Face of Defense: Reservist Balances Military, Civilian Jobs

By Army Staff Sgt. Jacob Boyer

U.S. Army Reserve Command

FORT McCOY, Wis., July 19, 2012 – Balancing duties as a soldier in the Army Reserve with a civilian career can be tricky, but for some soldiers, having two careers that enhance one another is a plus.

Army Spc. Dustin Chavez, 28, an operating room technician representing the 807th Medical Deployment Support Command at the 2012 U.S. Army Reserve Best Warrior Competition here, works as a woodland firefighter for the U.S. Forest Service when he's not in military uniform.

Chavez, who hails from Pollock Pines, Calif., said his military and civilian jobs both require the ability to be ready to move up and lead at the next level.

“On the civilian side, they [emphasize] leadership a lot, because we have opportunities to put very few people out to staff small fires,” Chavez said. “You have to lead up and make sure the person below you knows how to do your job, and you know how to do the job one level up from you. You have to be ready to move up. That's what I like about the Army, because it's the same way.”

As he applies leadership lessons and moves through the ranks in his military and civilian jobs, Chavez said, he wants other reservists to see they can incorporate both sides of their work lives.

“A lot of times, it can be easy to separate them,” he said. “I want people to see that I am doing both and trying hard to make it work.”

Chavez said his supervisors at the Forest Service are supportive of his Army Reserve career and made sure he had time to prepare for the warrior competitions here.

“I've had to take a lot of time off of work, but they've worked with me,” he said. “They've been very supportive -- especially with the ruck march. That's pretty much what we do: walk into fires after being dropped off. It's one of my favorite events because it directly relates to what I do as a civilian.”

Chavez grew in a military family with five sisters. Both his mother and father retired from the Air Force, and three of his sisters are active-duty airmen. He joined the Army Reserve three years ago after the Air Force turned him down for deafness in his left ear.

“I'm the ‘black sheep’ who went into the Army in my family,” Chavez said. “I was disqualified from the Air Force when I tried to join after high school. The Army gave me the opportunity.”

In addition to participating in three levels of competition before coming to Wisconsin, Chavez recently completed the Warrior Leader Course. He said he wants to take some of the excitement of this week of competition back to the other soldiers in his unit, the 352nd Combat Support Hospital.

“When a lot of soldiers come in and just do battle assemblies, it can get repetitive,” he said. “To see this side of the Army and go above and beyond has augmented my excitement about the Army. I want to take that home and show soldiers below me that there is more to the Army.”

Chairman’s Corner: Civil-Military Relations and the Profession of Arms

By Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

WASHINGTON, June 25, 2012 – I talk about the importance of “trust” at every opportunity. Trust is the cornerstone of our profession. It binds us with those we serve-the American people and the elected officials who represent them. This trust relationship cannot be taken for granted. We must continually earn and re-earn it every day.

One way we earn this trust is by avoiding partisan activities. I wrote about this in a recent Joint Force Quarterly article. We must understand why our military as a profession embraces political neutrality as a core value. We show fidelity to the Constitution every day by embracing this foundational principle. We are not elected to serve; rather, we elect to serve.

Of course, we are all entitled to our private and personal opinions. And, I know we all take our obligations as citizens seriously. No uniformed member should ever feel constrained in their well-earned right to vote.

The uniform, however, brings its own obligations. All those who actively wear the uniform should be familiar with the regulations that guide political activity. The lines between the professional, personal—and virtual—are blurring. Now more than ever, we have to be exceptionally thoughtful about what we say and how we say it.

In my judgment, we must continue to be thoughtful about how our actions and opinions reflect on the profession beyond active service. Former and retired service members, especially Generals and Admirals, are connected to military service for life. When the title or uniform is used for partisan purposes, it can erode the trust relationship. We must all be conscious of this, or we risk adversely affecting the very profession to which we dedicated most of our adult lives.

I welcome your thoughts on this topic. To gain additional perspective, I commend to you a speech given in May 2006 by Gen. Charles G. Boyd, USAF (ret.) at Air University, available at http://www.au.af.mil/au/aul/img/boyd_speech_auGrad_2006.pdf.

DOD Selects Finalists for Freedom Award

From an Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve News Release

ARLINGTON, Va., May 22, 2012 – Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, a Department of Defense agency, announced 30 employers as finalists for the 2012 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award today.

The Freedom Award is the DOD’s highest recognition given to employers for exceptional support of Guard and Reserve employees. A review board comprised of military and civilian leaders selected the 30 employers from the 3,236 nominations received earlier this year from Guard and Reserve service members, or family members acting on their behalf.

“The 2012 Freedom Award finalists demonstrate that outstanding support of Guard and Reserve members is not limited by an employer’s size, industry or region of the nation.” ESGR National Chair James G. Rebholz said. “These 30 finalists span the diversity of America’s workforce and prove every employer can go above and beyond for our Citizen Warriors.”

The finalists for the 2012 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award are:

-- Basin Electric Power Cooperative, Bismarck, N.D.;

-- Caterpillar Inc., Peoria, Ill.;

-- Centerline Mechanical LLC, Cave Creek, Ariz.;

-- Citi, New York, N.Y.;

-- City of Edina Police Department, Edina, Minn.;

-- Cranston Public Schools, Cranston, R.I.;

-- Crystal Springs United Methodist Church, Crystal Springs, Miss.;

-- Delta Air Lines, Atlanta;

-- Don Gorman Electric LLC, Santa Fe, N.M.;

-- Gary Jet Center, Gary, Ind.;

-- Humana Inc., Louisville, Ky.;

-- Intel Corporation, Santa Clara, Calif.;

-- iostudio, Nashville, Tenn.;

-- Kadrmas, Lee & Jackson, Bismarck, N.D.;

-- Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety, Kalamazoo, Mich.;

-- Kent County Levy Court, Dover, Del.;

-- L-3 Communications, New York, N.Y.;

-- Los Angeles Fire Department, Los Angeles;

-- LPI Printing and Graphics Inc., Stoneham, Mass.;

-- Nationwide Insurance, Columbus, Ohio;

-- Newberry County Sheriff's Office, Newberry, S.C.;

-- Nyemaster Goode, Des Moines, Iowa;

-- Port of Seattle, Seattle, Wash.;

-- Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, N.M.;

-- Siemens Corporation, Washington, D.C.;

-- Smith Anderson Blount Dorsett Mitchell & Jernigan LLC, Raleigh, N.C.;

-- Tennessee Valley Authority, Knoxville, Tenn.;

-- Town of Camden Police Department, Camden, Maine;

-- Uniform Color Company, Holland, Mich.; and

-- Verizon Wireless, Basking Ridge, N.J.

Only 160 employers have received the Freedom Award since it was established in 1996. Employers named as finalists for the award distinguish themselves not only for adhering to the employment and reemployment rights of Guard and Reserve members, but for actively creating opportunities to assist and support the service of both Guard and Reserve employees and their families.

The 2012 finalists’ support initiatives include establishing a military relations council to internally advocate for Guard and Reserve employees, adjusting work schedules to accommodate military training days, and even driving the pregnant spouse of a deployed service member to the hospital when she went into labor and setting up a computer connection so the service member could see his newborn child.

DOD will announce the 15 recipients of the 2012 Freedom Award early this summer following completion of a national selection board comprised of senior DOD officials, business leaders and prior awardees. The 2012 recipients will be honored with the 17th annual Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award in Washington, D.C., in September. Past recipients of the Freedom Award have met privately with the President and Vice President of the United States, and the Secretary of Defense.

The Freedom Award was instituted under the auspices of ESGR to recognize exceptional support from the employer community. Established as a DOD agency 40 years ago, ESGR develops and maintains employer support for Guard and Reserve service. ESGR advocates relevant initiatives, recognizes outstanding support, increases awareness of applicable laws, and resolves conflict between service members and employers.

Paramount to ESGR's mission is encouraging employment of Guardsmen and Reservists who bring integrity, global perspective and proven leadership to the civilian workforce.

Thrift Savings Plan to Offer New Roth Option

By Karen Parrish

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 13, 2012 – Service members and Defense Department civilian employees who are eligible for the Thrift Savings Plan will soon have a new Roth option for retirement savings under the program, defense finance officials announced today.

The change will allow participants to contribute after-tax dollars to the federal government-sponsored retirement savings and investment plan, according to a Defense Finance and Accounting Service statement released today.

As with traditional and Roth individual retirement accounts, the TSP’s two options will now allow plan participants to invest either before- or after-tax dollars, although limits on annual contributions, catch-up contributions and agency matching funds will remain the same, officials said.

The plan, which is similar to a 401(k), is open to federal civilian employees and military members. For 2012, the maximum contribution is set at $17,000. Catch-up contributions, available to participants 50 or older, are capped at $5,500 over the standard limit.

Only civilian employees are eligible for agency matching contributions.  All eligible civilian employees receive one percent in agency matching funds. Eligible plan participants receive a dollar-for-dollar agency matching contribution for the first three percent of pay they contribute, and 50 cents on the dollar for contributions of between three and five percent. Contributions above 5 percent of pay are not matched.

The current plan treats all contributions as pre-tax dollars – participants do not pay taxes on pay they put into the plan, but will pay deferred taxes when they receive those funds in retirement.

The new Roth option will allow contributions that are taxed in the year they are made, but will be tax-free in retirement, TSP officials said.

Greg T. Long, TSP executive director, urged in a letter to participants that they carefully consider whether Roth TSP would be to their advantage.

“As with all tax matters, you should seek the advice of a qualified tax or financial advisor for information pertaining to your specific tax situation,” Long wrote.

He added the plan’s website will soon offer a Roth calculator, and other website content including forms and publications will be updated in May to include information about the Roth feature. 

Defense finance officials said the Roth option will be available on a phased basis by military service from June to October. Officials said the schedule will allow service finance employees to complete and thoroughly test the complex changes needed to the various payroll systems.  

Defense finance officials said more specific deployment dates on Roth TSP elections will soon be available on www.dfas.mil.

Officials said service members and their families may contact Military OneSource at 800-342-9647 to schedule an appointment with a financial consultant.

NAVSUP Weapon Systems Support Welcomes First High School STEM Employee

By Lt. Cmdr. Andre Sadowski, NAVSUP Weapon Systems Support and Margaret Kenyon-Ely, Naval Supply Systems Command Public Affairs

PHILADELPHIA (NNS) -- Commander, NAVSUP Weapon Systems Support, officially welcomed the organization's first high school student hired under the Science, Technology, Mathematics, and Engineering (STEM) program, April 6.

Wei Quan Li, who is the first STEM Senior from Northeast Magnet High School, has been working for NAVSUP Weapon Systems Support's Engineering and Product Development Directorate since March.

"Hiring this young man into WSS was another significant milestone in our STEM program implementation. Now that this path has been established, it will enable us to easily hire additional STEM students in the future and further impact our local community," said Rear Adm. John G. King, commander, NAVSUP Weapon Systems Support; who met with Li to welcome him to Navy civilian life and to congratulate him for receiving a full scholarship from Drexel University to study engineering, due to his high academic standing.

To meet NAVSUP Weapon Systems Support STEM hiring eligibility, students have to be in good academic standing and complete the four-week NAVSUP Weapon Systems Support Microsoft Excel Preparatory Course.

NAVSUP Weapon Systems Support created this STEM job initiative to assist students in earning money for college, to give them valuable work experience in their field of interest and to expose them to an employment path that could result in successful Government Service career.

Northeast Magnet is a Philadelphia Math, Engineering, and Science Achievement (MESA) high school that falls under NAVSUP Weapon Systems Support's STEM agreement with Temple University.

A field activity of the Naval Supply Systems Command, NAVSUP Weapon Systems Support (NAVSUP WSS) is the U.S. Navy's supply chain manager providing worldwide support to the aviation, surface ship, and submarine communities. NAVSUP WSS provides Navy, Marine Corps, joint and allied forces with products and services that deliver combat capability through logistics. There are more than 2,000 civilian and military personnel employed at its two Pennsylvania sites. The NAVSUP WSS Philadelphia site supports aircraft, while its Mechanicsburg site supports ships and submarines.