Department of the Army Historical Summary: FY 1975

V.

Personnel

The Army's strength declined from 782,900 on 30 June 1974 to a low of 772,300 in December, but by the end of the fiscal year strength had risen to 783,900, broken down as follows:

ARMY STRENGTH (AS OF 30 JUNE 1975)

The fluctuations reflected monthly average strength limitations imposed during most of the year to keep personnel expenditures to levels prescribed by the fiscal year 1975 Department of Defense Appropriations Act. The shortage in programmed enlisted strength at the close of the fiscal year was not caused by the Army's inability to attract recruits without the stimulus of the draft. Rather, the shortfall came about because of management practices required to keep personnel costs down and a decision not to overtax the training base late in the fiscal year by accepting 1,100 more persons without former service than the 22,960 who had already been recruited in June 1975.

Financial constraints also led to involuntary extensions of overseas tours. The extensions, which went into effect on 1 April 1975, were for three months in long-tour areas and one month in short-tour stations. The Army took this step reluctantly because of the effect it would have on morale, but the extensions were necessary to overcome shortages of permanent change of station travel funds due primarily to the rapid inflation of transportation costs.

The Army improved the quality of enlisted accessions in a number of ways, such as: raising the number of high school graduates recruited to sixty-five percent of all enlistees with no prior service, limiting prior service accessions to high school

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graduates with selected skills, and reducing the number of enlistees in the lowest acceptable mental ranking (Category IV) to ten percent of all those without prior service. The success of these actions and the availability of young men and women ready to enlist led to the development of plans for greater improvement in the quality of accessions in fiscal year 1976.

Combat arms recruits numbered 52,927 for the year, 106.7 percent of the established goal. On 1 March 1975, the Army limited two-year enlistments to the combat arms and certain critical skills required in Europe. A total of 16.7 percent of the year's new recruits selected this option before the Department of Defense terminated it on 1 July 1975.

Nearly 1,150 highly motivated men and women assigned to active Army units went on temporary duty with the U.S. Army Recruiting Command to obtain volunteers for the three options available under the Unit of Choice Program, i.e., CONUS Unit of Choice, U.S. Army Special Unit Enlistment Option, and the CONUS Station of Choice Option. A total of 116,000 persons enlisted under this program during the fiscal year, of whom 46 percent chose the Special Unit Enlistment Option, while the remainder selected one of the other two options in nearly equal numbers.

The 18-month-old Stripes for Skills Enlistment Option brought 3,147 skilled personnel into the Army's ranks. Enlistees were appointed to grades E-2 or E-3 and were offered a guaranteed tour with the unit of their choice. After completing basic combat training and at least eight weeks of satisfactory service in their units, they became eligible for accelerated appointment to grades E-3 to E-5. Objectives of this program included reduction of training costs and greater job satisfaction among highly qualified personnel.

In other recruiting actions, the Army expanded the Delayed Entry Program to include enlistees with prior service who could delay their entry for up to 120 days. New recruits could routinely delay their entry up to 180 days, and in special cases, such as high school seniors, up to 270 days. On 21 March 1975, the N.W. Ayer Company received the Army's recruiting advertising contract for fiscal year 1976. The contract, for which twelve firms competed, covered the active Army, the Army Reserve, and the Reserve Officers' Training Corps.

Because the number of soldiers likely to reenlist exceeded existing and projected requirements, the Army developed the Year Group Management Plan to help personnel managers balance the enlisted force in terms of grade, skill, and years of

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service. A number of revisions in reenlistment criteria and control were developed to complement the plan, which the Army planned to put into effect during fiscal year 1976. These revisions included mandatory retraining of reenlistees for military occupational specialties (MOS's) that are in short supply and the establishment of a unified control MOS system using both decentralized and centralized management procedures. Under the new criteria, unit commanders can still reenlist high quality first termers who have a high school education and a current MOS score of over 100, and can recommend reenlistment in all other cases. The U.S. Army Military Personnel Center will authorize or deny reenlistment of first termers who do not meet high quality standards and will take action on Stripes for Skills enlistment applications.

Changes to reenlistment standards during the year included tightening reenlistment eligibility point criteria and not allowing reenlistment of soldiers whose current MOS evaluation score or whose primary MOS score is under 70. Effective 1 July 1975 soldiers having more than 15 days of absence without official leave or a general court-martial conviction during their current enlistment will no longer be eligible for reenlistment.

Following a successful test in U.S. Army, Europe, the Army broadened coverage of the Expeditious Discharge Program in November 1974 to include U.S. Army Forces Command, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, and Eighth U.S. Army. In May 1975 the Army announced that the program would be expanded Army-wide on 1 July 1975, at which time battalion commanders and lieutenant colonels who command similar-size units will be authorized to discharge personnel. During fiscal year 1975, 21,290 soldiers were released under the Trainee Discharge Program. Personnel losses, AWOL and desertion rates, and company punishment declined in most units that received soldiers screened under the program.

In an effort to assure that graduates of Army training centers were qualified and well motivated, the Voluntary Release Option Test was given in six basic combat training (BCT) companies from July through October 1974. Approximately 18 percent of the BCT graduates in the test group received discharges. From 7 February to 28 March 1975, nine BCT companies carried out a second test that attempted to unearth causes for dissatisfaction among trainees. The test offered a change of MOS, a period of leave before advanced individual training (AIT), or both, to the 129 participants who requested discharges. Four of the 129 accepted leave; 10 got

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MOS changes; and 118, about 9.3 percent of those participating in the test, were given discharges. A third test, which was being devised at the close of the fiscal year, will involve 600 to 1,200 recruits of high quality, i.e., Mental Category I or II with at least two years of college. Written into the enlistment contract of test group members will be an option to request discharge after completing four weeks of AIT or 110 days of active service if AIT is not required.

The MOS mismatch problem, which last year's report described in detail, continued to show improvement. The number of soldiers whose primary and duty MOS's were not the same decreased from 46,300 in June 1974 to 38,900 in June 1975. The Army used several management tools to monitor the mismatch project and improve mismatch accounting. By elimination or consolidation, the number of MOS's was reduced from 476 to 451 during fiscal year 1975. The improved situation enabled the Project Director's Office for MOS Mismatch to be reduced to two temporary officer positions in the Structure and Sustainment Branch, Enlisted Division, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel.

The enlisted grade structure was more in line with long-range goals at the end of the year than at the beginning. The Army also met Department of Defense ceilings within the top six enlisted grades, which were set at 60.4 percent of total enlisted strength. Army enlisted strength, by grade, for the last two fiscal years was as follows:

COMPOSITION OF THE ENLISTED GRADE STRUCTURE

Officer strength declined slightly during fiscal year 1975. Programmed year-end strength, as set forth in the President's budget for fiscal year 1975, was 101,550. Actual strength was 102,567, which represented a 3 percent decrease from fiscal year 1974 end strength and a 41 percent decline from the peak strength during the Vietnam war.

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The following table provides a breakdown by grade of the Army's commissioned officer and warrant officer strength as of 30 June 1975:

OFFICER GRADE STRUCTURE IN FISCAL YEAR 1975

WARRANT OFFICERS

Army officer procurement for fiscal year 1975 totaled 9,224, down from 9,466 during the previous year and another post World War 11 low. The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) continued as the largest source of new officers. A total of 39,346 people were enrolled in 291 Senior ROTC units, up from 33,220 in fiscal year 1974. Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) enrollment totaled 115,022, including 33,573 women cadets. JROTC training was conducted in 662 schools, including 12 institutions that participated under the National Defense Cadet Corps (NDCC) program. During fiscal year 1975, ROTC cadets received 1,009 four-year scholarships, 662 three-year scholarships, 525 two-year scholarships, and 190 one-year scholarships, bringing to 6,500 the number of ROTC scholarships in effect. Fifty Army enlisted persons with two years of college credit won ROTC scholarships for the 1975/76 school year under a program to provide highly qualified active duty enlisted personnel an opportunity to be commissioned through ROTC.

FISCAL YEAR 1975 OFFICER PROCUREMENT BY SOURCE COMMISSIONED OFFICERS

^a Includes administrative gains such as recall from retired list, interservice transfer, etc.

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Rising costs and the need to obtain maximum benefit from manpower spaces led the Army to eliminate or suspend a number of procurement programs that train active duty personnel for service as Army Medical Department officers. No new commitments for subsidizing nursing education at the undergraduate level, including the Walter Reed Army Institute of Nursing and the Army Student Nurse Program, have been made since September 1974. During the year two Military Physician's Assistant Program classes graduated, and selections were made for two additional classes. This will complete the eight, sixty-member classes planned under the program. Beginning in fiscal year 1976, no new admissions will be made in the following active duty medical training programs: Senior Students' Program, including medicine, osteopathy, veterinary medicine, and optometry; Army Student Occupational Therapist Program; Registered Nurse Student Program; Medical Service Corps Graduate Student Program; Army Medical Specialist Corps Graduate Student Program; and the Environmental Health Sciences and Engineering Program. In order to meet prior commitments, the Army will continue the Osteopathic, Dental, and Veterinary Education Program for U.S. Military Academy cadets in the classes of 1975, 1976, and 1977.

The termination of these programs has made the direct procurement of trained professionals—through voluntary recall of reservists, ROTC, and the Uniformed Services Health Profession Scholarship Program—more important in obtaining Army Medical Department officers. The Scholarship Program, authorized by Congress in fiscal year 1973, created 542 graduates in the following disciplines during the past year: dentistry 141, veterinary medicine 33, optometry 14, and medicine/osteopathy 354. Army postgraduate medical education programs for training first year medical graduates and residents remained highly selective; nearly all spaces were filled on a competitive selection basis. Currently, there is a need for optometrists, nuclear science officers, veterinarians, general medical officers, and some medical specialists. Active duty accessions under the Berry Plan, a draft-motivated program that has served as the primary source for medical specialists, will cease by fiscal year 1977. Accessions from another new source, the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences, will not be available until about 1981. They are expected to help resolve long-term shortages for general medical officers, family practitioners, optometrists, veterinarians, and most medical specialties.

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ARMY MEDICAL DEPARTMENT ACTIVE DUTY
ACCESSIONS FISCAL YEAR 1975:

^a Includes ROTC and active duty medical training programs.
^b Includes Reserve recalls.
^c For MOS 911A (Military Physician's Assistant).
^d For MOS 202A (Medical Equipment Repair Technician).

The number of promotions to all grades increased during the year as the decline in year-end strength authorizations slowed, but time in service and time in grade upon promotion to all grades except captain and first lieutenant continued to grow longer. Total promotions to each grade, excluding medical and dental corps officers, were:

Time in service and time in grade at the end of the fiscal year were:

The Enlisted Personnel Management System (EPMS) continued to improve during fiscal year 1975. The U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) completed plans for expanding the training system to include integrated, career-long training and education programs that will be responsive to the goal of improved professional development for career soldiers. Plans completed, the phased implementation of the system began in January 1975. The Department of the Army instructed field commands to change authorization documents and to reclassify and convert personnel to reflect the redesigned career management fields (CMF) and military occupational structure for CMF 11 (Maneuver Combat Arms), CMF

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16 (Air Defense), CMF 63 (Mechanical Maintenance), CMF 74 (Automatic Data Processing), and CMF 95 (Law Enforcement). Phase I of EPMS will affect some 188,000 soldiers and should be completed in September 1975. Subsequent phases are scheduled to begin at six-month intervals. Completion of the system is set for October 1977. An important feature of the EPMS is a performance-oriented skill qualification test to replace the written MOS evaluation test. The test, which was being developed by the Training and Doctrine Command, will be available for CMF's 11, 16, 63, 74, and 95 in November 1976, and for all remaining CMF's by the end of 1978.

The Army participated in congressional hearings on the proposed Defense Officer Personnel Management Act, which relates to the appointment, promotion, separation, and retirement of officers in the armed forces. A new field grade authorization table, a single promotion system, an all-regular career force, revised tenure, and selective retention of officers were proposed. Since passage of the Defense Officer Personnel Management Act would have an impact on the Army's own Officer Personnel Management System, the Army staff was developing plans to adopt the proposed officer management concepts as smoothly as possible.

Implementation of the Variable Incentive Pay Act for medical officers, described in last year's report, began in September 1974. By the close of the year, 1,453 physicians, nearly one-third of those on active duty, were receiving bonuses ranging from $9,000 to $13,000 per year requiring an outlay of over $16.5 million. While exclusion of Medical Corps officers in their initial residency and other inequities hampers the act's effectiveness, it does provide a useful method to attract and retain physicians.

A number of changes marked the Army's proficiency pay and reenlistment bonus programs. Both the superior performance and shortage specialty programs expired, leaving only the special duty assignment program which authorizes proficiency pay for drill sergeants, recruiters, and career counselors. The selective reenlistment bonus, authorized by the Armed Forces Bonus Revision Act of 1974 (Public Law 93-277), has in general worked well in aiding the Army to achieve and maintain the numbers of careerists possessing critical skills required to meet force goals. The Department of Defense

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decision to end lump sum reenlistment bonuses and the general trend of reductions in the amount of individual bonuses may, however, keep the Army from meeting future reenlistment objectives. The Army has advised the Department of Defense's Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation Committee of its concern and the need for greater payment flexibility.

Project Copper, begun in fiscal year 1974 to consolidate military pay and personnel functions, continued satisfactorily. The U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command prototype of the proposed system, under development at Fort Bragg, will be tested during fiscal year 1976. By combining pay and personnel actions in a single system, service to the soldier should improve.

For the last three years the Department of Defense has submitted to Congress legislative proposals to modernize the military retirement system; to date, none has been passed into law. The Army also has sought legislative relief from a Comptroller General ruling, which held that the law required retirement pay to be based upon the pay rate preceding the one in effect at time of retirement. Subsequent adjustments would reflect cost of living increases reported in the Consumer Price Index. The effect of this ruling was to create a pay inequity: cost of living increases for retirees higher than active duty pay raises penalize individuals eligible for retirement who remain on active duty.

A number of changes to Army pass and leave policy became effective on 1 June 1975 with the revision of Army Regulation 630-5, Leave, Passes, Administrative Absence, and Public Holidays. The "day of grace" was eliminated by making the day of departure the first day of leave and the day of return the last day of leave. Authorized were a 3-day (72-hour) pass that includes at least 1 duty day, and a 4-day pass that includes at least 2 consecutive nonduty days. The taking of 30 days of leave en route for all permanent change of station moves was sanctioned, and 4 day—not chargeable to leave—were allowed in conjunction with permanent moves to or from overseas assignments. Service members were also encouraged to take it or cash it the full 30 days of leave earned each year rather than lose cash it in at reenlistment or upon separation.

Three actions highlighted the Army's race relations equal opportunity program during fiscal year 1975. The

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Department of the Army Ad Hoc General Officers' Steering Committee on Equal Opportunity (GOSCEO) was convened; a new Department of the Army Affirmative Actions Plan (AAP) was published; and a new training program for Army instructors studying at the Defense Race Relations Institute began.

The Army formed GOSCEO in response to a presidential directive for a complete review of personnel and contract policies in light of allegations that federal agencies were engaged in discriminatory practices in their dealings with certain foreign governments. This committee, consisting of general officers representation from each Army staff agency, reviewed military personnel selection and assignment policies; recruitment, placement, management, and use of civilian personnel; and methods of employee selection and assignment by firms under contract to the Army. The committee identified 143 practices involving discriminatory considerations such as race, color, sex, age, religion, and national origin. Most of these were eliminated outright, but others required additional study and consideration before resolution. The committee recommended that a standing committee be formed to provide a continuing review of Army personnel and contract policies to insure their compatibility with principles of equal opportunity. The Secretary of the Army approved the recommendation, and the new committee will be formed in fiscal year 1976.

In 1974 an Army Research Institute study revealed discrimination in career progression and opportunity against soldiers who were members of minority groups. Using experience gained under its 1972 Affirmative Actions Plan, the Army developed a new plan that became effective in June 1975. This plan established specific programs, objectives, responsibilities, and policies to achieve racial harmony and equal opportunity within all components of the Army. The plan focused on minority and female recruitment and career development; goals relating to the racial, ethnic, and female composition of the Army; equal treatment in dispensing military justice and in education and training; the relationship of human readiness to unit readiness; policy and guidance from the top; and assessment and management of the plan.

Changes in the Defense Race Relations Institute course for race relations instructors, noted in last year's report, went into effect in September 1974. The initial five-week phase of the course continued to stress minority studies, behavioral sciences, development of teaching techniques, and Department of Defense policies and directives. The revised final phase of the

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course, six weeks long and taught by Army personnel, emphasized Army policies and directives, managerial skills needed by equal opportunity staff officers, local affirmative action plans and their implementation, and methods of reporting results.

Women's Army Corps (WAC) strength rose from 27,596 to 39,171 officers and enlisted personnel during the year, a substantial gain consistent with an Army objective to achieve a WAC strength of at least 50,400 by 1979. Enlistments totaled 19,070, as compared to 15,446 for fiscal year 1974. A three­fold increase in participation in the law enforcement career field—1,115 enlisted and 150 officers—indicated how opening military occupational specialties to women can enhance the attractiveness of military service. The Judge Advocate General's Corps increased its complement of women attorneys from twenty-one to forty-one during the year, and commissioned its first black female attorney, Capt. Savella Jackson. The first woman Army Chaplain, Capt. Alice Mae Henderson, also a black, received her appointment on 8 July 1974.

In June 1975, the Army discontinued its policy of involuntarily separating pregnant soldiers, replacing it with a new one that permitted up to four weeks prenatal leave and six weeks postpartum leave. Immediate hardship discharges for sole parents, male or female, and married enlisted women when there is a conflict in performing one's military tasks and providing adequate child care were also authorized.

Approximately 2,900 soldiers received help each month under the Army-wide Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Program (ADAPCP) during fiscal year 1975. Of those admitted to the program, 35 percent had alcohol-related problems; the remainder were using other drugs. Less than 15 percent of the cases required detoxification or inpatient treatment. At the close of the year 197 halfway house and nonresident rehabilitation centers were giving assistance to 17,569 service members. Approximately 9,000 civilian employees and dependents also received assistance, primarily for problems related to the use of alcohol.

Since the inception of the ADAPCP in 1971, urine testing has been a principal method of identifying drug abusers within the Army. Discharges based upon evidence obtained through such testing were either honorable or general, depending upon

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the service member's character and service record as deter­mined by local commanders. On 5 July 1974, however, the Court of Military Appeals, in the Ruiz decision, ruled that an order to produce a urine sample that could lead to an administrative separation under less than honorable conditions violated a soldier's right against self-incrimination. Faced with the choice of continuing urine testing or limiting the local commander's prerogative concerning the type of discharge, the Army decided to stop the urine testing program. The Office of the Secretary of Defense suspended the urine testing program on 18 July 1974, but on 7 January 1975 directed the services to resume the tests no later than 1 February 1975 (later changed to March 1975). The Office of the Secretary of Defense also directed that all service members who had been identified as drug abusers through urinalysis, and who later had been determined to be beyond rehabilitation, would receive honorable discharges upon their administrative separation.

Training and education, particularly at the entry and supervisory levels, were the major alcohol and drug abuse prevention efforts over the year. Related audiovisual and printed materials were reviewed for pertinency. Approximately $200,000 was spent for new materials to support installation education and training programs. The ADAPCP training center at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, trained approximately 600 persons in program management, counseling, and civilian program coordination. Also, the Teen Involvement Program, a school-based early prevention effort, was strengthened and expanded.

In November 1974 (Change 2, AR 310-25) the Army redefined the terms "military personnel management" and "human resources development" to help integrate the two. The new definitions were:

Military Personnel Management: The process of planning, organizing, directing, coordinating, and controlling the procurement, training/education, utilization, separation/retirement, development and motivation of military personnel to assist in the successful accomplishment of the organizational mission. It includes all procedures related to: military job analysis and evaluation; position classification; personnel classification, assignment and utilization; maintenance of an

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adequate system of records and reports required for successful operation of the Army personnel system; development of individual potential; and development of an organizational climate that enhances the attitude, motivation, commitment and sense of well-being of soldiers and their families.

Human Resources Development: The process of planning, organizing, directing, coordinating, and controlling activities designed primarily for their effect on individual morale and organizational esprit, development of individual potential, and development of an organizational climate that enhances the attitudes, motivation, commitment, and sense of well-being of soldiers and their families. It includes activities related to: Leadership and discipline, job and career satisfaction, human relations, alcohol and drug abuse prevention, spiritual guidance and counseling, physical and mental well-being, community services, and maintenance of law and order.

These definitions acknowledged that motivation, family well-being, other people, and group-oriented concerns were factors in achieving and sustaining organizational effectiveness.

To help further integrate human resources development into personnel management, the Army took steps to give commanders a single staff manager with broader responsibilities for human resources development.

On 16 September 1974, President Ford began a clemency program for Vietnam-era draft evaders and military deserters. The Department of Defense role in the program was to process individuals subject to military jurisdiction who, by reason of an unauthorized absence of more than thirty days during the period 4 August 1964 through 28 March 1973, were classified as deserters. While the program was in effect, from 16 September 1974 to 31 March 1975, a total of 4,314 Army deserters—55 percent of those who were eligible to participate in the program—were processed and separated at the joint Clemency Processing Center, Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana.

Less than 15 percent of the Army returnees claimed to have been motivated to desert because of antiwar sentiments. Most had served only a short time, were assigned to units based in the United States, and left the service because they could not adjust or because of personal, family, or financial problems. Only 18 percent had served in Vietnam, 3 percent had deserted from Vietnam based units, and 1 percent from combat. Most of the returnees (88 percent) remained in the United States throughout their absence; of those who fled to foreign countries, two out of three crossed the border into Canada.

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Army casualties in Southeast Asia rose by 33 during fiscal year 1975 as a result of presumptive findings of death by board action. The 19 combat casualties included in the figure brought the total number of Army battle deaths in Southeast Asia for the period 1 January 1961 through 30 June 1975 to 30,669. At the close of the year, 260 Army personnel were still listed as missing, of whom 187 were missing in action. An additional 12 soldiers who did not return to military control during Operation Homecoming were carried on Army roles as prisoners of war.

The Army took a number of actions to improve crime reporting during the year. The Serious Incident Report, Provost Marshal Activities Report, and Quarterly Crime Report underwent revision to eliminate nonessential information, add pertinent data, and provide better presentation of the material. Revised military police forms have improved the quality of the reports and have facilitated processing. A new, computer-based centralized numbering system for military police reports has proved beneficial, especially for prompt identification of missing final disposition reports that local commanders must submit for each military police report received. The Army initiated prototype testing of two components of the Military Police Management Information System—the Law Enforcement Reporting System and the Correctional Reporting System. The Army also agreed to become a part of the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System, which serves federal, state, and local law enforcement authorities.

Crimes of violence in the Army numbered 8.38 per thousand during the year as compared to 7.94 during fiscal year 1974. Crimes against property leveled off at 89.86 per thousand as compared to 89.87 per thousand in the previous year. AWOL rates continued their decline, down from 129.9 incidents per thousand in fiscal year 1974 to 92.3 this year. Desertion rates dropped from 52.1 to 26.0 incidents per thousand.

The number of Army personnel tried by courts-martial for the past two fiscal years was as follows:

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PERSONS TRIED BY COURTS-MARTIAL IN FISCAL YEAR 1974

^a 1249 of these were special courts-martial where a bad conduct discharge was adjudged.

PERSONS TRIED BY COURTS-MARTIAL IN FISCAL YEAR 1975

^a 1158 of these were special courts-martial wherein a bad conduct discharge was adjudged.

The Army continued to serve as executive agent for the Department of Defense in preparing the annual report submitted to the Senate Armed Services Committee, which shows the prosecution of Department of Defense personnel and their dependents by foreign courts. From 1 December 1973 through 30 November 1974, 50,748 United States military and civilian personnel and their dependents were charged with offenses subject to the primary or exclusive jurisdiction of foreign tribunals. Most of these offenses (47,663) were charged against military personnel; 23,273 of the charges against military personnel were concurrent jurisdiction offenses over which the host country had the primary right to exercise jurisdiction. United States military authorities obtained a waiver of primary foreign jurisdiction in 18,650 (80.1 percent) of these incidents.

Of persons charged, 36,748 were Army military personnel, and 2,158 were Department of the Army civilians or dependents; 16,875 of the charges were concurrent jurisdiction offenses. Army authorities obtained a waiver of primary foreign jurisdiction in 15,970 (94.6 percent) of these incidents. There were 302 members of the armed forces in foreign jails as of 30 November 1974. This figure included 124 soldiers, 108 sailors, and 70 airmen.

The Army and the Department of Defense took a number of actions during the year affecting the administrative due process of service members convicted or accused of committing offenses listed in the Uniform Code of Military Justice. In May 1974 the Under Secretary of the Army proposed that the Department of Defense review the parole procedures of the military departments to determine whether they should include reasons for denial and the opportunity to appeal a denial. The

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Army initiative led to a 23 December 1974 change in DOD Instruction 1325.4, Treatment of Military Prisoners and Administration of Military Correction Facilities: Prisoners denied parole were to receive written notification of the reasons and could file a written appeal within thirty days. The secretary concerned or his designee was required to inform prisoners, in writing, of any decisions concerning an appeal. The Special Assistant to the Under Secretary of the Army was designated to act for the secretary on all parole appeals made by Army prisoners.

The withdrawal of the Air Force from the Army and Air Force Clemency Board led to the creation on 1 April 1975 of the Army Clemency and Parole Board. The board consists of three members: a civilian chairman from the Office of the Under Secretary of the Army and two field grade officers, one of whom has legal training. The board will convene as often as the Special Assistant to the Under Secretary of the Army deems necessary to consider clemency and parole matters promptly.

The Military Magistrate Program, described in last year's report, was implemented Army-wide on 15 October 1974. The random jury selection pilot project begun last year at Fort Riley, Kansas, was suspended on 31 December 1974, pending the results of a General Accounting Office study on the random selection of jury members.

Article 67(g) of the Uniform Code of Military justice establishes a Code Committee to recommend legislative changes in the operation of the code. In August 1972 the service judge Advocates General established the joint Service Committee on Military Justice. During fiscal year 1975 proposals to streamline and modernize the code were studied by the joint committee and its working group. The proposals included a system of discretionary appeals, with a modified record of trial similar to the federal system; a limitation on the number of defense counsels in appropriate cases; and changes in areas where the convening authority currently acts.

The Defense Corrections Council, composed of six members representing the military services, the Office of the General Counsel, DOD, and the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Manpower and Reserve Affairs), held its first meeting on 6 August 1974. It is to meet at least bimonthly and is to achieve maximum uniformity in service corrections programs. As the year ended the Defense Corrections Council was considering a General Accounting Office report on widespread

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differences among the military services in the administration of military correctional facilities, differences not prescribed by the Military Correctional Facilities Act of 1968. The expansion of the Army's Military Police Investigator program continued during the year. Certified investigators increased from 865 to 1,200, while the number of women in the program rose from 7 to 31. Military Police investigators began conducting collateral investigations, originally the job of U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command personnel, on lesser cases within the United States involving Army personnel or property outside military reservations. These cases were not of sufficient importance to warrant an investigation by the Criminal Investigation Command parallel to that of the civilian law enforcement agency having primary investigative jurisdiction.

Army civilian personnel strength (appropriated fund employees) stood at 434,679 (355,019 U.S. citizens and 79,660 foreign nationals) at year's end, a 1.5 percent reduction compared to fiscal year 1974 figures. This decrease would have been larger but for the conversion of 3,759 military positions to civilian jobs. These conversions virtually completed a program begun late in fiscal year 1973 to change 14,000 positions from military to civilian status to reduce costs and achieve combat readiness objectives within established military manpower ceilings.

The high degree of turbulence that has characterized Army civilian personnel management since the end of the Vietnam War continued. Though overall strength reductions were small, many employees were affected by the reorganization, transfer, and consolidation of functions, and manpower cuts at many installations. Hardships were minimized by advance planning, long lead times, early retirement of employees as provided for by Public Law 93-39, and transfers. Only rarely were employees dismissed.

Keeping civilian personnel costs down remained a key Army objective throughout the reporting period. The average grade of general schedule (GS) employees was 7.39 at the end of the fiscal year, well below the ceiling set by the Office of the Secretary of Defense and a substantial reduction from the 7.74 average grade when controls were introduced in fiscal year 1971. During the same period the number of full-time, upper

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grade employees (GS-13 through GS-15) declined from 23,359 to 21,159.

The employee suggestion program continued to be important in reducing costs. The Army again led all federal agencies with estimated first-year savings from civilian suggestions of $59.8 million. Suggestions from military personnel increased the total saved to $69.5 million. The civilian savings figure was 43 percent above the previous year and indicated that the new effort to increase suggestion savings each year at least 10 percent above the average for the three preceding years was off to a good start.

Training of managers and executives and the identification and development of employees who possess executive potential received increased attention during the year. An assessment of individual skills, knowledge, abilities, and personal characteristics was made of approximately 2,000 managers and 1,500 high potential nonmanagers. Plans were then developed for each person. By the close of the year, about 71 percent of the Army's managers and high potential nonmanagers had such plans to help them improve their performance and prepare for more demanding assignments.

For the first time in three years, the number of employees represented by unions rose significantly. On 30 June 1975, unions represented 231,605 employees, an increase of 18,568 from the end of fiscal year 1974. The number of bargaining units decreased slightly, due in large part to the consolidation efforts of unions and management.

The Department of the Army sharply curtailed its centralized labor relations training activities due to restrictions on travel funds early in the year. To compensate for the cutbacks, many installations took advantage of courses offered regionally by the Civil Service Commission, participated in specialized training programs conducted by local universities and by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, and developed their own training courses.

On 6 February 1975, Executive Order 11491, Labor Management Relations in the Federal Service, was amended by Executive Order 11838. The new order made many substantive and procedural changes concerning negotiability of agency regulations, midcontract bargaining, consolidation of units, grievance and arbitration procedures, and approval of agreements. To inform Army managers of these changes the offices of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel and the Judge Advocate General conducted six joint orientation seminars

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during the fourth quarter attended by civilian personnel officers, labor relations specialists, and labor law counselors. Attendees were told of the many changes and then returned to their own installations to develop and conduct similar orientations. By the end of the fiscal year, 1,385 military and 4,516 civilian supervisors and managers had received instruction on the latest program changes.

The Army made headway during the year in negotiating agreements that provide union support for management objectives. Fiscal year 1976 should see even greater advances as more management-initiated demands are negotiated. Practically all agreements made during the year contained articles that addressed such specific management concerns as equal employment opportunity, energy conservation, and productivity. In most cases, management got unions to go beyond the so-called agree-to-support stage by including language requiring unions to help management meet its objectives, particularly concerning the employee suggestion program, the development and implementation of modern and progressive work practices, and participation on joint labor-management committees.

Blacks, other minorities, and women in the civilian work force increased during the year, despite a decline in the number of employees. Minorities (appropriated fund personnel) increased from 16.5 to 17.7 percent during the year, and women from 31.7 to 33.1 percent. Minorities in grade levels GS-12 and above increased from 4.2 to 5.5 percent. Women in these grade levels went from 4.5 to 4.8 percent. More minorities and women were also recruited for career intern positions. In fiscal year 1975 minorities represented 14.8 percent and women 29.7 percent of the total program intake.

The General Officers' Steering Committee on Equal Opportunity, mentioned earlier, identified twenty-three discriminatory civilian personnel management practices. Corrections included reaffirming a prohibition against screening out candidates for overseas employment because of policies of foreign governments, and removal of age guidelines and implications in career program regulations and regulations on training and development opportunities. Despite the Army's efforts to assure equal opportunities for all employees, the number of formal complaints alleging discrimination increased, requiring six additional investigators on the staff of the U.S. Army Civilian Appellate Review Agency. Field commands also were told to become involved in such cases.

The Civil Service Commission program that gives prefer-

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ence to dependents of Defense Department personnel in filling positions in foreign areas supported the volunteer Army concept by improving employment opportunities for dependents. Aimed particularly at dependents of lower grade military personnel who want and need work, this three-year-old program has stabilized at 50 percent of U.S. citizen employment in Europe and somewhat less in the Far East where dependents are not as numerous.

During the fiscal year, 11,924 Vietnam veterans were given jobs. These appointments represented 23.7 percent of all new hirings for the year, exceeding the Army goal of 20 percent. At the end of the fiscal year 5,337 veterans were employed under the Veterans' Readjustment Authority, which provides for special appointments and special job training for veterans during their readjustment period. Approximately 3 percent of Vietnam-era veterans working for the Army were handicapped. The Department of Defense also continued its summer youth employment program, with emphasis on providing jobs for the underprivileged. During the summer of 1974, more than 17,700 young people were employed, including 10,900 disadvantaged youths.

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