Federal Daily - July 7, 2008

DoD Announces Changes to Enlistment Waiver Process

DoD last week announced changes to the enlistment waiver process in an attempt to standardize the way such waivers are granted and tracked across all the services. About 20 percent of recruits receive enlistment waivers—one third of those are medical waivers and the other two-thirds are classified as youthful misconduct waivers, granted for those with a criminal offense. The most noticeable change will be to classify all misconduct waivers into four different categories. The most severe offenses will be classified as “major misconduct,” while less severe offenses will be considered “misconduct,” “non-traffic,” or “traffic” offenses. Also new is a coding system that allows services to track the level of the misconduct and the specific offense in question, DoD said in a statement. The standardization of data will allow the department to better analyze the relationship between offenses or categories of offense on the one hand, and attrition or performance concerns on the other, said Bill Carr, deputy under secretary for military personnel policy. “Waivers have long been a part of the enlistment process, allowing communities a greater voice in identifying young persons who, despite factors such as youthful misconduct,” Carr said, “are judged trustworthy and capable.” The new policy will go into effect Oct. 1. To see more, go to: www.defenselink.mil/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=12035.

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OPM to Re-Open Administrative Law Judge Exam

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) will soon re-open the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) examination to refresh the list of eligible candidates who serve as impartial arbiters at federal agencies, OPM said in a July 2 statement. OPM will post the 2008 ALJ examination announcement on the USAJOBS website (www.usajobs.gov) soon, the agency said. The posting will include the application filing deadline, as well as the number of applications that will be accepted. The examination involves a multi-part assessment of an applicant's qualifications, including proof of specific legal experience and submission of a written Accomplishment Record. Individuals who score highest in this phase will then participate in a written demonstration and structured interview. OPM last opened the ALJ examination in May 2007. Within six days, OPM had received its stated limit of 1,250 completed applications. To see more, go to: www.opm.gov/news/opm-to-announce-reopening-of-the-
administrative-law-judge-exam,1423.aspx.

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GSA Awards $2.4 Billion in ‘City Pairs’ Air Fare Contracts

The General Services Administration (GSA) on June 30 announced that it had awarded one-year “City Pairs” contracts, valued at more than $2.4 billion, to 12 airlines for 4,303 domestic and 1,199 international flights. City Pairs are points of origin and destinations that form the basis for one-way ticket pricing for travel between two cities—providing federal workers flexibility when booking flights for government business. The awards are effective Oct. 1, 2008, through Sept. 30, 2009. The number of City Pairs awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 is up 10 percent from FY 2008, with carriers providing more offerings, GSA noted. GSA awarded the contracts based on average flight time, price, service, flight distribution, number of flights, available seats, fully refundable tickets and penalty-free cancelations, the agency said. To see more, go to: www.gsa.gov/Portal/gsa/ep/contentView.do?pageTypeId=
8199&channelId=-13259&P=&contentId=24686&content
Type=GSA_BASIC.

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