By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
Jan. 11, 2008 - Emphasizing that they expect a defense authorization act eventually to pass into law, Army officials indicated yesterday that National Guard recruits who enlist before it does won't be held to their contracts if the law doesn't provide the recruiting bonuses they're expecting. Army Secretary Pete Geren said he's confident the legislation will come, and that the Army will be able to offer the enlistment and re-enlistment incentives it relies on to attract and keep quality soldiers.
"I just can't imagine that we are not going to end up with an authorization bill at some point," he said adding that he believes Congress will make it retroactive to include the interim period before it takes effect. "I don't know how they'll get to the end game, but they will end up working it out."
The Fiscal 2008 National Defense Authorization Act, which authorizes enlistment, re-enlistment and a variety of other special and incentive pays, is the focus of a standoff between Congress and the administration. President Bush announced Dec. 28 that he won't sign the bill until Congress revises some of its provisions regarding Iraq.
As a result, recruiters find themselves having to tell prospective recruits they may be able to offer enlistment bonuses, but can't make any promises. So recruits end up signing contingency contracts that acknowledge they could feasibly get no bonus.
In the unlikely event that Congress doesn't pass the legislation or doesn't make it retroactive to cover the interim period, the Army National Guard director said yesterday that the National Guard will make good on its commitments to troops now enlisting.
Army Lt. Gen. Clyde Vaughn said the Guard counts on the trust it has built in communities around the country. He indicated that if recruits sign up expecting an enlistment bonus and don't get it, they won't be required to continue serving.
State adjutants general and governors are responsible for National Guard recruiting in their states and have a lot of leeway in ensuring they keep their promises to their troops, Vaughn said.
"There is no adjutant general that will hold them responsible for something that we told them that didn't happen," Vaughn said. "They have a lot of flexibility to turn around and let them go if they renege on a promise. Some organizations can't do that."
Defense officials have expressed concern that the impasse over the Defense Authorization Act will hurt recruiting. "That can have a chilling impact on the propensity of a person to sign one of those contracts," said Bill Carr, deputy undersecretary of defense for military personnel policy. "That might affect their willingness to enter into a contract that conditionally promises a bonus."
Officials are hopeful the delay doesn't reverse positive momentum on the recruiting front. Defense Department officials announced yesterday that all four services met or surpassed their monthly active-duty recruiting goals for December, before authority for bonus payments expired Dec. 31.
The Army recruited 789 active-duty soldiers last month, 105 percent of its December goal. On the reserve-component side, the Army National Guard recruited 4,985 members, 120 percent of its goal, and the Army Reserve, 3,280 soldiers, 107 percent of its goal.
Geren conceded yesterday that the authorization act delay poses yet another challenge to recruiters who work to attract high-quality men and women into a wartime force with a clear recognition that they're likely to deploy into combat. Adding to the challenge is the fact that the Army is increasing its end strength.
Despite these challenges, Geren expressed confidence the Army can overcome them and continue to meet its recruiting goals. "This will be a tough year; last year was a tough year," he said. "We are confident we will meet our goals this year, but I am also confident it won't come without a lot of work by a lot of folks."
While the authorization act situation also affects re-enlistments, Carr said, the impact isn't expected to be as big, or as immediate, as with recruiting bonuses. He said that's because many people already in the military have seen similar situations before -- in 1993, 1996 and most recently in 2006 -- and understand it's probably just a temporary hiccup.
"It has happened before, and Congress in the past has always gone back and made whole any circumstances that occurred during the lapse in authority," he said.
Carr said he's "guardedly optimistic" that Congress will do the same this year and make bonus payments in the authorization act retroactive to Jan. 1, and he's hopeful the situation will be resolved soon.
"The department is concerned whenever we throw a curve at those serving or at those who might choose to serve," he said. "When we upset the plans and the momentum you have in force, that is not good."
Another downside of the authorization act impasse is its impact on servicemembers' paychecks. The 2008 Defense Authorization Act had called for a 3.5 percent pay raise for military members. Bush authorized a 3 percent raise -- an amount based on an economic index – that took effect Jan. 1 until the authorization act passes into law, when the 3.5 percent figure takes effect. Carr said he hopes Congress will approve making the 3.5 percent hike retroactive to Jan. 1, as it has in the past.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Why We Serve: Army Major Wants to Share Her Success Story
By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service
Jan. 11, 2008 - Army Maj. Lisa L. Carter, a two-time Iraq veteran, wants to share her life's success story with the American public. Carter recalled her days as a single mother working at a post office in Atlanta while caring for her 2-year-old daughter a few years after her 1984 graduation from Fulton High School there.
"I met a lot of retired military personnel" at the post office, Carter said, noting the veterans encouraged her to join the Army Reserve as a way to improve her life.
Today, Carter is an active-duty Army officer. She also is among 12 servicemembers participating in the sixth quarterly iteration of the Defense Department's "Why We Serve" public-outreach program. Carter will tell her story to community, business and veterans group audiences, and at other gatherings.
Carter said she enjoys her career as an Army officer and wants the public to know military people have the same dreams and aspirations as their civilian counterparts. "We are human beings just as they are," Carter observed.
And although wartime deployments may be hard on servicemembers' personal lives, military members remain dedicated to their pledge to defend the nation, she said.
"It is stressful to be deployed. It is stressful to be away from your family. But servicemembers know that this is their job and responsibility -- to serve," Carter said.
Following the advice of her post office co-workers, Carter enlisted in the Army Reserve in 1987 as an administrative specialist. During her initial training at Fort Jackson, S.C., she said, she experienced a revelation that jolted her mind.
"I saw a black female officer," Carter recalled. "I looked at her and thought: 'If she can do it, surely I can do it.'"
Then and there, Carter set a personal goal to obtain a college degree and a commission. In 1996, she graduated from Georgia State University with a bachelor's degree in social work and earned an Army lieutenant's gold bars through the school's ROTC program.
Her quest to obtain a degree and a commission as a single parent "was a long process," Carter acknowledged, citing the effort and time required to balance work, school, and caring for her daughter.
In 1997, Carter, then a junior Quartermaster Corps officer, took her daughter along on a three-year duty tour in Hanau, Germany. "It was a great experience," Carter said of her service in Germany, noting her daughter learned German while overseas.
In the spring of 2003, Carter was a captain and the commander of a maintenance company in Iraq that supported a Patriot missile unit during Operation Iraqi Freedom. She earned the Bronze Star Medal for her wartime service.
Carter said all commanders carry responsibility not only in wartime, but also during periods of peace.
"I came to understand the importance of making sure that you take care of soldiers, because the family members depend on you as a leader to bring their son or daughter or husband or wife back all in one piece, and that is a great responsibility upon one individual's shoulders," she said.
Carter, whose maiden name is Weems, said she enriched her personal life when she married a fellow Army officer about three years ago.
In November 2007, Carter deployed to Iraq for a second time, but that tour was cut short due to her selection to participate in the Why We Serve program. By this time, she was an Acquisition Corps officer specializing in the management of unmanned sensors used for reconnaissance and targeting purposes in the Iraq and Afghanistan theaters of operation.
The Why We Serve program provides unfiltered communication between military members engaged in the war on terrorism and the American public, Carter said. The program, she added, features servicemembers' thoughts and viewpoints on military life, she noted.
Carter intends to convey a key personal message at each of her Why We Serve speaking appearances: "I wear this uniform and I enjoy doing what I'm doing," she declared.
American Forces Press Service
Jan. 11, 2008 - Army Maj. Lisa L. Carter, a two-time Iraq veteran, wants to share her life's success story with the American public. Carter recalled her days as a single mother working at a post office in Atlanta while caring for her 2-year-old daughter a few years after her 1984 graduation from Fulton High School there.
"I met a lot of retired military personnel" at the post office, Carter said, noting the veterans encouraged her to join the Army Reserve as a way to improve her life.
Today, Carter is an active-duty Army officer. She also is among 12 servicemembers participating in the sixth quarterly iteration of the Defense Department's "Why We Serve" public-outreach program. Carter will tell her story to community, business and veterans group audiences, and at other gatherings.
Carter said she enjoys her career as an Army officer and wants the public to know military people have the same dreams and aspirations as their civilian counterparts. "We are human beings just as they are," Carter observed.
And although wartime deployments may be hard on servicemembers' personal lives, military members remain dedicated to their pledge to defend the nation, she said.
"It is stressful to be deployed. It is stressful to be away from your family. But servicemembers know that this is their job and responsibility -- to serve," Carter said.
Following the advice of her post office co-workers, Carter enlisted in the Army Reserve in 1987 as an administrative specialist. During her initial training at Fort Jackson, S.C., she said, she experienced a revelation that jolted her mind.
"I saw a black female officer," Carter recalled. "I looked at her and thought: 'If she can do it, surely I can do it.'"
Then and there, Carter set a personal goal to obtain a college degree and a commission. In 1996, she graduated from Georgia State University with a bachelor's degree in social work and earned an Army lieutenant's gold bars through the school's ROTC program.
Her quest to obtain a degree and a commission as a single parent "was a long process," Carter acknowledged, citing the effort and time required to balance work, school, and caring for her daughter.
In 1997, Carter, then a junior Quartermaster Corps officer, took her daughter along on a three-year duty tour in Hanau, Germany. "It was a great experience," Carter said of her service in Germany, noting her daughter learned German while overseas.
In the spring of 2003, Carter was a captain and the commander of a maintenance company in Iraq that supported a Patriot missile unit during Operation Iraqi Freedom. She earned the Bronze Star Medal for her wartime service.
Carter said all commanders carry responsibility not only in wartime, but also during periods of peace.
"I came to understand the importance of making sure that you take care of soldiers, because the family members depend on you as a leader to bring their son or daughter or husband or wife back all in one piece, and that is a great responsibility upon one individual's shoulders," she said.
Carter, whose maiden name is Weems, said she enriched her personal life when she married a fellow Army officer about three years ago.
In November 2007, Carter deployed to Iraq for a second time, but that tour was cut short due to her selection to participate in the Why We Serve program. By this time, she was an Acquisition Corps officer specializing in the management of unmanned sensors used for reconnaissance and targeting purposes in the Iraq and Afghanistan theaters of operation.
The Why We Serve program provides unfiltered communication between military members engaged in the war on terrorism and the American public, Carter said. The program, she added, features servicemembers' thoughts and viewpoints on military life, she noted.
Carter intends to convey a key personal message at each of her Why We Serve speaking appearances: "I wear this uniform and I enjoy doing what I'm doing," she declared.
Pacific Commander to Visit China to Bolster Communication, Cooperation
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
Jan. 11, 2008 - The top U.S. military officer in the Pacific is slated to travel to China to help bolster the two countries' military relationship and iron out issues, including those over China's recent port denials to U.S. Navy ships. Navy Adm. Timothy J. Keating, commander of U.S. Pacific Command, will leave his Honolulu headquarters tomorrow for the four-day visit, his second visit to China since taking command in March. James Shinn, sworn in yesterday as the new assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific affairs, will join Keating on the trip.
While in China, Keating is slated to meet with senior officials from the Central Military Commission, the Chinese People's Liberation Army, Guangzhou Military Area Command and the Foreign Affairs Ministry.
The trip also will include stops in Shanghai, China's financial hub, and Guangzhou, where Keating will visit Chinese army bases and hold a seminar with Chinese military officials, the Chinese National Defense Ministry announced.
Keating said he hopes build on groundwork laid during his visit to China in May to strengthen Sino-U.S. military ties.
The visit follows Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates' visit with Chinese leaders in early November and the U.S.-Peoples' Republic of China annual defense consultative talks, led by Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Eric S. Edelman, in early December.
"This trip is an opportunity to meet with key leaders and build relationships that will ultimately ensure greater cooperation and collaboration across the spectrum of military-to-military relations," Keating said.
Keating said his goal is to develop and enhance a constructive relationship through increased military-to-military engagement. "We will work with our Chinese counterparts to increase understanding between our militaries, encourage cooperation on mutual security concerns, capitalize on gains we have realized and reduce chances for miscalculation."
Discussions are expected to include China's denial of a Thanksgiving port call to Hong Kong by U.S. aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk battle group, and an earlier denial to U.S. minesweepers seeking refuge from a brewing storm.
Keating told Pentagon reporters days after the Kitty Hawk incident that he's concerned by the port visit denials, calling them "perplexing and troublesome," particularly when hundreds of the sailors' family members had flown from Japan to spend the holiday with their loved ones.
By the time China reversed its decision, the U.S. ships had already turned around. "It was too late by then," Keating told reporters.
The incident came on the heels of what the admiral called an even more troublesome situation: China's refusal to admit two U.S. minesweepers into Hong Kong to seek refuge from a brewing storm.
The Patriot and Guardian were operating in international waters when fierce weather conditions drove them to seek shelter in Hong Kong, Keating said. China refused their request, forcing them to get refueled at sea so they could return to their homeport in Sasebo, Japan.
China's denial of their request violated "an unwritten rule among seamen that if someone is in need, regardless of genus, phylum or species, you let them come in -- you give them safe harbor," Keating said.
A senior defense official said this week on background that the misunderstanding that led to the port visit denials signals the potential for much more serious misunderstandings in the future that could have strategic consequences if not cleared up now.
"The whole experience showed us that we have a lot to do to better understand what the Chinese are doing and to help the Chinese understand our position on things," he said.
The bottom line, Keating told reporters in November, is that solid communication between the United States and China will help reduce the potential for misunderstanding. This will leave "less room for confusion that could lead to confrontation, to crisis," he said.
"That's our goal," he said. "To get there, we reduce the chance for misunderstanding."
In addition to discussing the decision-making process within the Chinese military and explaining the United States' own process, Keating will push for more and larger U.S.-Sino exercises and exchanges.
China recently turned down an invitation to participate as an observer in the Rim of the Pacific naval exercise this summer in Hawaii. Russia announced that it will be a first-time participant in the multinational exercise that takes place every other year in the waters off Oahu and Kauai.
American Forces Press Service
Jan. 11, 2008 - The top U.S. military officer in the Pacific is slated to travel to China to help bolster the two countries' military relationship and iron out issues, including those over China's recent port denials to U.S. Navy ships. Navy Adm. Timothy J. Keating, commander of U.S. Pacific Command, will leave his Honolulu headquarters tomorrow for the four-day visit, his second visit to China since taking command in March. James Shinn, sworn in yesterday as the new assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific affairs, will join Keating on the trip.
While in China, Keating is slated to meet with senior officials from the Central Military Commission, the Chinese People's Liberation Army, Guangzhou Military Area Command and the Foreign Affairs Ministry.
The trip also will include stops in Shanghai, China's financial hub, and Guangzhou, where Keating will visit Chinese army bases and hold a seminar with Chinese military officials, the Chinese National Defense Ministry announced.
Keating said he hopes build on groundwork laid during his visit to China in May to strengthen Sino-U.S. military ties.
The visit follows Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates' visit with Chinese leaders in early November and the U.S.-Peoples' Republic of China annual defense consultative talks, led by Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Eric S. Edelman, in early December.
"This trip is an opportunity to meet with key leaders and build relationships that will ultimately ensure greater cooperation and collaboration across the spectrum of military-to-military relations," Keating said.
Keating said his goal is to develop and enhance a constructive relationship through increased military-to-military engagement. "We will work with our Chinese counterparts to increase understanding between our militaries, encourage cooperation on mutual security concerns, capitalize on gains we have realized and reduce chances for miscalculation."
Discussions are expected to include China's denial of a Thanksgiving port call to Hong Kong by U.S. aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk battle group, and an earlier denial to U.S. minesweepers seeking refuge from a brewing storm.
Keating told Pentagon reporters days after the Kitty Hawk incident that he's concerned by the port visit denials, calling them "perplexing and troublesome," particularly when hundreds of the sailors' family members had flown from Japan to spend the holiday with their loved ones.
By the time China reversed its decision, the U.S. ships had already turned around. "It was too late by then," Keating told reporters.
The incident came on the heels of what the admiral called an even more troublesome situation: China's refusal to admit two U.S. minesweepers into Hong Kong to seek refuge from a brewing storm.
The Patriot and Guardian were operating in international waters when fierce weather conditions drove them to seek shelter in Hong Kong, Keating said. China refused their request, forcing them to get refueled at sea so they could return to their homeport in Sasebo, Japan.
China's denial of their request violated "an unwritten rule among seamen that if someone is in need, regardless of genus, phylum or species, you let them come in -- you give them safe harbor," Keating said.
A senior defense official said this week on background that the misunderstanding that led to the port visit denials signals the potential for much more serious misunderstandings in the future that could have strategic consequences if not cleared up now.
"The whole experience showed us that we have a lot to do to better understand what the Chinese are doing and to help the Chinese understand our position on things," he said.
The bottom line, Keating told reporters in November, is that solid communication between the United States and China will help reduce the potential for misunderstanding. This will leave "less room for confusion that could lead to confrontation, to crisis," he said.
"That's our goal," he said. "To get there, we reduce the chance for misunderstanding."
In addition to discussing the decision-making process within the Chinese military and explaining the United States' own process, Keating will push for more and larger U.S.-Sino exercises and exchanges.
China recently turned down an invitation to participate as an observer in the Rim of the Pacific naval exercise this summer in Hawaii. Russia announced that it will be a first-time participant in the multinational exercise that takes place every other year in the waters off Oahu and Kauai.
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