a very positive sign
in the continuing effort to secure comprehensive federal telework legislation this year,” Kelley
said on May 16. The bill would—if passed into law—require agencies to develop a program
allowing employees to telework at least 20 percent of every two-week work period. The measure also
would designate a senior-level employee to serve as a telework managing officer and would require agencies
to incorporate telework into their continuing operational planning. To see more, go to: www.nteu.org/PressKits/PressRelease/PressRelease.aspx?ID=1270.
Sen. Daniel K. Akaka, D-Hawaii, has asked the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) Inspector
General (IG) to review diagnosis patterns at a Texas VA facility after a team leader there suggested
colleagues refrain from issuing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) diagnoses. In an email dated
March 20, the team leader at the Temple, Texas, VA Medical Center suggested that the facility’s
mental health staff should stop diagnosing veterans with PTSD. As a way to save money, they should
diagnose veterans with mental disorders that have a lower disability payout, the email said. In addition
to the IG probe, Akaka, chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, has asked VA Secretary James
Peake to provide renewed guidelines to all VA offices on the proper treatment of PTSD cases. “This
incident is both disturbing and disappointing and provides further evidence that VA's mental health
program requires significant attention,” Akaka said in a May 16 statement. “I continue
to be concerned that VA’s mental health system is unprepared for the rising demands placed on
the system by both younger and older veterans.” To see more, go to: http://veterans.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?pageid=12&release_id=11690
