Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (ISA, International Deputy Under Secretary of the Navy Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Manpower Associate General Counsel, Department of the Navy Below the executive level, however, the Department of Defense has experienced reductions in the numbers of civilian women (as of civilian men) as a result of recent reductions in force (RIF). The RIF procedures emphasize seniority and veterans preference and unintentionally tend to discriminate against women. I support a change in legislation that would modify the Veterans Preference Act to recognize better the needs of other groups in modern society. The Department of Defense Contractor Employment Compliance (CEC) Program originated with Executive Order 11246. It is the largest equal opportunity program in the Department of Defense, affecting 50,000 contractor facilities and over twenty million people. This represents approximately 40 percent of the national federal contractor employment compliance workload. In FY 1977, the Department of Defense conducted approximately 7,400 CEC reviews, affecting five million employees. During the last five years in contractor facilities reviewed by the Department of Defense, the total number of minority people in the work force increased by 16.0 percent overall and the female work force increased by 1.1 percent. This was despite a general decline in overall contractor work force size of 1.5 percent. Increases have been particularly evident in higher level jobs. For example, minority employment in the officer and manager category increased by 69.5 percent and of women by 81.8 percent. This compares to an overall growth of 8.5 percent. 2. Health Care The Defense Health care system is composed of the military direct care system and the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services (CHAMPUS). It maintains a healthy peacetime active military force and provides a nucleus around which we could expand to achieve a wartime medical force. The military health care system is sized primarily on the requirements of wartime planning scenarios. Ideally, these requirements would be met by the peacetime military direct care system supplemented by the reserve components and the civilian sector. However, the Department recognizes that the present state of the reserve components severely limits their contribution to total requirements. The degree to which the reserve components and the civilian sector can satisfy full mobilization requirements is currently under review. The outcome of the review will determine the required size of the peacetime military direct health care system. In the interim, present policy is to base the direct care system on the peacetime needs of the active force unless: Adequate health care facilities for dependents and other beneficiaries are not available locally; The marginal cost of treating dependents and other beneficiaries in-house is less than local CHAMPUS costs; A valid teaching or training requirement exists. The Department is faced with a physician shortage which is expected to constrain the military direct care system to some degree in the near term. The current shortage is about 10 percent of authorized peacetime levels. Increased efforts to recruit civilian physicians and greater reliance on contract services are being utilized to minimize the loss of capability during this period. However, the Department's goal is to maintain the quality of care and to rely on the CHAMPUS program in those areas and specialties where the direct care system cannot satisfy demand. The Department anticipates that physician requirements can be met by the early 1980s. Projected increases in the national supply of physicians, improved retention of physicians entering via the Armed Forces Health Professions Scholarship Program, and graduates from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) are major factors of varying effectiveness and cost -- supporting this predic tion. - There have been a number of important improvements in training efficiency and effectiveness in recent years, and we are planning to make significant reductions in training times and costs in FY 1979. The length of the Navy recruit training course was reduced from nine to eight weeks last year and will be further reduced to seven weeks in FY 1979. The Marine Corps recruit training course will be shortened from the current eleven weeks to nine weeks. The In specialized training, we are reducing military students and staff by approximately nine percent from the FY 1978 level, principally by shortening courses and extending the use of on-the-job training. Army has realized substantial savings through the use of one-station unit training (OSUT) courses, which combine in one course at one location recruit and specialized training. The Army plans to conduct a test comparing OSUT and a similarly shortened two-station training for infantrymen beginning in late FY 1978; savings in initial trainee time under either method will be three to four weeks. More generally, the Services are making training both more efficient and more effective by identifying tasks actually performed in the field and structuring courses to focus on essential tasks and effective training methods. Department of Defense training and education are discussed in detail in the annual Military Manpower Training Report submitted to the Congress. 4. Defense-Labor Cooperation in Pre-enlistment Training The Department of Labor plans to expand the Job Corps, during the current fiscal year. As part of this expansion, military-oriented programs will be established within selected Job Corps centers. These programs will be designed to raise the capability of participants to qualify them for enlistment in the Military Services or for other employment. The Department of Defense will aid in this program by referring applicants not accepted for enlistment to the Job Corps, providing surplus equipment and facilities for Job Corps uses, assisting in program design and assessing the progress of those subsequently accepted for military service. A memorandum of understanding between the two Departments specifying the details of interdepartmental cooperation was recently prepared. When the program is operational, it should be helpful in enlarging the pool of qualified applicants for military service. I have issued a DoD directive (1354.1) which establishes departmental policies and procedures with respect to organizations whose objective is to organize or represent members of the armed forces on active duty, inactive duty training, or members of reserve components serving in their military capacities for purposes of negotiating or bargaining about terms or conditions of military service. These policies and procedures provide uniform direction and guidance to officials in the Department of Defense and members of the armed forces. They also ensure consistent and even-handed treatment of members of the armed forces and individuals, groups, organizations, and associations seeking or purporting to represent members of the armed forces for the purpose of such negotiating or bargaining. This directive prohibits commanders and supervisors of the Department of Defense, acting on behalf of the United States, from engaging in negotiation or collective bargaining with members of the armed forces or with individuals, groups, organizations, or associations purporting to represent members of the armed forces for the purpose of resolving, bilaterally terms or conditions of military service. It also prohibits members of the armed forces from engaging in strikes, slowdowns, work stoppages, actions which obstruct or interfere with the performance of military assignments, and picketing for the purpose of causing any of the foregoing, when such actions are related to terms or conditions of military service. The directive proscribes efforts on military installations to recruit members of the armed forces into certain types of organizations and, in specific circumstances, prohibits membership by members of the armed forces in certain organizations. Military compensation, including its miliary retirement component, is of major importance to this Administration. A number of studies of military compensation have been made in recent years by the Third Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation, the Defense Manpower Commission, the Comptroller General, and others. Unfortunately, their conclusions and recommendations do not agree. In an effort to reconcile the conflicting findings, President Carter appointed a nine-member Commission on Military Compensation on June 27, 1977. The Commission's task is to review the findings, analyses, and conclusions of previous studies, to solicit and take testimony, to perform whatever additional analysis they feel is warranted, and to provide the President with independent advice and recommendations on what should be the long-term compensation policy of the United States for the active military force. The Commission is scheduled to submit a report by March 15, 1978. In their review the Commission have been asked to develop a position on at least the following issues: - What form of military compensation is the most effective for meeting the needs of the nation in peace and war? Is the present pay and allowances system adequate? If not, what changes (such as some form of military salary) offer greater potential to serve the national purpose? Are specific standards appropriate and necessary for setting and adjusting military compensation? If so, what should the standards be? What element of compensation should be based on such standards? What provisions are appropriate for differential compensation (such as special and incentive pays) and what are the appropriate criteria for using them? What are the purposes of the military retirement system? Should the unique characteristics of military service be |