The White Falcon - 19.03.1976, Síða 1

White Falcon
Vokwne XXXII. Number Tl
Ketto/k. Iceland
March 19. 1979
DOD
seeks
to make
BAQ more
equitable
The Department of Defense (DOD) is
seeking changes in the law which would
give the president more flexibility in
the way military pay raises are distrib-
uted to the three cash elements of mili-
tary compensation—basic pay, basic al-
lowance for quarters and basic allowance
for subsistence. The DOD legislative
proposal, if approved by Congress, would
allow a larger portion of future mili-
tary pay raises to be placed in the non-
taxable allowances.
The present pay raise allocation sys-
tem calls for each of the cash elements
to be increased by an equal percentage.
However, this procedure does not recog-
nize that the amount of the allowances
may not properly relate to the costs
they were originally intended to defray.
The DOD believes that such is the case
with the basic allowance for quarters
(BAQ), in particular.
Military personnel either receive a
nontaxable housing allowance, the BAQ,
for the purpose of obtaining housing in
the private sector, or are housed in
government quarters and "forfeit" the
housing allowance. Personnel with de-
pendents receive a higher allowance—
approximately 20 percent — than those
without dependents. Personnel in quar-
ters, in effect rent the quarters by
forfeiting their BAQ. On the average,
they pay less "rent" than military per-
sonnel living off post do.
The present rates of BAQ have evolved
over time and the inherent inequities
cannot be corrected all at once, but the
DOD proposal is a first step in this di-
rection. It is also intended to be a
first step toward a "fair market" rental
plan for military quarters now being de-
veloped in the DOD.
Under the proposed legislation, the
DOD plans to increase BAQ rates at a
faster pace than basic pay by placing a
portion of future basic pay raises into
BAQ. This action will begin to move BAQ
rates closer to the average cost of pro-
curing adequate housing in the private
sector, and closer to the average value
of military family quarters. Because
the average value of bachelor quarters,
both officer and enlisted, is substan-
tially lower than current single quarter
allowances, the proposal would permit a
partial rebate to members on sea or
field duty and in bachelor quarters, in
effect reducing the "rental charge" for
these quarters.
The president would not have unre-
stricted flexibility under the proposal.
There is a built-in limit on the reduc-
tion that can be made in the basic pay
increase for the purpose of raising the
allowances. At least 75 percent of the
increase that formerly would have gone
into basic pay must still be placed in
basic pay. Another feature of the pro-
posed legislation requires that the par-
tial rebate to bachelors be at least the
amount that was taken from basic pay. It
also requires that the annual plan for
reallocating the upcoming pay increase
be given to Congress 30 days in advance.
In addition, an assessment of the re-
allocation of the military pay increases
and a full report to Congress summariz-
ing the objectives and results of past
reallocations, would be made in conjunc-
tion with the Quadrennial Review of Mil-
itary Compensation (QRMC). The QRMC is
established by law requiring the Presi-
dent to conduct a complete review of the
principles and concepts of the compensa-
tion system for members of the uniformed
services not less than once each four
years.
The initial plan to be submitted for
the upcoming military pay increase would
reallocate approximately 25 percent of
the expected basic pay increase to the
basic allowance for quarters. It would
also pay, or rebate, approximately six
percent of the new BAQ rate to those
members without dependents who are on
sea or field duty and in military quar-
ters. Pay raise reallocation plans for
subsequent years will be based on as-
sessments of the compensation structure,
the market value of government quarters,
and the cost of housing in the private
sector, which are .currently in progress
within the third QRMC, and in a quarters
market rental plan being developed under
a joint study by the Office of Manage-
ment and Budget and the DOD.
This proposal is expected to generate
significant cost savings for the DOD.
Part of the pay increase, which would be
placed in basic pay normally, will now
be applied to quarters increases which
will be forfeited by married personnel
in government quarters. Pay-related
items, such as retired pay, reserve
drill pay and the Federal Income Con-
tributing Act (FICA) payments, which are
denominated in basic pay will increase
less rapidly. The proposal can be ex-
pected to save about $65 million in Fis-
cal Year 1977.
The effect of this proposal on the
cash pay of those living on the economy
is negligible since they simply receive
more of their raise in BAQ. Those living
in family quarters would experience an
increase in their effective "rent;" they
would have less of an advantage over
members living off post than formerly.
U.S. citizens
lose right to
own land in RP
Navy personnel who own land in the
Republic of the Philippines (RP) should
contact their legal officer or attorney
immediately to determine if they are el-
igible to keep it.
A number of Navy people of Filipino
heritage who are now naturalized United
States citizens have expressed concern
jHbout ownership of land in the Philip-
pines since the issuance of Philippine
Presidential Decree No. 713 which out-
lined conditions under which land could
be purchased and retained. According to
the United States Embassy in Manila and
Navy’s Office of the Judge Advocate Gen-
eral the following conditions apply:
Former citizens of RP, now natural-
ized U.S. citizens who before July 3,
1974 acquired land, not exceeding 5,000
square meters for private residential
dwelling may continue to hold such land
or transfer its ownership to a qualified
purchaser.
Any Filipino who acquired land in RP
before becoming a U.S. citizen (and re-
tained that land) is exempt from the
5,000 square meter size restriction and
the residential requirement for its use.
U.S. citizens who have resided in the
Philippines continuously for 20 years or
more as of May 27, 1975, who acquired
and, not exceeding 5,000 square meters,
or private residential dwelling may
continue to hold such land or transfer
its ownership to a qualified purchaser.
If an American citizen is married to
a Filipino citizen, land purchased is
considered conjugal property and cannot
be divided. The RP department of jus-
tice is unable at this time to make a
ruling on such property's disposition
and suggested that only further law-
making could resolve the problem of
alien ownership.
U.S. citizens who purchased land in
RP but have not complied with residency
requirements are not entitled to retain
such land and must transfer its owner-
ship to duly qualified persons or enti-
ties.
U.S. citizens who do not own land in
RP but were intending to purchase land,
irrespective of intended purpose, cannot
qualify to own such land.
U.S. citizens qualified to retain
ownership of private residential land
cannot retain more than 5,000 square me-
ters. Any acreage over this limit must
be disposed of to duly qualified persons
or entities or it will escheat to the
government of the Philippines.
23DP-
DEFENSIVE DRIVING COURSE
Defensive Driving Course instruction
is now available to NATO base personnel.
According to CM1 Julio Velez, of the
Public Works license office, the course
has been in operation for only a short
time.
The course, which is offered in four
three-hour sessions, meets each weekday
evening except on Thursday. The classes
meet at the license office, and up to 25
students may enroll per course. The
classes are open to both military per-
sonnel and dependents.
Course material is based on the
National Safety Council’s 50 years of
experience in traffic accident preven-
tion. Each student will receive a 64-
page student workbook and manual.
Topics covered in the defensive
driving class are as follows: analyzing
accidents and their causes, safe super-
highway driving and timed-interval fol-
lowing distance. Passing maneuvers and
pedestrian accidents are also studied.
When the course is completed, gradu-
ates will receive a certificate of ap-
preciation and a signed, wallet-sized
graduation card from the National Safety
Council.
Graduates are eligible to join the
Defensive Driving League, a voluntary
organization of concerned motorists.
For further information on the defen-
sive driving course,, call CM1 Velez at
7109.
CHAMPUS*M‘y."° 5Tpay f°r
wi •^•civilian family counseling
New Department of Defense (DOD)
guidelines now require certain benefic-
iaries of the Civilian Health and Medi-
cal Program of the Uniformed Services
(CHAMPUS) to obtain a nonavailability
statement (DD Form 1251) if they want
CHAMPUS to share the cost of pastoral,
family, child or marital counseling from
a civilian source.
The guidelines result from provisions
of the 1976/77 Defense Appropriations
Act.
CHAMPUS can no longer share the cost
of such counseling from a civilian
source for dependents residing with
their active duty sponsor assigned to an
installation at which such counseling is
available.
Nor can CHAMPUS share the cost of
such counseling from a civilian source
for any beneficiary (including depend-
ents residing with an active duty mem-
ber) living within 40 miles of a uni-
formed services hospital which deter-
mines that such counseling is available
from a uniformed services source. Bene-
ficiaries should apply to the nearest
uniformed services medical facility au-
thorized to issue nonavailability state-
ments .
Defense Department officials point
out that dependents living with their
active duty sponsor must obtain a non-
availability statement regardless of the
distance they live from the installation
to which their sponsor is assigned.
According to the DOD implementation
plan, a nonavailability statement may be
issued by mail when appropriate documen-
tation and/or certification is provided.
Requests can also be made by phone.
To insure effective use of uniformed
services counseling services, the imple-
mentation plan limits the life of a non-
availability statement to not more than
30 days after it is issued. However,
successive statements may be issued for
additional 30-day periods, provided that
the counseling is still not available
from a uniformed services source.
The new requirement was effected Feb-
ruary 9 when the Defense Appropriations
Act was signed into law.
All CHAMPUS beneficiaries who believe
they might be affected by this new re-
quirement and are not sure of the effect
should check with a CHAMPUS advisor or
health benefits counselor before seeking
pastoral, family, child or marital coun-
seling from a civilian source. Also, in-
formation is available from CHAMPUS,Den-
ver, Colorado 80240. Call HM1 Charles
Lesher, CHAMPUS/health benefits counse-
lor, at 3216.
Changes in DOD, JCS
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
has announced additional changes in the
Office of the Secretary of Defense and
the Joint Chiefs of Staff in an effort
to streamline management and organiza-
tional functions.
These changes, which involve the
transfer and consolidation of staff
functions, will effect the organization
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the
areas of personnel, plans and policy,
communications and electronics, opera-
tions and logistics.
Other organizational reforms will
effect the Office of Safety, the Office
of Environmental Quality, Health Af-
fairs, the Logistics Division, Manpower
Resources Division and the Weapons Sys-
tems Evaluation Group.
In late February, the functions of
the Office of Information for the Armed
Forces were transferred to the Office of
the Assistant Secretary of Defense for
Public Affairs.
According to DOD, these transfer and
consolidation actions are part of the
ongoing world-wide management review
which began in October 1973 in an effort
to reduce the manpower resources devoted
to headquarters and headquarters support
operations.