Federal Daily - October 16, 2008

Bush Signs Bill Approving 3.9% Military Pay Hike

President Bush on Oct. 14 signed into law a defense authorization bill to provide military personnel with a pay hike of 3.9 percent for Fiscal Year (FY) 2009, as well as funding for military family housing, tuition assistance and other programs. The pay raise, part of the FY 2009 National Defense Authorization Act (S. 3001), represents a half-point increase over the 3.4 percent raise Bush proposed for servicemembers earlier this year. The bill also preserves important health benefits by prohibiting certain fee increases in TRICARE and the TRICARE pharmacy program. It also creates new preventive health care initiatives to improve force readiness. The law authorizes $531 billion in budget authority for DoD and the national security programs of the Department of Energy, as well as $69 billion to support ongoing military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. To see more, go to: http://armedservices.house.gov/pdfs/fy09ndaa/
FY09conf/ConferencePressRelease.pdf

:: Back to Top ::

TSA: IG Report Overstates Agency Uniform, Badge Tracking Issues

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said Oct. 13 that a government watchdog report overstates security lapses posed by TSA’s failure to track security badges and uniforms of former employees. The Department of Homeland Security Inspector General (IG) report noted that TSA for years lacked centralized controls over the secure passes issued to some of its employees, creating security holes terrorists could exploit. The old badges, as well as the uniforms, could allow terrorists access to the most sensitive areas of an airport, such as where baggage is screened or planes are parked, the IG noted. However, TSA said in a statement that the report “overstates the deficiencies and associated security risk.” The agency, which is tasked with protecting the nation’s airports, said it had already addressed all of the IG recommendations. “As a result, any risk of unauthorized use of uniforms, ID cards, and Security Identification Display Area (SIDA) badges has been reduced to a negligible concern,” TSA said. The agency also pointed out that possession of a TSA uniform or even a TSA employee ID badge does not guarantee airport access, but only indicates that the ID holder is employed by TSA. “If a former employee or someone impersonating an officer showed up at a checkpoint or a sterile area of an airport, they would be subject to the eyes and ears of on-duty officers and random employee screening throughout the airport,” the agency said. Also, the agency has assumed the responsibility of collecting airport SIDA badges as part of the employee exit clearance process. To see more, go to: www.tsa.gov/press/happenings/oig_badges.shtm.

:: Back to Top ::

Army Credits New Programs for Successful Recruiting Year

The Army credits a number of programs for its success in recruiting new servicemembers over the past fiscal year. The Army last week announced it had exceeded its Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 recruiting goals, enlisting more than 169,500 servicemembers in all Army components—and recording its best recruiting year since 2002. “When you look at all the variables together, this is the strongest recruiting year we’ve had since 2002,” said Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness David S. C. Chu. The Army credited a number of new, aggressive recruiting programs, including Active First, an Army National Guard initiative that targets new recruits who want to serve on active duty for a period of time, and then transfer to the Army National Guard for completion of their contract. Other programs, including the Future Soldier Training Program for high school seniors, and the Delayed Enlistment Bonus, also have been instrumental to recruiting success, the Army said. In fact, the Army said, 2008 high school senior recruiting numbers were the highest in five years. Another key program has been the Future Soldier Remote Reservation System, which allows recruiters to pre-qualify applicants and schedule a training seat for a particular job. To see more, go to: www.army.mil/-newsreleases/2008/10/10/13228-army-exceed-
recruiting-goal-for-fiscal-year-2008.

:: Back to Top ::