From: root@AFPAN.PA.AF.MIL (System Administrator)
Newsgroups: soc.veterans
Subject: Army News Service 09/03/92 (fwd)
Date: 5 Sep 92 17:14:18 GMT


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  <<>>   U.S. Army Public Affairs                                        <<>>
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DA accepting FY 93 enlisted voluntary early-outs

      WASHINGTON (ARNEWS) -- Some enlisted soldiers may now apply for 
early release from military service under the fiscal year 1993 
Voluntary Early Transition program, according to a recent U.S. Total 
Army Personnel Command message.
      Under the program, soldiers in 39 military occupational 
specialties may apply for early separation. Soldiers may request a 
specific release date to be as early as Nov. 1, 1992, but no later 
than Sept. 29, 1993, PERSCOM said.
      The program is applicable to Regular Army enlisted soldiers  who 
have a minimum of three years' active service, and who are in a 
military occupational specialty and grade listed below.
      Soldiers who may not apply include those -- 
     -- pending involuntary separation under other provisions of AR 
635-200, serving confinement as a result of courts-martial, or under 
investigation for offenses committed under the Uniform Code of 
Military Justice;
     -- not medically cleared by the Army by the requested early 
transition date;
     -- serving in a cohort unit or personnel priority 1 or 2 unit;
     -- currently on assignment instructions to short tour areas; or 
     -- currently serving in short tour areas until completion of two-
thirds of the tour.
      Unlike the Enlisted Voluntary Early Release Program with 
Voluntary Separation Incentive or Special Separation Benefit, there is 
no monetary incentive associated with this program.
      PERSCOM is the approval authority for early release. Applica-
tions received for the program will be disapproved once the target 
strength for each listed MOS and grade has been met, according to the 
message. Therefore, interested soldiers are encouraged to apply as 
soon as possible.
      For more information on eligibility, transition benefits or 
application procedures, soldiers should contact their local personnel 
service center.

      CHART:  MOS/Grade eligibility for FY 93 Voluntary Early 
Transition Program

     13N  PVT THRU SGT
     15E  PVT THRU SGT
     16D  PVT THRU SGT
     16E  PVT THRU SGT
     16H  PVT THRU SGT
     21G  PVT THRU SGT
     21L  PVT THRU SGT
     24C  PVT THRU SGT
     24G  PVT THRU SGT
     24H  PVT THRU SGT
     24K  PVT THRU SGT
     24M  PVT THRU SGT
     24T  PVT THRU SPC/CPL
     25L  PVT THRU SPC/CPL
     27B  PVT THRU SPC/CPL
     27E  PVT THRU SPC/CPL
     27F  PVT THRU SPC/CPL
     27H  PVT THRU SGT
     27L  PVT THRU SGT





     27N  PVT THRU SGT
     29V  PVT THRU SPC/CPL
     41C  SGT
     45N  PVT THRU SGT
     46N  PVT THRU SGT
     52F  PVT THRU SGT
     55G  PVT THRU SGT
     55R  SGT
     62J  SGT
     63N  PVT THRU SGT
     68R  PVT THRU SPC/CPL
     72E  PVT THRU SPC/CPL
     72G  PVT THRU SPC/CPL
     74C  PVT THRU SPC/CPL
     81C  PVT THRU SPC/CPL
     82D  PVT THRU SPC/CPL
     83E  PVT THRU SPC/CPL
     93D  PVT THRU SPC/CPL
     98C  (CM/CX/GM ONLY)  PVT THRU SPC/CPL
     98G  (CX/GM ONLY)  PVT THRU SPC/CPL
     98G  (GM ONLY)  SGT


Army civilian achievers eligible for time off

      WASHINGTON (ARNEWS) -- Top-notch Army civilian employees can 
look forward to some time away from the job, thanks to a new DoD 
incentive policy.
      The new Time Off Award permits supervisors to recommend 
employees for up to 80 hours time off per year based on the employees' 
achievements, according to personnel officials.
      The TOA is similar to the Special Act or Service Award, except 
that time off of the job is given to the employee rather than a cash 
award. All direct-hire appropriated fund Army civilian employees are 
eligible.
      Part-time employees may be given time off up to the number of 
hours worked in an average two-week period, depending on their 
contribution.
      Time off granted as an award must be scheduled and used within 
one year after the award is made, and cannot be converted to cash 
under any circumstances.
      Details on the TOA concerning Army civilian employees can be 
found in interim change I03 to AR 672-20, Incentive Awards.


Soldiers find a different world in South Florida

      HOMESTEAD, Fla. (ARNEWS) -- It's a different world in South Dade 
County.
      It's a world where a house with three walls and half a roof is 
upscale. It's a world where traffic cops pay no mind to cars that limp 
down main street with no windshields, windows or fenders. It's a world 
where red-bereted paratroopers stand in the middle of busy 
intersections directing traffic. And, it's a world where bands of 
armed soldiers patrol demolished streets and trailer parks, barely 
drawing a second glance from local residents.
      It's also a world where Denny's -- the restaurant that never 
closes -- has been closed for more than a week.





      This is the upside-down world of Homestead and Florida City, the 
two connecting towns hit hardest by Hurricane Andrew, the monster 
storm that crashed into thousands of South Florida homes Aug. 24.
      "Tore up -- just totally tore up," is how Pfc. Robert Parnell, a 
field artilleryman with the Florida National Guard, described the 
world created by the hurricane. "Everything, I mean everything, is 
totally wrecked. You turn your head one way and you see a building on 
the ground; turn your head the other way and you see trees pulled out 
of the ground."
      Parnell, like many other active Army and National Guard soldiers 
here, spends his days guarding a strip mall. There's nothing worth 
stealing in the dozen or so stores in the mall -- everything was 
trashed. Parnell and other soldiers in other malls guard the food, 
medicine and clothing donations in the parking lot, making sure there 
is enough for everyone.
      Other soldiers direct traffic at intersections crammed with 
media vans, trucks carrying relief workers, Florida Power and Light 
vehicles, Army Humvees, and people who journeyed south to gawk at the 
destruction. There is no electricity in this part of Florida; even if 
there was, it wouldn't matter. Almost all of the traffic lights were 
blown away by the hurricane's 140-mph winds.
      Still other soldiers patrol the neighborhoods to discourage 
would-be looters and find out where the "good people" are and what 
they need.
      Other soldiers man portable food centers, providing hot meals to 
as many as 1,500 hurricane victims each, per day -- double the 
"maximum capacity" for which the Army field kitchens were designed. 
More than a dozen of the kitchens have been set up since Aug 28.
      "It's good to be able to get up in the morning and know that I 
can get something to eat," said J.W. Russell, 78, a retired 
construction worker whose home was severely damaged by the storm.
      Thousands of other soldiers are doing other things -- setting up 
tent cities, providing communications, loading and unloading relief 
supplies, flying helicopters to hard-to-reach areas -- and thousands 
more are on the way. More than 20,000 state and federal troops are in 
the area now, and that figure could soon rise to 25,000. Even without 
the reinforcements, the effort is the largest U.S. military rescue 
mission ever, topping 1991's Operation Provide Comfort mission by more 
than 2,000 troops.
      Considering the level of destruction -- up to 250,000 people 
left homeless with a $30 billion relief and reconstruction estimate -- 
those soldiers and their replacements could be here for months to 
come. President Bush, who's made two trips to the area since the 
hurricane struck, said the military is committed "for the long haul."  
Army Chief of Staff Gen. Gordon R. Sullivan has said the mission "is a 
long-term operation."
      While most soldiers have only been here for a week, for some, 
the prospects of a long-term operation doesn't seem to phase them.
      "I think I might have felt a little bit excluded if I stayed 
home," said Sgt. Mike Guthrie, a Spanish linguist from Fort Bragg, 
N.C. "Doing what I can here gives me a good feeling, and as long as 
we're welcome, I'm happy to be here."