On May 12^th the House Armed Services Committee took the actions promised to significantly lessen the negatives of the mandatory retirement/separation provisions of NDAA 2000 affecting Army & Air Reserve technicians.

They reported the following in HR 4205 (National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001:

Sec 518 EXTENSION OF INVOLUNTARY CIVIL SERVICE RETIREMENT DATE FOR CERTAIN RESERVE TECHNICIANS.

1. MANDATORY RETIREMENT NOT APPLICABLE UNTIL AGE 60. Section 10218 of title 10, United States Code is amended-

1. in subsection (a)---

1. by inserting "and is age 60 or older at that time" after "unreduced annuity" in paragraph (2):
2. by inserting " or is under age 60 at that time" after "unreduced annuity" in paragraph (3)(A); and
3. by inserting " and becoming 60 years of age" after "unreduced annuity" in paragraph (3)(B)(ii)(I) and

1. in subsection (b)---

1. by inserting " and is age 60 or older" after " unreduced annuity" in paragraph (1);
2. by inserting " or is under age 60" after "unreduced annuity" in paragraph (2)(A); and
3. By inserting " and becoming 60 years of age" after

1. TRANSITION PROVISION.--- (1) An individual who before the date of the enactment of this Act was involuntarily separated or retired from employment as an Army Reserve or Air Force Reserve technician under Section 10218 of title 10, United States Code, and who would not of been so separated if the provisions of subsection (c) of that section, as amended by subsection (a) had been in effect at the time of such separation may, with the approval of the Secretary concerned, be reinstated to the technician status held by that individual immediately before that separation.

1. The authority under paragraph (1) applies only to reinstatement for which an application is received by the Secretary concerned before the end of the one-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act.

In report Section 518 of Report No106-616 the following language appears.

This section would authorize the secretaries of the military departments to retain certain non-dual status reserve technicians until age 60, an age beyond which these technicians would otherwise be required to separate from federal civil service as required by section 10218 of title 10, United States Code.

The committee notes that current law was intended to reduce the numbers of non-dual status technicians while providing for a process that minimized the impact on the technicians being separated. The committee has learned that the process has not worked as intended, and the committee is concerned that some technicians would be forced to retire without adequate notice as a result of that process.

Some time this week this House bill will go to the floor for a vote by the entire House body. It is anticipated that the full House will not raise any objections to this new language.

As a separate action the entire Senate will vote on their version of the Authorization Act for 2001(S.2549). For those of you who have paid close attention to what you have read so far in this correspondence you will notice I have to this point mentioned nothing about any Senate language. The reason is because the Senate Armed Services Committee did not include similar language. As a matter of fact they have no language at all addressing this issue.

Because there is no similar language in the Senate version of NDAA 2001 the differences in these bills will be addressed in the Conference committee session which is expected to take place some time in June.

We are deeply concerned over the fact that the Senate has not written similar language however our inquiry into this matter revealed that this is not uncommon and there is not necessarily any reason to be alarmed. (At least at this point).

The following draft has been prepared to assist you:

Dear Senator/Congressman____________________:

In the {month/year}, I wrote requesting your support to overturn or lessen the impact of language included in the National Defense Authorization Act 2000 that mandated the retirement/separation of certain technicians in the (Army Reserve or Air Reserve whichever is applicable). {or use whatever language you used in your initial letters}

Recently, the House Armed Services Committee included relief language in its report on the National Defense Authorization Bill 2001 (HR 4205). Section 518 of that bill authorizes the secretaries of the military department to retain certain non-dual status technicians till age 60.

The Senate Armed Services Committee version of this bill (S2549) does not contain any language addressing this issue.

Needless to say, being allowed to remain a technician in the (Army Reserve or Air Reserve) to age 60 is important to me. (make as personnel as you wish). As your constituent, I request that

you, as a member of the House Armed Services Committee, insist that House section 518 be retained during conference action on NDAA 2001.

(Check to see if your Congressman is a member of the House Armed Services committee if so use this statement)

you write to the Chairman or Ranking Member of the Military Personnel Subcommittee, House Armed Services Committee requesting the committee insist on retaining House section 518 during conference action on NDAA 2001.

you, as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, recede to and include House section 518 during conference action on NDAA 2001.

(Check to see if your Senator is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee)

you write to the Chairman or Ranking Member of the Personnel Subcommittee, Senate Armed Services Committee requesting that the committee recede to and include House section 518 during conference action on NDAA 2001.

As stated previously it is essential that you prepare all your letters NOW, in order that letters are mailed timely once we notify you that both the House and Senate have passed their versions of this bill.

Any questions please contact me immediately at 617-363-2385 or EMAIL me.

ESPO !!