“THE WASHINGTON
POST”
“A
50-year restriction on the rehiring of military retirees as Defense
Department civilians would be reinstated, requiring at least 180 days from when
they leave the service to when — and if — they are re-hired.
That way the
job can be open to competition.
The Senate
voted last week to put it to a stop as part of the massive military policy bill
that now goes to the House for conference.
Since the
terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, military officers facing retirement have had
a revolving door to walk through to a civilian job at the Defense Department.
Often it’s the
same job they held while in uniform, and often they start the Monday after they
retire and start collecting their military pension.
Under this
arrangement, 41,630 military retirees — many of them senior officers — walked
back into the Defense Department as civilians between September 2001 and August
2014, according to a government study. None of these jobs was
advertised to the public. More than a third were hired before they officially
retired, and more than half started their civilian careers within a pay period
after taking off their uniform, an indication that no one competed with them
for the job.
The Senate
Armed Service Committee’s report on the issue said the current system
“creates suspicions” that the federal merit system is being undermined.
The rule was
waived after the Sept. 11 attacks 16 years ago to help staff up the Pentagon
for the war on terror. But now the committee, led by Sen. John McCain
(R-Ariz.), a former prisoner of war in Vietnam, is adamant that the flood
of retirees who benefited have blocked more qualified civilians who did not
serve from getting hired to Defense jobs.
“Most military
retirees and other veterans already receive hiring preferences in recognition
of their service,” says the committee’s report on the National Defense
Authorization Act, explaining why the policy should change. “Beyond
that, the committee believes veterans and retirees should compete on equal
footing with other qualified applicants.”
By leaning too
heavily on military retirees without allowing other candidates to compete for
these jobs, the Pentagon is closing its ranks to a diverse workforce, the
committee report says, “…not just in terms of diversity as it is traditionally
defined, but also on diversity of thought, experience, and background within
the Department that is desirable in any organization.”
McCain’s
declined to comment, but his staff referred a reporter to the committee report.
The change,
along with another provision of the defense bill that would scale back hiring
preferences for veterans applying for federal jobs from outside the
government, represent the biggest changes to the Obama administration’s push to
reward veterans. Increasingly, hiring managers and members of Congress are
concerned that the leg up given to veterans is not always bringing the
most qualified candidates to federal agencies.
The provision
on military retirees directs the Defense Department to report by January
on how many were hired to civilian jobs in 2015 and 2016; whether they were
officers or enlisted personnel and how many men and women were in the overall
pool of applicants for civilian jobs.
Defense
officials also would have to report on something that right now is hard to
quantify: How the soft landing enjoyed by military retirees “has impacted
.. the ability of the Department and the military services to consistently hire
best-qualified individuals for federal service,” according to the committee
report.
Defense
Department officials declined comment because the legislation is pending.
The proposed
change is drawing mixed reactions from veterans groups. The Military Officers
Association of America is in opposition, spokesman Jonathan
Withington said in this statement: “Existing policy is consistent with the
country’s obligation to provide career opportunities to those who served,
especially disabled veterans.”
But the American Legion,
the country’s largest service organization, said it supports putting retirees
back on equal footing with civilian job candidates.
“We support
closing this loophole, because now if a military job becomes vacant it won’t be
refilled by another military personnel,” said Louis Celli, Jr., the Legion’s
acting legislative director. The current system is “degrading the fighting
force,” he said.
And the current
system benefits senior officers at the expense of junior ones, Celli said,
by allowing them to walk into civilian jobs without competing for them.
Someone who retired at a more junior rank would actually benefit from the extra
points given to veterans competing for civilian jobs, he said.
“Senior
military members seem to have the market cornered on these plush positions,”
Celli said. “You’ve got these retired generals who get full retirement benefits
and they start a second career, just like that.”
A spokesman for
the House Armed Services Committee said lawmakers have not yet taken a position
on the proposal.”
