Federal Daily - May 18, 2009

DoD Announces $555 Million Housing Assistance Expansion

DoD on May 14 announced a temporary expansion of the Housing Assistance Program (HAP) using $555 million in funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The department will use the funds to provide benefits to eligible military and DoD civilians who face losing money from selling their primary residence during the current downturn in home prices. In recent years, HAP has been used primarily to furnish benefits to personnel at base realignment and closure (BRAC) sites when those activities caused home values to fall. DoD will temporarily expand HAP to partially reimburse home sale losses in following order of priority: wounded servicemembers relocating for treatment or medical retirement, and survivors of those who have died while on deployment; those affected by the 2005 BRAC round—without the need to prove that base closure caused the local market decline; and those undergoing normal military permanent change of station (PCS) moves. DoD’s eligibility criteria includes PCS retroactivity from July, 1, 2006, through Dec. 31, 2009, and longer for wounded servicemembers and surviving spouses and personnel affected by BRAC. HAP eligibility criteria are available at http://hap.usace.army.mil. To see more, go to: www.defenselink.mil/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=12677.

:: Back to Top ::

Bill Would Fund 1,500 More Foreign Service Officers

The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on May 14 introduced a bill that would authorize the hiring of 1,500 additional Foreign Service Officers (FSOs) over the next two years and bolster FSO recruitment and training. The Foreign Relations Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011 (H.R. 2410), introduced by Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., among other things, also would require the State Department to conduct a quadrennial review of its policies and programs to assess how they fit into the administration’s national security strategy. “Defense, diplomacy and development are the three pillars of our national security,” Berman said. “But in recent years, diplomacy and development have been shortchanged. In order to meet the aims of American foreign policy today, we need to rebuild capacity in these critical areas.” To see more, go to: www.house.gov/list/press/ca28_berman/State_
Reauth_introduction.shtml.

:: Back to Top ::

DoD Announces Overseas Schools Personnel Switch

Diana Ohman, director of the DoD Dependents Schools-Europe, and Nancy Bresell, director of the DoD Dependents Schools-Pacific, will exchange leadership positions as DoD overseas schools’ area directors, DoD’s Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) announced May 13. The change is part of DoDEA’s ongoing efforts to improve through a review, evaluation and refinement of its educational programs, said DoDEA Director Shirley A. Miles. “This change will be advantageous to the schools in each area by allowing for the benefits a different leadership perspective will bring to each school system,” Miles said. DoD schools in Europe have 36,000 students in 81 schools served by 5,220 employees, and the Pacific division has 23,000 students in 46 schools served by 3,075 employees. To see more, go to: www.dodea.edu/pressroom/releasesDisplay.cfm?prId=20090513.

:: Back to Top ::