From: bergman@afnews.pa.af.mil (CMSgt Mike Bergman)
Newsgroups: soc.veterans
Subject: American Forces Info Svc - Dec 7 1992
Date: 13 Nov 1992 11:37:18 -0600
Organization: Hq Air Force News Agency/SCC
NNTP-Posting-Host: cs.utexas.edu


Press Pack #49 for the Week of December 7, 1992

     This is the electronic edition of "Press Pack," which also is
published weekly in camera-ready form by the American Forces
Information Service, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense
(Public Affairs), 601 N. Fairfax St., Room 312, Alexandria, VA
22314-2007.
     Material in "Press Pack" is intended for use by editors of
Department of Defense-sanctioned publications and news editors of
DoD electronic media.  Permission is not needed to reprint or
broadcast its contents, but please credit AFIS and individual
authors for material used.
     Call 703-274-4849 (DSN 284-4849) for editorial matters and
703-274-4853 (DSN 284-4853) for graphics or distribution matters.

		   _______________________


Chief Discusses Personnel Aspects of Authorization Act

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Information Service

     A 3.7 percent pay raise, continued transition funding, a
15-year military retirement option and a $25,000 early retirement
or resignation bonus for certain civilians are among the programs
approved in the fiscal 1993 Defense Authorization Act.
     President George Bush signed the act into law Oct. 23.
     Christopher Jehn, assistant secretary of defense for force
management and personnel, said the act is a "kind of mixed bag."
     While he praised the number of positive aspects of the act, he
said there were a number of elements in the bill DoD didn't want,
such as a 15-year retirement option.
     The option is the brainchild of Georgia Sen. Sam Nunn,
chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.  He envisioned it
as a way to get mid-level officers and NCOs with between 15 and 19
years to leave the service.  The formula for figuring retirement
under the program is 2.5 percent of base pay per year minus 1
percent for each year below 20 years.
     "We did not actively seek 15-year retirement," said Jehn.  "It
was a tool we didn't think we needed.  We told Congress that."  He
said DoD will not offer the program across the board; if used at
all, the program will be aimed at small and well-targeted
populations.
     "Most of the individuals with between 15 and 20 years' service
now we need to stay in.  These folks are in positions of leadership
-- and we need leaders to get us through this time of change and
upheaval," Jehn said.
     If DoD were to use 15-year retirement, personnel officials
would mesh the offers with voluntary separation incentive and
special separation benefit offers so they serve the same purpose.
"We want to achieve a balanced reduction and minimize involuntary
separations and continue to be fair to people," he said.
     Jehn was pleased with the support Congress gave the VSI/SSB
programs, but even these have changed.  Separatees can now receive
reserve drill pay and VSI payments.  "They don't have to offset
their VSI because of receipt of reserve payment, but the law
requiring them to eventually repay the VSI payments upon retirement
was not changed," he said.
     Jehn said officials had to choose when the VSI package was
first put together.  Recipients who enter the reserves and
ultimately retire have to repay that part of VSI associated with
the years of service that go toward computing retirement.  The
choice was to recoup that money at retirement or while the member
is in the reserves.
     "We thought a sensible way to do it would be to recoup it
while they are on reserve duty, when they are much younger and
don't need the money as much," Jehn said.  Recouping upon
retirement might mean some retirees would receive no pension for
several years, he remarked.
     Individuals still have the option of making some of the
payments while in the reserves, but Congress -- in this act -- said
as a rule recoupment will be made from retired pay.
     Another transition change gives separatees travel to the place
of their choice rather than home of record or enlistment point.
Separatees who take VSI can now use military time for civil service
credit, if they get government jobs.  The net effect of these
changes is to make VSI/SSB more attractive, Jehn said.
     He said the programs are working well, but DoD officials will
continue to monitor them and to seek changes from Congress if they
see the need.
     Civilian transition programs fared well in the act.  Congress
authorized DoD to offer up to a $25,000 retirement or resignation
bonus to selected civilian employees.  This authority runs through
the end of fiscal 1997.  DoD must eliminate 100,000 more positions
by then.  DoD must also cut overseas positions 30 percent by the
end of fiscal 1996, going from about 320,000 to 192,000.  He said
these incentives will be tightly controlled and used to lessen the
impact of reductions in force.  Jehn said DoD will use the civilian
early retirement and resignation bonuses the same way it is using
the tools to reduce the size of the military.
     "We want to achieve the right balance and minimize the use of
the RIF process," Jehn said.  He said DoD wants to avoid the RIF
process not only because it results in involuntary separations, but
also because of the turmoil and uncertainty it creates.
     DoD plans to start the incentive program in January 1993.
     The law now requires RIF notices be issued 60 days ahead of
the reduction or 120 if it affects 50 or more people.
     Jehn warned the 60- and 120-day notices will create
uncertainty for the civilian work force.  "They will perhaps
increase the number of canceled and changed notices associated with
the RIF process," he said.  "Obviously, for the individuals
involved, more notice is better than less."
     It is likely that DoD will issue more RIF notices than they
would under the old system and then not have to carry through.
"What happens is once the first notice goes out, then a process
called bumping and retreating begins with all the civilian
employees," he said.  "So you may receive a notice that your
position is eliminated and you may therefore be liable to
involuntary separation.  If enough individuals retire or elect to
leave the service, you may ultimately not lose your job.  So we may
cancel that first notice, but the (RIF) process may continue,
meaning another RIF notice and so on."
     DoD will continue the two-for-five hiring freeze -- meaning
that for every five vacancies, two may be filled by new hires from
outside the department.  "The military departments may have more
stringent standards, but overall we think the two-for-five will
work for us,"  Jehn said.
     Jehn said the 3.7 percent pay raise effective Jan. 1, 1993,
maintains parity between service members and DoD civilians.
     DoD plans to ask for the full military pay raise allowable in
fiscal 1994.  Officials will determine that amount at the end of
the third quarter of fiscal 1993.
     Another military pay change added a longevity increase at the
24-year point.  "The sense was a longevity increase at the 24-year
point would encourage some folks to retire at 24 years rather than
wait for the longevity increase at 26, and that would ease the
drawdown," Jehn said.  He has no idea why there was no increase at
the 24-year point up to now.
     Temporary lodging expenses may now be paid for up to 10 days
rather than the previous limit of four.  "The ... extension will be
offered at those bases with a clear shortage of affordable
housing," Jehn said.  "For the most part, we are talking about
bases heavily impacted by troops returning from Europe."  Rules
will come out soon, he said.
     The act requires a 5 percent cut in Senior Executive Service
positions.
     The act allows DoD to provide military benefits to some
dependents.
     "It protects those dependents of retirement-eligible members
when they are separated without retirement benefits because they
have been found guilty of spouse or child abuse," Jehn said.
Without this law, he said, individuals suffering abuse might keep
silent rather than lose their access to benefits.

END


Military Pay Allotment Options Change

By Master Sgt. Linda Lee, USA
American Forces Information Service

     In a move to ease military members' handling of their
finances, the Defense Finance and Accounting Service loosened its
allotment policy.
     Under the new system, members can request up to six
discretionary allotments without any limitation as to whom payment
is made as long as the allotment is within the limits of the law,
said Navy Capt. Robert R. Bird, acting chief of the finance
service's Military Pay Division.  A discretionary allotment lets
the individual earmark amounts for automatic deduction for payment
of debts or bills, or for deposit to a financial institution.
     With this change, members can send payments to money market
mutual funds and investment firms and can pay their rent via
allotment, Bird said.  Service members may also make allotments for
vehicle insurance, personal loans and payment of legal debts.  This
includes life insurance payments, child support, alimony and
mortgage payments.
     Officials limited allotments to six because 99 percent of all
service members have six or fewer discretionary allotments.  Those
members who have more than six need not worry, said Bird.  The
allotments will continue to be paid.  However, members in this
category may not change the discretionary allotments until they
drop to six.  Changes will be handled on a case-by-case basis, Bird
said; policy exceptions include changes in the mortgage payment and
the receiver's name.
     Another category of allotments is the nondiscretionary type,
Bird added.  Nondiscretionary allotments are restricted to certain
types of payments, including savings bonds, service relief loans,
charity donations and Voluntary Education Assistance Program
payments.
     There is no limit to nondiscretionary allotments, said Bird,
but there are certain restrictions.  For instance, members can have
no more than one allotment for the Combined Federal Campaign and
can purchase no more than $15,000 in savings bonds in a one-year
period.
     The service streamlined the allotment program into just two
categories with these changes and opened the door for some
previously denied ones, like investment firms, said Bird.
     "This program represents another effort to provide better
service to our customers by being responsive to their needs in
areas where we have `discretion' and to give members greater
flexibility in controlling their personal financial matters," said
Bird.
     Service members can get further details at installation
finance and accounting offices.

END

Testing Proves Today's M-16A2 Best Available

By Master Sgt. Linda Lee, USA
American Forces Information Service

     New and improved doesn't always mean a better weapon, as the
Joint Service Small Arms Program people recently found out.
     DoD and four commercial weapons firms spent $48.4 million and
eight years researching, developing and testing to find the best
possible individual weapon to replace today's standard issue M-16A2
rifle.
     The Joint Service Small Arms Program found that while the new
weapons did better in some test areas, the overall best performer
is still the M-16A2.  The basic M-16 was first fielded in the 1960s
during the Vietnam War.
     "What we found in the tests will go a long way in improving
the M-16's performance," said Vernon Shisler, who heads the
program's advanced combat rifle research.  In addition, the data
will aid in developing better individual weapons over the next few
years, he said.
     For example, the M-16A1 and M-16A2 use 5.56 mm ball
ammunition, said Shisler.  The results from the years of testing
prove "you can't get much better performance with bullet-type
rifles.  You can lighten the load using caseless or plastic-cased
rounds, but you can't significantly increase performance.
     "This type of ammunition, caseless or plastic-cased rounds,
reduces a service member's basic load and the logistics needed to
keep him resupplied," he added.
     The program's aims, he said, were to develop a performance
base for the M-16 rifle, advance the state-of-the-art rifle design
and improve accuracy of service members.
     Shisler said the design and test results more than met the
program's basic requirements.
     "We now have a data base on the performance of service members
with their individual weapons.  We have a new baseline on M-16
performance.  We learned a lot about miss distance and aim error
and about being able to engage targets at extended ranges," said
Shisler.  "Most of the previous performance data goes out only to
300 meters; we went out to 600 meters.
     "We learned a lot about hit probability against moving targets
and multiple targets, and data on female service members'
performance under these conditions is something we've never had
before," he added.
     The main tests were conducted at a specially constructed,
computer-driven range at Fort Benning, Ga.  Conducted in two
phases, each phase consisted of five three-week rotations.  Shisler
said women service members were tested separately over a two-week
period at the conclusion of the two phases.
     Nine Army infantrymen and nine Air Force security police took
part in each three-week session.  They learned how to fire each
weapon and took the Army's weapons qualification course.  During
the next two weeks, they fired one of the four prototype weapons at
three different range bands, using different positions.  At the end
of the three-week cycle, they switched to another prototype and so
on, until all four prototypes and the M-16A2 had been tested.
     The short-range targets, 25 meters to 75 meters, were fired
from the standing position; intermediate range, 75 meters to 300
meters, prone position; and long range, 300 meters to 600 meters,
supported foxhole position.
     Each weapon's effectiveness was based on the number of times
the targets were hit on the first trigger pull, said Shisler.  No
prototype proved statistically better than the standard M-16A2
rifle fired semiautomatically using iron sights, he added.
     The four companies that developed new weapon concepts were:
     o  The AAI Corp. of Maryland concept featured semi-automatic
and three-round salvo bursts, flechette-firing 5.56 mm ammunition.
     o  The Heckler and Koch, Germany, concept featured caseless
4.92mm ammunition, semi-automatic three-round burst or fully
automatic, recoil delayed until the third round of a three-round
burst.
     o  The Steyr-Mannlicher, Austria, concept featured
plastic-cased lightweight 5.56 mm flechette ammunition,
semi-automatic and three-round salvo bursts.
     o  Colt of Connecticut offered a modified M-16A2 featuring
duplex 5.56mm rounds -- two bullets in the same cartridge case
--and recoil decreased by about 40 percent.

END

U.S., South Korea Talks Set Future Plans

By Master Sgt. Linda Lee, USA
American Forces Information Service

     Suspicions raised concerning nuclear arms development by North
Korea have indefinitely halted the withdrawal of U.S. forces from
South Korea.
     The United States currently has about 40,000 service members
stationed throughout South Korea.
     North and South Korea have edged toward a closer relationship
during the past year, said Defense Secretary Dick Cheney.  U.S. and
South Korean officials are concerned, however, that North Korea is
using an international agreement on nuclear inspections to stall
inspections of its nuclear facilities.  An agreement on
reconcilation and cooperation by the two Koreas specified
reciprocal inspections of nuclear facilities on the peninsula, he
said.
     Cheney and Choi Jae Chang, South Korea's national defense
minister, recently held two days of security meetings in
Washington, D.C.  It was the 24th United States and Republic of
Korea security consultative meeting.  A communique issued by the
two defense leaders expressed concern that North Korea is
continuing its efforts to develop weapons of mass destruction and
long-range missiles, as well as exporting these missiles.
     The remainder of the 1990s will see a change in the status
between the United States and South Korea, according to the
communique.  The transition of the U.S. military to a supporting
role, with South Korea assuming more control and responsibility, is
on track, Cheney and Choi said.
     Steps already taken include the deactivation of the Combined
Field Army, reduction of U.S. forces and the appointment of South
Korean generals as the senior member of the Military Armistice
Commission and the commander of the Combined Field Command's ground
component.  In addition, by the end of 1994, armistice operational
control over the South Korean armed forces will be turned over to
South Korea.
     The South Korean government will provide $220 million in 1993
to help defray the cost of maintaining U.S. forces in Korea.  By
1995, the contribution will rise.
     The two defense leaders share the view that Korean
reunification must be achieved through peaceful means, such as the
ongoing South-North talks.  Every effort will be made to maintain
security in such a way that the talks continue and lead to
reunification of the peninsula.
     However, the communique states that the United States and
South Korea agree that the Military Armistice Agreement of 1953
must remain in place until superseded by a joint peace agreement
between the two Koreas.  In addition to a North-South agreement,
significant progress must be made in arms control through direct
discussions between North and South Korea.

END


Holiday Greetings From the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

     The holiday season is a time for sharing and expressing faith
with family and friends.  It is also a time to give thanks and
reflect on the year's blessing.  And this year it is a time to
reflect on a hopeful and promising new world.  For the first time
in decades the prospect of world peace seems within reach, and
Americans can take quiet pride in their Nation's role in bringing
the gifts of freedom, independence and security to peoples around
the globe.
     As American soldiers, sailors, Marines, airmen and Coast
Guardsmen -- both active and reserve -- your steady vigilance
throughout the world is vital to safeguarding the hope for peace on
earth and goodwill to all.  You have earned the affection and
respect of your countrymen through your dedication, loyalty,
courage and professionalism.  You have inspired the confidence of
our friends and earned the awe of those who would threaten us.  You
have stood guard over America's interest at home and abroad.  Those
of you in our dedicated civilian force serving within the
Department of Defense can take equal pride in your role in the
Nation's cause.
     Over the past year you have added to the proud list of our
military's accomplishments.  Among other things, you reached out to
help the suffering people of the former Yugoslavia in Operation
Provide Promise, of the former Soviet Union in Provide Hope, and of
Somalia in Provide Relief.  Here at home, you were the angels of
mercy in South Florida, Louisiana, Hawaii and Guam.
     Alma and I wish you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas
and a wonderful Hanukkah.  We ask special blessings for the men and
women whose duty will separate them from their families this
holiday season.  The Nation owes a profound debt of gratitude to
you who are willing to make such sacrifices in the service of your
country.  May you be reunited soon with your families and your
loved ones.  Shalom, God bless, and may all of your hopes for the
new year be fulfilled.

				   Colin L. Powell

(NOTE TO EDITORS:  This is the text portion of a World War II
package that appears in Art Pack.)

Aggressive `Silent Service' Strangled Japan, But
Victory Didn't Come Cheap


     They were members of the `Silent Service.'  They weren't
spies.  They weren't elite troops threading their way behind enemy
lines.  They were American submariners of World War II who stalked
their Japanese prey like silent sharks beneath the waves.
     The submariners who fought against Japan made a contribution
far beyond their numbers.  The submarine force made up less than 2
percent of the Navy, yet it accounted for 55 percent of the
Japanese ships sunk.
     The resource-poor island nation imported raw material -- such
as tin, oil and aluminum -- by sea to power Japanese war
industries.  Sink Japanese merchant ships and the Japanese Empire
would be helpless.
     But U.S. submariners had many obstacles to overcome, one being
defective torpedoes, a major problem from the beginning of the war
through 1943.  The Mark 14 torpedo ran deeper than advertised, and
the magnetic exploder, designed to blow up under the keel of a
target, often malfunctioned.  Navy officials wouldn't listen to
complaints and said failures were probably bad tactics.
     As evidence mounted, officials finally tested the torpedoes
and corrected the problems.  Scores mounted and the home islands of
Japan soon felt the effects of the American submarine offensive.
     Submariners began the war wedded to conservative tactics.  As
American experience grew, the Navy ruthlessly weeded out
ineffective commanders.  Aggressive tactics became the norm.  The
crews of these undersea hunters were the pick of the Navy.  The net
effect strangled Japan.
     In 1944 and 1945, submarines swept the seas of Japanese ships.
They cut the flow of oil so effectively that Japanese warships had
to be based in Borneo -- away from the home islands and the cockpit
of the war -- so they could refuel.
     During the course of the war, submarines sank more than 1,300
ships including eight aircraft carriers, a battleship and 11
cruisers.  While serving on picket duty, they rescued more than 500
downed aviators  -- including LTJG George H.W. Bush.
     But their victories weren't cheap.  A plaque on the seawall at
the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., serves as a memorial to the
3,505 submariners who died in the war.

END
-- 
         
      // \\
    //     \\                    Air Force News Agency 
   |         |               Kelly Air Force Base, Texas, USA
   \\  {*}  //                   bergman@afpan.pa.af.mil  
   \  CMSgt  /      ___________________ /____________________________________
   \  Mike   /   
   \ Bergman /
     \     /