RESERVE AFFAIRS UPDATE October 12, 1999 (703) 695-3620

  AUTHORIZATION ACT IS "LANDMARK LEGISLATION"

  FOR THE NATIONAL GUARD AND RESERVE

  President Clinton's signature on the $289 billion fiscal year 2000 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which was signed into law Oct. 5, will significantly benefit the nearly 1.4 million  members of the National Guard and Reserve.

Beginning Jan. 1, Reserve component personnel will see a 4.8 percent increase in their drill and annual training pay, and numerous other incentives and benefits that the Department of Defense (DoD) believes will keep them in uniform longer and attract more young people to join the force. The pay raise is the highest in a generation. In addition, the NDAA provides for targeted pay increases in basic pay up to 5.5 percent, effective Jul. 1.

  * Increases the Selected Reserve enlistment bonus from $5,000 to $8,000 for those who enlist in the Selected Reserve. The law also extended from 12/31/99 to 12/31/2000 certain bonuses and special pay authorities for Reserve forces.

  * Authorizes Service Secretaries to offer a bonus to a  member of the Selected Reserve with prior service experience who has completed the necessary training to qualify in a critically short wartime skill.

  * Permits federal civilian employees to also use their  military leave to perform drills or inactive duty training (IDT).

  * Extends to Jan. 1, 2001, the authority for repayment of education loans for certain health professionals who serve in the Selected Reserve.

  * Authorizes special pay for members of the Coast Guard Reserve assigned to high priority units of the Selected Reserve at the rate of  $10 per drill period.

  * Authorizes the Secretary of Defense to waive the TRICARE  deductible for Reserve component members on active duty pursuant to a call or order to active duty for less than one year in support of a contingency operation.

  * Authorizes the Services to order a Reserve component  member to active duty, with the consent of the member, for treatment of an  injury, illness or disease incurred or aggravated in the line of duty while  performing IDT. In addition, a Reserve component member can now be continued  on active duty for a period of more than 30 days while being treated for an  injury, illness or disease incurred or aggravated during a period of active duty of 30 days or less, and is entitled to the same medical and dental care as a member on extended active duty.

  * Authorizes the dental program for reservists and active duty dependents to be combined. Authorized the dependents of Ready Reserve members and Individual Ready Reserve members to enroll in the program. The plan will include premium sharing for certain members of the Ready Reserve.

  * Authorizes the Secretary of Defense, with the consent of  the member, to order a Reserve component member to active duty to receive authorized medical care, to be medically evaluated for disability or other purposes, or to complete a required DoD health care study. Before this change in law, 1965 and 1975 Comptroller General decisions precluded ordering a  member to active duty with full pay and allowances for the purpose of conducting a medical examination or treatment associated with such an examination. This change is particularly important when the member's examination is for the broader purpose of a DoD health surveillance study to  identify, prevent and control health consequences that could impact future operational deployments.

  * Permanently extends the "forgotten widow" annuity, which  pays $165 per month to certain widows of deceased gray-area retirees.

  * Allows chaplains in the Reserve components of the Army and Air Force to be retained until age 67. Chaplains in the Naval Reserve could already be retained until age 67.

  * Establishes disability retirement or separation for certain members with pre-existing conditions. Members with more than eight years of active service are eligible for disability coverage for pre-existing conditions. For reservists who have accumulated at least 15 qualifying years of service toward a non-regular service retirement, this provision makes permanent the transition authority for early qualification for retired pay at age 60. Eligibility would be based on 15, but less than 20 years of service for members of the Selected Reserve who no longer meet the qualifications for membership due to physical disability other than in the line of duty.

  * Specifies that service credit for retirement purposes may be awarded to Reserve component personnel who participated in a health  professions scholarship program (HPSP) and financial assistance program (FAP) for satisfactory service in the Selected Reserve. One year of service credit may be awarded for each year of reserve service in a critically short wartime skill. Up to four years of credit may be awarded. This credit does not count for pay and longevity purposes.

  * Changes the mandatory removal date for Reserve component  majors and lieutenant commanders who are twice not selected for promotion, to the later of (1) the first day of the month after the month in which the officer completes 20 years of commissioned service; or (2) the first day of the seventh month after the month in which the President approves the report of the board which considered the officer for the second time.

  * Authorizes members of the Reserve components whose place of IDT is outside the contiguous United States (including a place other than  the place of the member's unit training assembly if the member is performing the IDT in another location) to travel in a space-required status on military aircraft between the member's home and the place of such training if there is  no road or rail transportation between those locations.

  * Establishes the position of director, Office of the Coast Guard Reserve.

  * Authorizes 17 additional full-time National Guard Rapid Assessment and Initial Detection (RAID) Teams, bringing the total to 27.

  * Authorizes the assignment of Reserve component chiefs and National Guard directors in the grade of 09. The officer must be recommended for appointment by the Secretary of the military department, must be determined by the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff to have significant joint duty experience, and must be recommended by the Secretary of Defense to the President for appointment. Appointments would count against the authorized number of general officers and flag officers on active duty as well as the number of general and flag officers authorized to serve in the grade of O-9.

  * Authorizes the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) to designate up to 10 general/flag officer (GO/FO) positions on CINC staffs to be held only by Reserve component officers in the grade of O8 or O7. They do not count against limitations of GO/FO on active duty for more than 180 days.

  * Expands the duties authorized for Active Guard and Reserve (AGR) personnel to include:

(1) supporting missions or operations assigned in whole or part to the Reserve components;

(2) supporting missions or operations performed by a multi-component or joint forces unit;

(3) advising the Secretary of Defense, Military Department secretaries, Joint Chiefs of Staff and CINCs on Reserve component matters. This change provides the Reserve components with greater flexibility to employ all available manpower, both full-time and part-time, to accomplish assigned operational missions.

  * Revises civil service laws governing military technicians prescribing criteria for mandatory separation or retirement with an annuity for Army Reserve and Air Force military technicians who lose dual status. It provides early retirement for military technicians to more closely align eligibility for civil service retirement with eligibility for military Reserve retirement. It also re-authorizes up to 1,950 non-dual status technicians in the National Guard under section 709 of title 32, U.S.C., and allows Reserve technicians to remain in the priority placement program for up to one year following loss of dual status. The number of technicians in the Army Reserve and Air Force Reserve so employed after loss of dual status can not exceed 175.

  * Authorizes the Services to pay a per diem allowance to dual status military technicians serving on active duty outside of the United  States, without military pay while on leave from technician employment, in  lieu of commutation for subsistence and quarters. In addition, leave protections are to be applied when dual-status military technicians participate on active duty in combat, as well as noncombat operations outside the U.S., its territories and possessions.

  * Requires the DoD to provide funeral honors details for funerals of veterans upon request. The details must consist of two or more uniformed members. The minimum ceremony must include folding and presenting the flag and rendering of taps. The Secretary of Defense may waiver these requirements in the event of war, national emergency or contingency operations. Selected Reserve members are considered veterans and are eligible for funeral honors. The provision establishes funeral honors duty status in which Reserve component personnel may prepare for and perform funeral honor functions. While in a funeral honors duty status, a Reservecomponent member may be paid a $50 stipend, paid expenses for travel over 50 miles, and is covered for medical and disability purposes in the same manner as IDT. A retirement point is awarded for each day in a funeral honors status. These points are not subject to the 75-point cap. Funeral honors duty may not be performed in drill or active duty training status, but may be performed while on active duty other than for training. 

  * Authorizes an increase in National Guard Challenge program funding from $50 million to $62.5 million. It also clarifies that the ChalleNGe program must consist of a 22-week residential program and a 12-month post residential mentoring period. It also expands the range of supervised work that ChalleNGe students might undertake, in addition to the community service work previously provided.

  * Provides for 25 STARBASE academies, with a minimum of $200,000 per academy.

  * Authorizes $644.6 million for National Guard and Reserve military construction (MILCON). On Jul. 27, President Clinton signed into law an appropriation for $695.4 million for Reserve component military construction. There are 8 MILCON projects appropriated totaling approximately $40 million that will require authorization. This issue will be worked out over the next year.

  * Authorizes about $2 billion for National Guard and Reserve equipment, including the President's budget and congressional adds. Procurement highlights include:

  * The Army National Guard will receive nine UH-60 "Black Hawk" helicopters, in addition to eight aircraft requested in the President's budget. Additionally, the Army Guard will receive funding for upgrading Bradley Fighting Vehicles.

  * The Army Reserve will receive additional funding for  wheeled vehicles including a 25-ton crane, HMMWVs, HEMTT wreckers, and self-propelled rollers.

  * The Naval Reserve will receive two C-40A aircraft. This  is one more than was included in the President's budget. They will also receive funding for upgrades to various aircraft including the F/A-18 and C-130.

  * The Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve will receive additional funding to upgrade F-16 and F-15 aircraft. These modifications include engine upgrades, precision guided munitions targeting capabilities, and improvements to navigation and electro-optical reconnaissance systems.