FederalDaily.com > DoD Stalls New Personnel System

FederalDaily - June 8, 2005

DoD Stalls New Personnel System

The first phase of the Department of Defense's (DoD) new National Security Personnel System (NSPS) has been adjusted slightly, to later in the fiscal year, NSPS officials said on June 7. Officials had hoped to begin the first phase of the rollout, called Spiral One, July 1. Spiral One will initially affect 60,000 civilian employees and will eventually cover about 300,000. DoD will work with the Office of Personnel Management to adjust the proposed NSPS regulations based on public comments and the meet-and-confer process with employee unions, according to Mary Lacey, NSPS program executive officer. NSPS officials said the labor relations part of the program is now expected to begin by September, followed by the performance management element of the system early in FY 2006. All civilian employees will receive the 2006 general pay increase before the pay-for-performance provisions of NSPS begin, officials said.

Military Records of the Famous Become Public

On June 11 the National Archives’ National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis, Mo., will formally open the military personnel records of Charles Lindbergh, President John F. Kennedy, General George S. Patton, Steve McQueen, Clark Gable and Jackie Robinson, among others. For the first time, nearly 1.2 million official military personnel files of former Navy and Marine Corps enlisted personnel who served between 1885 and 1939 will be open to the public. This first opening also includes 150 "persons of exceptional prominence," including former presidents, famous military leaders, celebrities, entertainers and professional athletes who served in the military and have been deceased for at least 10 years. Documents and artifacts recovered from the USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor also will be on display.

DoD Releases Report on Scandalous Tanker Contract

Department of Defense Inspector General Joseph E. Schmitz on June 7 released a report on the Air Force’s Boeing Tanker Program, entitled “Management Accountability Review of the Boeing KC-767A Tanker Program,” in time to coincide with the beginning of the Senate Armed Services Committee’s hearing on that issue. Schmitz, Acting Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon R. England, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Michael W. Wynne, Acting Secretary of the Air Force Michael L. Dominguez and DoD Deputy Inspector General Thomas F. Gimble are scheduled to appear before the committee. The new report covers who in the Department of Defense and Air Force were accountable (including military members and civilians) for the lease contract for the Tanker Program. Several people have been sentenced because of their involvement in illegal contracting practices. To read the full report, go to www.dodig.osd.mil/fo/Foia/ERR/Redacted_oig2004171_shaded.pdf.

Fighting to Keep SBA Jobs In House

A bipartisan group of congressmen, led by Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, D-Md., have expressed their concern in a letter to the Small Business Administration (SBA) about plans to conduct a privatization review of employees in Washington, Philadelphia and San Francisco. The workers are responsible for determining whether businesses are eligible for certification as small disadvantaged businesses. The letter—signed by 19 senators and representatives—said that the work is inherently governmental and always should be performed by federal employees. “We are grateful for the strong, bipartisan opposition to SBA’s attempt to turn over this important function to contractors,” said Keith Lucas, president of American Federation of Government Employees Local 2532, which represents the affected workforce.