Armed Forces News Issue: Friday, December 24, 2004 Publisher's Announcement: We will not be publishing our newsletters next week. Our office will be closed for a much needed vacation. We will however, have our 24/7 customer service order lines open to call and place your book orders at (888) 333-9335 or as you know our website is always up and never takes a break. Happy Holidays to all of you from all of us here at FEDweek!
FEDweek is the largest information resource in the federal government with now over one million weekly readers. To Subscribe, Go to http://www.fedweek.com/subscribepopup.htm Valued Added Service to Our Readers: Federal Job Search http://cgi.hrsjobs.com/foxweb.exe/hrsaffi1?FEDWEEK Job Bulletin Board http://www.fedweek.com/content/cc/index.php Unlimited Internet Access for as low as $10.90 http://fedweek.sparklist.com/t/295000755/274810/148/0/ Our Readers Will Get Special Discounted Travel Rates Including, Airfare, Hotels, RV's, Car Rentals, and Special Weekend Getaways----Anywhere in the world http://fedweek.sparklist.com/t/295000755/274810/339/0/ In This Week's Issue *********************************************************** 1. 2005 BAH Rates Announced 2. Recruiter Assistance Program Brings Soldiers Home 3. Military Families Overseas Protected From Weak Dollar 4. Accelerated CR For 28,000 Unemployables Mulled 5. Air Force Chief Denounces Senate Hold on Promotions 6. Navy Offers MBA Via Distance Learning 7. AF Offers Two JAG Accessions Programs 8. Forward-Deployed Sailors, Marines Receive Christmas Gifts 9. Commissary Locator Highlights Web Site Change 10. Recent Military Promotions 11. TWO FREE Special Reports Available to ALL OF OUR READERS AT http://www.fedweek.com! *********************************************************** 1. 2005 BAH Rates Announced The Department of Defense has released the 2005 Basic Allowance for Housing rates. The rates include individual rate protection and geographic rate protection. Individual rate protection assures that the BAH rate for an individual member in a given location will never decrease. Under geographic rate protection, newly arrived members to an area will not see BAH rates that are substantially less than current members' rates. The new rates represent the final phase in bringing the average member's out-of-pocket expense to zero by 2005. The actual expense, however, may be higher or lower than that average, based on the individual's actual choice of housing. For members with dependents, average increases in the BAH are approximately 8 percent. A typical E-4 with dependents, for example, will receive about $47 per month more than under the 2004 rates. An E-8 with dependents will have about $60 more. 2. Recruiter Assistance Program Brings Soldiers Home Through the Special Recruiter Assistance Program, eligible Soldiers can serve on temporary duty up to 14 days at the recruiting station nearest their hometown. During that time, Soldiers will work for the recruiting station by assisting with recruiting activities, speaking at college and community events, and participating in interviews with local media. SRAP Soldiers will be reimbursed for travel expenses and will receive per diem allowance for the 14-day temporary duty. They also may combine the SRAP TDY with their ordinary leave, essentially extending their stay in their hometown. The program is open to enlisted Soldiers age 25 or younger in stateside units who have served overseas in support of Operations Enduring Freedom or Iraqi Freedom. Interested Soldiers must apply online at the U.S. Army Recruiting Command's Web site: www.usarec.army.mil. 3. Military Families Overseas Protected From Weak Dollar Although the value of the dollar has dropped nine percent or more in some overseas locations, service families are cushioned by adjustments to the Overseas Cost of Living Allowance and Overseas Housing Allowance. The Defense Department's Per Diem, Travel and Transportation Allowances Committee monitors exchange rates in all countries where U.S. service members are stationed. Whenever the committee detects a five percent change or more in the dollar's value, it adjusts the two allowances for the next payday. To compensate for the time lag, the committee may set the adjustment higher or lower, said a spokesman. If the cost of living is less that in the U.S., no COLA will be paid. Furthermore, according to the PDTTAC, the COLA amount is pegged to periodic living pattern surveys, which estimate the amount of pay spent in the local economy. For more information, visit https://secureapp2.hqda.pentagon.mil/perdiem/. 4. Accelerated CR For 28,000 Unemployables Mulled Lawyers at the Defense Department are reviewing the fiscal 2005 defense authorization act to determine if a provision to restore full concurrent receipt of military retired pay and Veterans Administration disability compensation to 100-percent disabled retirees in January might apply to 28,000 retirees who have less than 100-percent disabilities but are rated as unemployable. Last year, Congress voted to phase out the ban on concurrent receipt for retirees with 20 or more years of service and disability ratings of 50 percent or higher. The 2005 act eliminates the phase out period for retirees with "disabilities rated as 100 percent." At issue is whether this applies only to retirees with disability ratings of 100 percent, or includes retirees rated as 100-percent unemployable. A decision at DoD is expected within three weeks. January checks, meanwhile, will exclude the 28,000 unemployables who have less than 100 percent disability. 5. Air Force Chief Denounces Senate Hold on Promotions On Dec. 14, Air Force Chief of staff Gen. John Jumper said that a Senate hold on promotions and transfers of senior officers in connection with the Air Force's plan to lease Boeing refueling tankers is disruptive to lives and to changes of command during a time when the nation is at war. The Senate Armed Services Committee has blocked promotions or reassignments of several Air Force officers and other officials in the Department of Defense, saying that DoD is not providing the information the committee is seeking in its investigation of the affair. Jumper, for his part, said, "The Air Force has turned over everything we have to OSD (Office of the Secretary of Defense) . . . It's out of the hands of the Air Force . . . " 6. Navy Offers MBA Via Distance Learning Four Executive Masters of Business Administration (EMBA) cohort degree programs will be available for mid- to senior-grade active-duty unrestricted line (URL) officers in the Norfolk and San Diego fleet concentration areas in 2005. Instruction for two cohorts (25 students in each that function as a learning team) will begin the week of March 28, 2005, and the other two cohorts will start the week of Sept. 26, 2005. The Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) defense-focused EMBA is a 24-month, Navy-funded, part-time graduate program with a financial management and acquisition concentration. This program is targeted at mid- to senior-grade active-duty URL officers (04-05) who are unable to attend NPS residential postgraduate programs. Non URL officers (O-4 and O-5) and civilians in grades GS-13 and GS-14 will also be considered on a space available basis, with officers having first priority. See NAVADMIN 268/04 for specific details and qualification requirements. 7. AF Offers Two JAG Accessions Programs The Air Force's Funded Legal Education Program and the Excess Leave Program allow active-duty officers to pursue law degrees without leaving the Air Force and then serve in the Judge Advocate General Corps. Both programs begin accepting applications in January, JAG officials said. FLEP is a paid legal-studies program. Program applicants must be active-duty captains with between two and six years of active-duty service as of the first day of law school. The ELP is an unpaid legal-studies program. Program applicants must have two to 10 years' active-duty service before entering law school. They must also be captains with less than three years of time in grade or below as of the first day of law school. Qualifications are found in Air Force Instruction 51-101, Judge Advocate Accession Program, and online at www.jagusaf.hq.af.mil. For more information, contact Major Rachel VanLandingham at [EMAIL PROTECTED], or call (800) 524-8723. 8. Forward-Deployed Sailors, Marines Receive Christmas Gifts Forward-deployed Sailors and Marines began receiving more than 2,700 Christmas gift packages from a Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) stateside sponsorship drive Dec. 11. The program was enacted after Sept. 11, 2001, and has expanded over the last three years. The Christmas gifts, with a commercial value of more than $100,000, arrived at Naval Support Activity Bahrain early this month to be prepared and individually organized for distribution in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility. Navy C-130 Hercules aircraft delivered a majority of the gifts directly to camps and bases in Kuwait, the Horn of Africa and the United Arab Emirates for further distribution. The Christmas gift packages are slated for distribution to Sailors protecting Iraq's Khawr Al Amaya and Al Basrah Oil Terminals in the Persian Gulf, remote locations in Africa, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and Egypt. 9. Commissary Locator Highlights Web Site Change The "commissary locator," a new driving-distance calculator and mapping feature on http://www.commissaries.com, highlights several changes to the Defense Commissary Agency Web site designed to help patrons maximize their shopping experience. Visitors use the commissary locator by providing their ZIP code and a driving distance of their choice into data fields on a Web page. The system responds by providing a list of all commissaries within the driving distance. When visitors select a commissary from the list, they're taken to that commissary's Web page that features a link for detailed driving directions to the commissary from a location provided by the visitor. The commissary store Web pages, which each of the 272 commissaries maintain themselves to provide the most current local shopping information possible, are featured under the "locations" navigation button. 10. Recent Military Promotions Army FY04 Colonel, RC/APL, Selection Board Results https://www.perscomonline.army.mil/select/R_Col04.htm Marine Corps FY 2005 Approved Selections to First Sergeant and Master Sergeant http://www.usmc.mil/maradmins/maradmin2000.nsf/0872a7ac9a4c08a6852569b9000bc3f1/f400e0bd6689249f85256f6b00019513?OpenDocument 2005 SNCO Meritorious Promotions for Recruiters, Drill Instructors, Marine Security Guards, and SOI Instructors http://www.usmc.mil/maradmins/maradmin2000.nsf/0872a7ac9a4c08a6852569b9000bc3f1/23c60811aa52e44c85256f6a007b0cc1?OpenDocument 11. TWO FREE Special Reports Available to ALL OF OUR READERS AT http://www.fedweek.com! Federal Pay & Benefits 101 and-- 12 "Deadly" Sins Federal Managers Should Avoid THIS EMAIL ANNOUNCEMENT IS TO BE DISTRIBUTED AND POSTED THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. ALL FEDERAL EMPLOYEES ARE ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE THESE FREE SPECIAL REPORTS, COMPLIMENTS OF FEDWEEK. PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO YOUR COLLEAGUES AND POST THIS ANNOUNCEMENT WHERE APPROPRIATE! FEDweek has Just Posted and Published Two FREE Special Reports, "Federal Pay & Benefits 101: Basic Facts You Need to Know" and The 12 "Deadly" Sins Federal Managers Should Avoid. These Two FREE downloads are available to All federal employees! Go to http://www.fedweek.com to download one or both of these two very informative FREE Special Reports. Please continue reading more. ***************************************************** FEDERAL PAY & BENEFITS 101: BASIC FACTS YOU NEED TO KNOW This "just-published" FREE PDF Download Special Report contains the basic facts about your federal pay and benefits you NEED to know to ensure a successful career in the federal government. EVERY FEDERAL EMPLOYEE SHOULD PRINT THIS INFORMATIVE REPORT OUT AND KEEP IT HANDY AT ALL TIMES! It contains brief, concise (and the absolute latest) facts about your: Pay Other Forms of Compensation Leave Health Insurance Life Insurance Long-Term Care Insurance Retirement Thrift Savings Plan ***************************************************** THE 12 "DEADLY" SINS FEDERAL MANAGERS SHOULD AVOID The Second FREE PDF Download available for all federal managers, supervisors, and executives is The 12 "Deadly" Sins a Federal Manager Should Avoid. This Special FREE Report is written by our very own Don Mace, Publisher of our daily newsletter Federal Manager's Daily Report. It is written specifically for federal managers and supervisors since they are the first line in defending the federal merit system and protecting your employees. Also, occasionally, supervisors and managers, well "step into it,"and find trouble, big trouble that defies simple solutions. This Special Report will be a very helpful tool for all managers and supervisors to use helping them stay away from the 12 "Deadly" sins and keep a clean record and smooth running staff. ******************************************************* To download these two FREE Special Reports, just go to http://www.fedweek.com and you'll find them towards the bottom of the home page at http://www.fedweek.com. These two just-published FREE reports are available to all federal employees so please pass the word along to your fellow colleagues whether they are already a subscriber to any of our newsletters or not. FEDweek is the largest and most trusted information resource in the federal government with over one million weekly readers! Important Note: If you received this email from one of your colleagues and are not currently a FEDweek subscriber. NO PROBLEM. You can subscribe immediately for FREE while you download either one of these FREE Special Reports at http://www.fedweek.com. 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