From: bergman@AFPAN.PA.AF.MIL (CMSgt Mike Bergman)
Newsgroups: soc.veterans
Subject: Army News Service 10/01/92
Date: 2 Oct 92 12:31:30 GMT
Organization: Hq Air Force News Agency/SCC


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* Army promotes first of new warrant rank

      WASHINGTON (ARNEWS) -- Oct. 1 saw the first active-duty soldiers 
promoted to the Army's newest rank, chief warrant officer 5.
      The new rank is just one result of the Warrant Officer Leader 
Development Action Plan, approved by the Army chief of staff in 
February. Another result is the end of the master warrant officer 4 
designation. Soldiers who hold that designation will keep it until 
they either retire or are promoted to CWO5.
      Although the first active-duty CWO5 promotion board was held in 
June, and the first nine were promoted Oct. 1, the Guard and Reserve 
appointed some CWO5s early. The first person in the Total Army to 
attain that rank is CWO5 Jack Lynch, of the National Guard Bureau. The 
first woman promoted to the new rank is CWO5 Donna Foli, chief of U.S. 
Army Reserve Warrant Officer Recruiting, U.S. Army Recruiting Command, 
Fort Knox, Ky.
      CWO5s are eligible to stay on active duty for 30 years of 
service as warrants.


* Army speeds appointment of warrant officers

      WASHINGTON (ARNEWS) -- Beginning Oct. 1, warrant officer 
candidates now earn their bars up to five years sooner than before.
      In the past, soldiers remained in candidate status until they 
finished their technical certification. Now, candidates are appointed 
WO1 upon completion of Warrant Officer Candidiate School.
      Certification took three to five years for reservists who attend 
only two weeks of resident training per year, said CWO5 David Welsh, 
warrant officer program manager for the U.S. Army Reserve.
      Active-duty warrants can go straight to technical school after 
WOCS, but reservists will serve their units as non-certified WO1s 
until they can finish school.
      Warrants who require licensing, such as aviators, vessel 
masters, physician assistants and veterinarians, cannot perform the 
warrant-level job until they complete their resident training.
      About 600 soldiers were appointed WO1, Oct. 1 -- 300-400 of them 
in a mass ceremony at Fort Rucker, Ala., the principle location for 
WOCS.


AAFES boosts bad check fees

      WASHINGTON (ARNEWS) -- Bouncing a check at Army & Air Force 
Exchange Service facilities costs $20 as of Oct. 1., according to 
AAFES officials.
      The $20 penalty, up from $15, is necessary due to the rising 
costs of processing bad checks, officials said.
      In 1991, financial institutions returned more than $44 million 
in dishonored checks to AAFES. Of that amount, about $4.4 million was 
not recovered.
      The loss is taken out of earnings that are returned to soldiers 
and airmen in the form of improved exchange facilities or as funds to 
support morale, welfare and recreation programs.
    (From an AAFES release.)


Army boxers bring home CISM bronze

      WASHINGTON (ARNEWS) -- Two Army boxers took bronze medals at the 
1992 Conseil International du Sport Militaire Boxing Championships 
held in Aalborg, Denmark, from Sept. 4 - 13.
      Spec. Orlando Hollis from Fort Hood, Texas, and Spec. Keith 
Mullings from Fort Bragg, N.C., were the top Army winners in this 
year's CISM. Spec. Datris Biagas of Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, and 
Sgt. Jeffrey Wooden, from Fort Bragg, rounded out Army participation 
of the team. The team was coached by Staff Sgt. Andrew Backer, also of 
Fort Bragg.
      The Russians won the 18-team event, while the United States 
finished third overall.


Bonuses feel pinch of congressional inaction

      WASHINGTON (ARNEWS) -- New soldiers expecting business-as-usual 
for their participation in various enlistment and re-enlistment bonus 
programs have run into a snag: Congress has yet to act on authorizing 
and funding the programs for fiscal year 1993.
      So, effective Oct. 1, the following programs have been 
suspended, pending further notice:
     -- U.S. Army cash-bonus enlistment option;
     -- U.S. Army Selected Reserve incentive;
     -- Broken-service selected re-enlistment bonus;
     -- Nurse candidate; and
     -- Army College Fund Plus (2plus2plus4 only).
      Army personnel officials say that restoration of the affected 
programs' authorization and funding depend on how Congress decides to 
act in coming weeks. Prospects range from soldiers' receiving their 
bonuses long past Oct. 1 to their receiving no bonuses at all.
      Meantime, Army guidance counselors and retention personnel have 
been instructed to continue processing enlistments "in all components 
in the same manner as they do now," officials say. "If the applicant 
elects a bonus under any of the affected programs, the counselor will 
execute all required option forms."
      Those forms must be accompanied by what officials call a 
"contingent enlistment addendum or ACF addendum," to be signed by the 
applicant and guidance counselor. The signed statement is meant to 
acknowledge the applicant's understanding that "my entitlement to an 
enlistment bonus is contingent upon Congress's both authorizing and 
funding the enlistment bonus program."
      Officials point out that such an addendum process applies also 
to the Selected Reserve incentive program's affiliation bonus, re-
enlistment bonus and the health-professional loan-repayment program, 
as well as to the ACF-Plus program.
      In a related development, also effective Oct. 1, two other bonus 
programs will fall into limbo if their congressional authorization and 
funding fail to materialize by that time: the selective re-enlistment 
bonus and the bonus extension and retraining program.
      Officials say that until new legislation is finally enacted, 
"SRB-eligible soldiers who re-enlist or extend for eligibility for the 
BEAR program during the `lapsed' period will not be subsequently 
entitled to bonuses unless specific retroactive language is included 
in the authorization act."
      The moratorium on payment of bonuses applies only to initial 
payments, officials explain. Bonus-based contracts executed "before 
2400 hours, Sept. 30, will continue on schedule." What's more, 
qualified soldiers whose expiration of term of service occurs in 
January, February or March 1993 are authorized to extend their 
enlistments until April 30, "for the purpose of remaining eligible for 
a selective re-enlistment bonus."
      Soldiers in certain specialties and grades who have service-
remaining requirements will be allowed to extend. "When the SRB 
program is reinstituted, these soldiers must take action to re-enlist 
within 30 days of the effective date of the program."
      Officials further explained that upon reinstitution of the SRB 
program, they will announce permission for those soldiers to cancel 
their extensions for the purpose of immediate re-enlistment. "The 
unused portions of their extension will not be charged as previously 
obligated service for SRB computation purposes, except in the case of 
extension to qualify for the BEAR program."
      Applicants for the BEAR program may still have their submissions 
processed to the U.S. Total Army Personnel Command. "However, approval 
to execute contracts will not be provided until the program is re-
instituted. Soldiers with approved BEAR program applications must 
execute oath of extension of enlistment before Oct. 1, for the 
contract to be valid."


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