The White Falcon - 26.03.1976, Page 1

<White Falcon)
Volume XXXII. Number 12
Sailor of the Year
competition begins
The Naval Forces Iceland Sailor of
the Year competition is fast approach-
king. The 1976 selection board is sched-
Fuled to meet Tuesday to choose the rep-
resentative of the U.S. Navy in Iceland.
The Sailor of the Year Program has
been in existence for about five years.
"The program allows commands and ac-
tivities to recognize personnel who are
doing an outstanding job," commented
Commander Robert C. Truax, Naval Station
administrative officer.
The Sailor of the Year Program is
open to all active duty Navy personnel
in pay grades E-4, -5 and -6. Selection
of a nominee is based on leadership
qualities, technical and professional
proficiency, motivation, participation
in community affairs, acts of heroism,
awards and other noteworthy achieve-
ments .
"Nomination for Sailor of the Year,
from the competition within an individ-
ual command all the way to the compe-
tition in Washington for the whole Navy,
is keen. Just being nominated is an
honor," said the Commander.
In addition to representing the Navy
in Iceland, the Naval Forces Iceland
Sailor of the Year will represent Ice-
land in the Atlantic Fleet competition.
The Naval Forces Iceland Sailor of
the Year will receive: a $100 Savings
Bond; an engraved plaque; a Certificate
of Commendation; dinner for two at the
Top of the Rock Club; one Category III
rating, with dependents if applicable,
and a normal Category IV or V flight
eligibility for the Environmental and
Morale Leave Program. This rating will
be valid for one year subsequent to se
lection and may be used at the indi-
vidual's option before or after use of a
lower precedence category.
The Sailor of the Year will also re-
ceive a 96-hour liberty; head of line
priviledges for six months at the Barber
Shop, Navy Exchange, and Mess Hall; and
an Iceland Sailor of the Year ID Card.
"It comes back to the idea that the
Navy has a large number of dedicated,
conscientious personnel who work very
hard. This program is a means of iden-
tifying those people and giving them and
their efforts recognition," Cdr. Truax
explained.
•CHAMPUS
changes affect
few benefits
Recent changes in the method for de-
termining how much the Civilian Health
and Medical Program of the Uniformed
Services (CHAMPUS) pays for many bene-
fits have created some misunderstand-
ings.
To correct these misunderstandings,
Defense Department officials emphasize
that the recent changes have a slight
effect, if any, on most beneficiaries.
For some, they actually increases the
amount CHAMPUS pays. However, those who
receive "high priced" medical help from
.doctors who decline to participate in
CHAMPUS could find themselves paying
more out of their own pockets.
The new method is viewed as an effort
to get the most out of the health care
dollar for the greatest number of bene-
ficiaries and to minimize the flow of
health care funds to a small percentage
of high charging doctors. Also, it pro-
vides greater program uniformity and as-
sures that CHAMPUS procedures are con-
sistent with those of the other major
federal medical program, Medicare.
As in the past, many CHAMPUS payments
are based on a factor known as a "rea-
sonable charge." These payments include
charges for outpatient services and sup-
plies, for maternity care, and for in-
Keflav*. Iceland
Tower
Amendment
protects
retirement
pay
patient services and supplies not in-
cluded in hospital bills.
A reasonable charge involves con-
sideration of the following three fac-
tors: the actual charge, which is the
exact fee charged to a patient for medi-
cal care; the usual charge or the amount
an individual doctor most frequently
charges his patients for a particular
service or supply; and the prevailing
charge, which is the amount charged in
the majority of bills for a specific
service or supply by all doctors in a
geographic area during the previous cal-
endar year.
The lowest of these three factors is
considered the reasonable charge. By
law, the amount allowed as the govern-
ment's share under CHAMPUS is based on
the reasonable charge, which also in-
cludes the beneficiary's share.
Naval Station inspection
There will be a personnel inspec-
tion by the Commanding Officer of all
personnel attached to the Naval Sta-
tion on Thursday at 9 a.m. in Hangar
885, southeast bay.
The uniforn for the inspection is
service dress with ribbons. Women
will wear white gloves.
Busses will be provided to trans-
port personnel to and from Hangar
885. The schedule will be promulgat-
ed by Public Works. The use of POVs
is discouraged.
Starting in October 1974, it was pos-
sible for service members to receive
less retired pay by retiring after Oct.
1, 1974 than they would have received
had they retired prior to that date.
This disparity resulted from two con-
current happenings: (1) from October
1972 onward, inflation caused Consumer
Price Index (CPI) increases to retired
pay to occur at a greater and more fre-
quent rate than active duty pay raises;
and (2) a Comptroller General (CG) de-
cision placed severe constraints on the
save-pay provisions in law.
Under the CG decision, a member could
retire under the basic pay rates in ef-
fect at the time of his retirement or
those basic pay rates which were in ef-
fect for the preceding pay raise. What
this restriction meant was that a member
retiring after Oct. 1, 1974 could either
retire under the October 1974 pay rates
or the October 1973 rates, CPI adjusted,
whichever provided the higher retired
pay annuity.
Similarly, a man who retired prior to
Oct. 1, 1974 could- retire under either
the October 1973 or the October 1972
rate. Because of the inflation driven
adjustments to retired pay discussed
above, the October 1972 rates normally
provided more retired pay than either
the 1973 or 1974 rates.
AF consecutive
There are some changes ahead for Air
Force people who want to go to a specif-
ic area overseas.
A new program has been developed from
the permanent change-of-station study at
the Air Force Military Personnel Center
(AFMPC). It applies to both U.S. based
and overseas members who want a consecu-
tive overseas tour (COT).
By volunteering for a normal accom-
panied tour plus 12 months, persons can
get priority consideration for an as-
signment to the country of their choice.
Both married and single members are
eligible if they have the retainability
to serve the extended tour. Also, there
must be a requirement in the desired
country; if one does not exist, they can
select another country where there is a
requirement. Program managers at AFMPC
say the program will give more stability
to the individual and his family, while
saving critical Air Force moving funds.
Top priority goes to people now over-
seas. Those serving short tours can
volunteer for an extended COT anywhere.
Those now on long tours are restricted
to applying for an extended slot in the
same theater. Second consideration goes
to normal COT volunteers.
Air Force members who are now in
stateside jobs and volunteer for accom-
panied tours plus 12 months will be con-
sidered ahead of their contemporaries
who volunteer for a normal length accom-
panied tour.
March 26, 1978
Members penalized
In summary, the combined effect of
inflation and the CG decision, was that
members could be penalized for continued
active duty unless they -received promo-
tions or longevity increases which
countered the effects of inversion.
Accordingly, the military services
pursued legislation to preclude service
members from being so -penalized. After
considerable deliberations, the military
services agreed that an "individualized"
save-pay approach would be equitable to
the member as well as4 the taxpayer.
Therefore, the individualized approach
was incorporated into the Retirement
Modernization Act.
Tower Amendment
However, in response to concerns ex-
pressed by active duty members, Senator
John Tower, R-Tex., accelerated the leg-
islative process by incorporating the
individualized save-pay language in an
amendment to the fiscal year 1976 De-
fense Procurement Authorization Bill.
The Tower Amendment, a$ it was called,
solves the inversion problem by guaran-
teeing a member that he will not receive
less retired pay by remaining on active
duty than he would have received had he
retired at any time earlier in his ca-
reer (assuming he met retirement eligi-
bility criteria).
The amendment does not guarantee a
member that he would necessarily receive
as much retired pay as anyone else with
the same grade and years of service who
had achieved the grade and years of ser-
vice and actually retired at an earlier
date. This is an important distinction
which is the key to understanding the
"individualized save-pay" clause in the
Tower Amendment.
The inversion legislation applies to
any service member who was eligible to
retire Jan. 1, 1971 or later. Since in-
version first appeared in 1971, that
date was necessary to insure that mem-
bers would not be penalized for their
decisions to continue on active duty,
For the majority of the force, actual
inversion did not occur until Oct. 1,
1974 vrhen new pay scales went into
effect.
In summary, the Tower Amendment pro-
tects the member against the inequity of
receiving less retired pay by virtue of
remaining on active duty. It also in-
sures that the inversion will not work
against the retention of highly quali-
fied personnel.
tours available
The application procedures are sim-
ple. For further details visit your Air
Force personnel office, assignments
branch.
AF Retiree Council to
meet in Texas soon
The Air Force Retiree Cpuncil, repre-
senting a cross section df the Air Force
retired population, is scheduled to meet
the week of April 12 at the Air Force
Military Personnel Center (AFMPC), Ran-
dolph AFB, Texas.
The council will review programs and
policies which affect all Air Force re-
tirees and make recommendations to the
air staff.
Along with representative geographi-
cal distribution, minority groups, wom-
en, regular and reserve components and
both service and disability retirees
have council seats.
The council's prime objective is to
provide a link between the retired com-
munity and the Air ' Force. It also
serves as an additional avenue for
transmitting information from retirees
to the active force and assists the air
staff in understanding the broad prob-
lems of retirees and in initiating im-
proved procedures wherever possible.
The first council meeting was held in
1973 and has convened annually at AFMPC.
Here is an example of how the Tower Amendment works under the FY 76 Defense
Procurement Authorization Bill. Assume you are an E-8 and your pay date is
1 July 6, 1953. Your active service began Nov . 4, 1953 and your promotion date
is July 1, 1974:
PAY RATE RETIRED PAY
HYPOTHETICAL RETIREMENT CALCULATION OPTIONS ADJUSTED TO DATE
1. You could have retired as E-7 with Oct 72 $515.59
20 years of service on Nov. 30, 1973 Oct 73 500.44
2. You could have retired as E-7 with Oct 72 $541.37
21 years of service on May 31, 1974 Oct 73 525.47
3. You could have retired as E-8 with Oct 73 $595.65
21 years of service on Dec. 31, 1974, if Oct 74 550.98
permitted -to retire with only six months
in grade.
4. You could have retired as E-8 with Oct 73 $660.46
22 years of service on May 31, 1975, if Oct 74 611.00
permitted to retire with only 11 months
in grade.
5. You can retire on May 31, 1976 with Oct 74 $638.77
23 years of service, if permitted to Oct 75 638.71
retired with only 23 months in grade.