Federal Daily - June 3, 2008
GAO: DoD Needs to Review Pre-Deployment Assessment Policies
The DoD needs to make sure policies governing pre-deployment health assessments are consistent, specifically
to ensure that all troops are screened for post-traumatic stress disorder and mild traumatic brain
injury, said a Government Accountability Office report released May 30. DoD is required by law to have
a system to assess the medical condition of servicemembers before and after deployment. But DoD’s
2006 Instruction on Deployment Health (IDH) does not say whether such a review is necessary, the report
said, noting that DoD personnel told auditors that they were unaware that a medical record review was
required. Although DoD agreed that it would change the IDH to mandate such reviews, GAO said, the assessments
now would only be necessary for those troops who had a significant change in health status since their
last annual check-up. This language is still inadequate, GAO said, adding that such reviews should
be required for all servicemembers. “It is unclear how the health care provider conducting the
pre-deployment health assessment will identify those with significant changes in health status,” the
report said. “DoD should require a medical record review for all servicemembers as part of the
pre-deployment health assessment.” To see more, go to: www.gao.gov/new.items/d08615.pdf.
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NTEU Files Grievance Over CBP Pay
The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) filed an unfair labor practices grievance against the
Federal Service Impasses Panel (FSIP) after a panel decision resulted in reduced monetary foreign language
awards for Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers. FSIP had ruled in favor of CBP, which is implementing
a reduction in Foreign Language Awards Program (FLAP) payments for legacy Customs officers, other legacy
employee groups and new hires. Under FLAP, officers were eligible to receive cash awards ranging from
3 percent to 5 percent of their base salary if they demonstrated foreign language proficiency and used
that language for at least 10 percent of their job duties, NTEU said. However, beginning last year,
CBP proposed a reduction in foreign language awards. NTEU refused to agree to the reduced awards and
the agency took the issue to FSIP, which recently ruled in CBP’s favor. But the union has refused
to recognize the panel decision, arguing that FSIP has no jurisdiction over such matters. NTEU President
Colleen Kelley said the panel’s current pro-management stance has made it easy for agencies—including
CBP—to override real collective bargaining with unions. “There is a major need for bilingual
skills in the real world and it seems counter-productive for CBP to not adequately reward its officers
for learning multiple languages,” Kelley said in a May 30 statement. To see more, go to: www.nteu.org/PressKits/PressRelease/PressRelease.aspx?ID=1278.
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USCIS Naturalizes First Military Spouse Overseas
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on May 30 that for the first time, it
had naturalized the spouse of a servicemember overseas. Previously, such ceremonies had to take place
within the United States. In this case, the spouse recited the oath of allegiance and became a U.S.
citizen at a ceremony within the U.S. Consulate in Frankfurt, Germany. Also naturalized were about
20 soldiers stationed throughout Germany and Kosovo, said Jonathan Scharfen, acting USCIS director,
who also presided over the ceremony. The new National Defense Authorization Act amended immigration
laws to allow certain spouses to naturalize overseas where the couple is stationed, Scharfen said.
To see more, go to: www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f3
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