Department of the Army Historical Summary: FY 1977

5

Personnel

When Secretary of the Army Clifford L. Alexander, Jr., and Army Chief of Staff General Bernard W. Rogers announced their goals for the total Army in September 1977, they covered readiness, materiel, strategic deployment, future development, and management; but most of all, they stressed the human element. As Secretary Alexander and General Rogers stated: "People are the most important resource in any institution. In the Army this is a fundamental tenet." People are also the Army's most costly asset. Manpower-related costs have accounted for over half of the Army budget since the end of the draft. In fiscal year 1977, those costs totaled $17.2 billion and represented sixty-four percent of the budget.

Military Strength

Congress established the end strength of the active Army for fiscal year 1977 at 789,000. Actual military strength, 782,230 on 30 September 1976, dipped to a low of 774,622 in December and then rose again by the end of September 1977 to 781,763. Thus actual strength fell 7,237 short of the congressional authorization. The Army could have recruited more young men without high school diplomas, who leave the service at about twice the rate of graduates, but this would have increased recruiting and training costs. Although the active Army did not reach its authorized strength, the force structure was, on the average, fully manned throughout the year.

The following table provides a breakdown of authorized and actual military strength as of 30 September 1977:

Active Army Strength
(as of 30 September 1977)

Two years ago inflated transportation costs forced the Army to extend overseas tours. Effective 1 April 1975, long tours, in areas such as Europe, were extended three months, and short tours, like those in Korea, increased by one month. This year the Army was able to reduce overseas tours. Short-tour extensions were eliminated in April 1977, and long tours were reduced in three stages, one month at a time, between May and September. By the end of fiscal year 1977, all overseas assignments were of normal length.

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Enlisted Personnel

This year the active Army surpassed its recruiting goal for men and women without prior military service and achieved 99.2 percent of the overall recruiting objective of 182,000 enlisted personnel. An. unexpected decline in prior-service enlistments during the last quarter was directly responsible for the shortfall of about 1,500. Prior-service as well as new female recruits, however, continued to meet or surpass quality goals. The Army also slightly exceeded its quality goal of at least 56 percent high school graduates among men without prior service. The following table breaks down the recruiting statistics for fiscal year 1977:

Fiscal Year 1977 Recruiting Statistics

PS-prior service; NPS-no prior service; HSDG-high school diploma graduates.

Recruiting efforts have focused on high school graduates because the Army found that they tended to be more highly motivated, had much better discipline records, and were more likely to complete their enlistment obligation. The Army's long-range recruiting objective is to build a cost-effective and stable force in which at least 68 percent of new male enlistees are high school graduates, which would reduce attrition in the first three years of service to as low as 25 percent, compared to the past attrition rate of 40 percent. That, in turn, would reduce accession requirements for men without prior service to less than 140,000 a year, compared to the 160,000 to 170,000 needed in the past. The cost savings associated with those objectives were estimated at over $100 million a year.

There was steady progress toward the goal in the first two and one half years of the volunteer era, which began with the expiration of the draft on 30 June 1973. Because of inadequate recruiting resources (in both dollars and people) as well as unfavorable changes in the recruiting environment, however, the momentum was lost in the second half of fiscal year 1976 and in the transition quarter, and a downward trend began. Although fiscal year 1977 recruiting funds were the lowest since the volunteer force began, the Army prevented a further decline in quality this year. The Army also requested a substantial increase in recruiting appropriations for fiscal year 1978.

To help achieve the high school graduate enlistment goal, the Army started a recruiter aide program this year. Outstanding young soldiers, both men and women, who had completed Advanced Individual Training were assigned to their hometowns, on temporary duty for thirty days,

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to assist local Army recruiters. An average of 750 recruiter aides per month returned home to relate their impressions and experiences to friends, peers, parents, teachers, and community leaders. Since they knew what type of individual the Army needed and personally knew the audience, they were able to seek out, influence, and bring to the recruiter potential enlistees of high quality. The program was especially effective because it focused on specific Army requirements, such as high school graduation and hard-to-recruit skills, and particular geographic areas. The Army plans to expand the hometown recruiter aide program during fiscal year 1978.

Because recruiters were being denied access to police records, which eliminated one method of determining the moral qualifications of prospective enlistees, the Entrance National Agency Check (ENTNAC) was established at Armed Forces Examining and Entrance Stations for applicants without prior military service. The new procedure should reduce fraudulent enlistments and should also reduce lost training time for skills that require a security clearance. Since its inception in October, about 476,000 requests have been submitted to the Defense Investigative Service. Over 39,750 applicants revealed additional information to the ENTNAC clerks at the examining and entrance stations, which resulted in 7,445 individuals being denied enlistment pending further investigation.

In the past, commanders were required to void the enlistment of any individual who had joined the Army fraudulently with the improper aid of recruiting officials. Effective 30 November 1976, commanders were granted the authority to waive certain disqualifications that existed at the time of enlistment if the character of the soldier's service warranted such action.

The Army's Delayed Entry Program provides for extended inactive duty in the Army Reserve with the ultimate objective of enlistment in the Regular Army at a future date. Extension of the program from 270 to 365 days, approved in September 1976, went into effect during fiscal year 1977. That change allowed earlier recruitment of promising high school seniors.

There was also a change in the Army's enlistment testing policy. Previously, men and women with prior military service who wanted to enlist could take the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery entrance examination only once, but individuals without prior service could be retested if they failed to make a satisfactory score. Effective 1 June 1977, prior-service personnel may also be retested at any time.

Two policy changes this year concerned deployment of soldiers during their period of guaranteed stabilization. Formerly, individuals who were guaranteed stability with the unit for which they enlisted had the option of remaining with their unit when it deployed or being assigned

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to another unit. Under the new policy, soldiers must remain with their deploying unit. The second change permitted temporary duty of a soldier away from his unit with a corresponding adjustment in the period of guaranteed stabilization after completion of temporary duty. The aim of these changes was to retain the recruiting incentive of guaranteed stabilization without hampering operations.

Fiscal year 1977 was reasonably successful for Army reenlistments. Although the desired number of first-term soldiers did not reenlist, the percentage of first-term eligibles reenlisting increased from 32.1 in fiscal year 1976 to 34.1 percent in fiscal year 1977, and continued to climb toward the 37 percent goal outlined in the Enlisted Force Management Plan. The number of career reenlistments achieved this year was 105.5 percent of the objective. Based on those trends, the Army expects to reach its enlisted force objective of 45.1 percent careerists (soldiers with three or more years of service) in fiscal year 1978. The quality of reenlistments also continued to improve; the proportion of high school graduates increased, and the number of individuals requiring waivers declined: The following table summarizes the reenlistment results for fiscal year 1977:

Fiscal Year 1977 Reenlistment Results ^a

a These figures exclude 2-90 day prior service accessions and extensions which are reported elsewhere.

The relative success of this year's reenlistment program particularly in retaining more first-term soldiers, can be attributed to a number of factors. One of the most important was expanding the period during which first termers could reenlist from three months to six months before expiration of their term of service. That change, which gave potential reenlistees and their commanders more time and flexibility in making plans, was recommended at the first Worldwide Reenlistment Conference in January 1977. The conferees made twenty-seven recommendations, seventeen of which had been implemented by the end of fiscal year 1977. Reenlistment conferences will be held annually in order to give policy makers on the Army staff and reenlistment personnel in the field an opportunity to exchange ideas on a regular basis.

In accordance with another recommendation, a reenlistment steering group, composed of the reenlistment officer or the senior career counselor from each major Army command, was established. The group will meet at least once a year as a follow-up to the reenlistment conference. At the first meeting, held in September 1977, the consensus was that meaningful

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progress had been made in recent months to solve major reenlistment problems. In March, for example, a "commander's override" permitted division and installation commanders in the grade of major general or higher to authorize reenlistment of exceptionally qualified soldiers in their current military occupational specialty (MOS) and override requirements for retraining into another MOS. Also, the first reenlistment conference had. recommended that MOS reclassifications directed by the Department of the Army be held to an absolute minimum and that soldiers who were reclassified at reenlistment be given the assignment of their choice, if available, as an incentive to move to a different MOS. Another recommendation, reinstatement of the CONUS-to-CONUS reenlistment option, which guaranteed reenlistees another station of their choice in the continental United States, will be implemented on a test basis.

In addition to promising the soldier the assignment or station of his choice, cash bonuses were also available to encourage reenlistment for critically short MOS's. At the end of fiscal year 1977, the Army was offering the Selective Reenlistment Bonus in 111 out of 377 specialties.

A computer system called RETAIN has been designed to automate the reenlistment process. It verifies a soldier's reenlistment eligibility, displays the various options for which he is qualified, and matches his assignment preferences with the Army's needs. During fiscal year 1977 RETAIN terminals were installed at forty-two posts in the continental United States, Alaska, and Hawaii. Additional terminals were scheduled for Europe next year and for Panama and the Pacific in fiscal year 1979. RETAIN is compatible with REQUEST, the automated recruit quota system implemented in 1973.

Besides automated systems for use in recruiting and reenlistment, the Army also has a system called ELIM-COMPLIP (Enlisted Loss Inventory Model-Computation of Manpower Programs Using Linear Programming), which reflects the current status of Army manpower and projects manpower variables over a period of seven years. A new version of the system was adopted in July 1977. More sophisticated than the original model, it provides more detailed breakouts of data, and has proved to be a much better predictor of enlisted manpower gains and loses. Although the current ELIM-COMPLIP system is an effective management tool, several contracts have been awarded to make further improvements in order to provide more detailed and more accurate data more rapidly.

Progress continued in the development and implementation of the Enlisted Personnel Management System (EPMS). By the end of fiscal year 1977, some 559,500 soldiers (eighty-two percent of the enlisted force) were under EPMS in twenty-four career management fields (CMF). The final group of enlisted career fields was approved on 1 March 1978. Skill qualification testing began in April 1977 for CMF 11

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(Maneuver Combat Arms) and in September 1977 for CMF 16 (Air Defense) and CMF 95 (Law Enforcement). Tests for the other career management fields are being developed and will be phased in during the next three years.

The Skill Qualification Test (SQT)-a key feature of EPMS-examines the ability of a soldier to perform the critical tasks associated with his military occupational specialty (MOS). Specifically designed to replace the old written MOS evaluation test, the SQT is performance oriented and job-relevant. It is an integral part of the Enlisted Evaluation System and, as such, affects an individual's eligibility for promotion. To be promoted, a soldier must demonstrate proficiency at the skill level of the next higher grade. The results of the SQT provide useful training data to field commanders and service schools and give Army personnel managers a valuable tool for making equitable decisions on promotions.

Changes in the promotion system this year included an increase of time in service required for advancement to grade E-2 from four to six months effective 1 October 1976. School commandants, but not unit commanders, had possessed authority to waive time-in-service requirements for advancement to grades E-2 and E-3 for a certain percentage of students. This favored outstanding students but not other outstanding soldiers. To eliminate the inequity, the Army in May ended accelerated promotion for all students except those attending Officer Candidate School, Warrant Officer Flight Training, and the U.S. Military Academy Preparatory School, and granted time-in-service waiver authority, for both grades E-2 and E-3, to unit commanders to allow them to recognize outstanding performers. The Army also gave normal promotion authority to school commandants to guarantee that soldiers attending long courses were afforded opportunities for advancement.

To stay within Department of Defense constraints on waiver promotions to grade E-4, the Army this year reduced the allowable waiver percentage from eighty to sixty percent. The change, effective in April 1977, applied to the assigned strength of both grades E-3 and E-4. The time-in-service requirement for promotion to grade E-6 was lengthened from six to seven years to halt grade escalation and lower personnel costs in fiscal year 1978. To be accomplished in phases, the change was introduced in February 1977 and was to be completed not later than September 1978.

Also affecting promotion to grade E-6 was a reduction in the minimum MOS evaluation score required for advancement. The score adjustment resulted from the suspension of MOS testing on 1 January 1977, as the Army continued a gradual transition to the Skill Qualification Test for measuring a soldier's ability and potential. While the conversion continued, however, a soldier's MOS evaluation score was to remain valid for fifteen months from the date of the last test for his MOS.

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In the case of grade E-6, the Army considered a score reduction necessary to ensure that the promotion flow to that grade was not impaired during the transition to the SQT. In January, therefore, it lowered the minimum score from 110 to 100. With a waiver, soldiers with scores between 80 and 99 could also compete for promotion.

The enlisted grade structure was more in consonance with congressional authorizations and with the long-term objectives of the Enlisted Force Management Plan at the end of fiscal year 1977 than at the beginning. The main problem encountered during the year was to prevent the actual number of E-4's from exceeding the authorized total of 173,500. In May 1977, before the lower percentage of waiver promotions could have any effect, the number of E-4's peaked at 185,972. By the end of the year, however, the E-4 total was only 2,053 over the authorized number. The following table compares the Army's authorized and actual enlisted strength by grade as of 30 September 1976 and 30 September 1977:

Enlisted Grade Structure

In the past, many members of the Army and the other military service3 who were discharged for disciplinary reasons received undesirable discharge certificates. Such a certificate led to perceptions that the recipient, rather than the character of his service, was undesirable. Consequently, the military services in January 1977 replaced it with a discharge under other than honorable conditions. In June, the Army also began issuing the new certificates to former members who had received undesirable discharges and requested an exchange.

Shortly before leaving office, President Ford extended a clemency program he had started in September 1974 by ordering the upgrading of discharges given for, desertion to former service members who had been wounded in combat or who had received decorations for valor in Vietnam. The study of records by the Army Discharge Review Board and the issue of new discharge documents to 243 former members this year completed the actions required of the Army by the presidential directive.

A similar but far more extensive program, developed within the Department of Defense and approved by President Carter, opened a review of undesirable and general discharges issued during the Vietnam era (4 August 1964 through 28 March 1973). Excepted were discharges given for reasons involving violence or criminal intent. Former service

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members given undesirable and general discharges for other causes were eligible, upon application within six months from 5 April 1977, to have their discharges reviewed for possible upgrading under newly established criteria. Deserters still at large, except those who had deserted from a combat zone, also were eligible to apply provided they first returned to military control and were discharged.

The Department of the Army became the executive agency for carrying out the program. Handling initial inquiries about it for all services was a joint Liaison Office in St. Louis, Missouri. A Special Discharge Review Activity established in St. Louis processed applications from former Army members, and the Army Discharge Review Board in Washington examined the files of applicants to determine whether the upgrading of their discharges was warranted. The other services operated similar processing centers and review boards. As desired by the President, the boards reviewed all applications in a spirit of compassion.

By the end of fiscal year 1977, over 60,000 former service members and about 1,100 deserters-at-large inquired about the program. Approximately 38,000 former members were found eligible for the review program, of whom about 23,000 were former Army personnel. More than 900 deserters, of whom some 640 were Army members, returned to military control and were discharged in order to become eligible for consideration.

Officer Personnel

At the beginning of fiscal year 1977, the officer strength of the active Army was at the lowest level since 1950. During the year it declined further from 97,876 to 97,255. The number of commissioned officers decreased slightly while the number of warrant officers increased somewhat, as shown in the table below.

Officer Grade Structure

Officer accessions for fiscal year 1977 totaled 9,839. The following table provides a breakdown of the various sources through which the Army procured its new officers:

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Fiscal Year 1977 Officer Procurement By Source

a Includes administrative gains such as recall from retired list and interservice transfers.

For the third consecutive year, enrollment in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) increased. During the 1976-77 school year, there were 54,671 Army ROTC students, compared to 48,400 students in 1975-76. Female enrollment increased at an even faster rate, from 9,324 to 11,838. For some time ROTC has been the major source of officers for the active Army. Now a concerted effort is being made to increase the number of officers entering the reserve components through ROTC. By 1981, the ROTC program will have to produce about 10,000 officers a year to meet the retirements of the total Army. In order to reach that goal, the Army intensified its management of the entire ROTC program.

In addition to fostering continued growth in enrollment, the Army this year placed particular emphasis on improving unproductive ROTC units. The number of units with fewer than seventeen students enrolled in the third year decreased from eighty-seven in school year 1975-76 to thirty-six in 1976-77. Better management of ROTC cadets selected for active duty for training (ADT) with the Army National Guard and the Army Reserve also received high priority, and an automated system specifically designed to keep track of ROTC-ADT officers was developed. Of the 1,942 ROTC seniors selected for the ADT program, forty-nine percent were scheduled to attend the Officer Basic Course during the summer months, compared to only ten percent of last year's 1,747 ADT selectees.

Approximately twenty percent of this year's ROTC seniors were assigned to the infantry and about ten percent to armor, because those two branches had the greatest officer shortages. In addition to the Army's mobilization requirements, criteria for branch assignment included previous experience and education, recommendations from professors of military science, and individual preferences. Fifty-two percent of the cadets received their first choice of branches and seventeen percent their second choice; only eight percent did not receive any of their four choices.

During fiscal year 1977 Congress passed two laws relating to the ROTC program. Public Law 95-79 provided for at least one Senior ROTC unit in each state. The unit must be located at an approved edu-

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cational institution, sanctioned by the governor of the state, and must have at least forty students. Public Law 95-111 precluded expenditure of funds for schools whose third-year military science enrollment was lower than seventeen students for five consecutive years.

The Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel convened a study group in August 1977 to find out whether current and projected officer accession programs would support the Army's mobilization requirements in the current fiscal year and in fiscal years 1979 and 1983. The study group recognized the need for a more detailed examination of commissioned and warrant officer requirements and assets by specialty and branch. It recommended actions that should increase accessions, use present assets better, and improve the training of ROTC cadets and ROTC-ADT junior officers. Separate annexes for the Army Medical Department, Chaplains, and The Judge Advocate General's Corps isolated their particular problems and presented specific recommendations applicable to their situations.

The authorized commissioned officer end strength for the Army Medical Department (AMEDD) for fiscal year 1977 was 15,822, compared to 15,159 for fiscal year 1976. Authorized and actual strength by corps as of 30 September 1977 was as follows:

The following table summarizes AMEDD officer procurement (active duty accessions) during fiscal year 1977 by branch and source

a Includes ROTC.
b Includes reserve recalls and reserve officers brought to active duty.
c Includes 11 Health Professions Scholarship Program withdrawals.
d For MOS 911A/SSI 011A (Physicians' Assistant).
e for MOS/SSI 202A (Medical Maintenance Officer).

As shown in the table above, student programs were by far the largest source of new officers for the Army Medical Department in fiscal year 1977. A total of 1,834 students participated in the Army's Health Professions Scholarship Program. There were 517 graduates, distributed as follows: 330 in medicine, 132 in dentistry, 32 in veterinary medicine, 22 in optometry, and 1 in podiatry. From a total of 1,745 scholarship applicants, the Army selected 528 medical, 59 dental, 32 veterinary medicine,

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and 22 optometry students. After this year, incoming dental students will no longer be eligible for scholarships under that program.

In August 1977 the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences at Bethesda, Maryland, began its second year of operations. At the end of the fiscal year, 98 students were attending the university, 37 of whom were designated as Army participants. The first graduating class is expected to provide twelve physicians for the Army in 1980.

This year the Army Medical Department intensified its recruitment efforts and directed them toward fully qualified specialists as well as potential participants in Army graduate medical education programs. In the Army Nurse Corps procurement of officers with baccalaureate degrees in nursing received special emphasis. Applications for the Walter Reed Army Institute of Nursing, which will close in 1978, were no longer accepted. Recruitment for direct accessions to the Dental Corps was delayed for two months in the spring of 1977, pending a decision on yearend strength authorizations. To reduce anticipated losses, selected dental officers scheduled for release were encouraged to remain on active duty. The congressional decision to discontinue the special pay of $100 per month for veterinary officers entering active duty after 30 June 1975 continued to impede recruitment of veterinarians. There were no problems with the procurement of officers for the Army Medical Specialist Corps, and accessions for the Medical Service Corps were sufficient to meet requirements, except in the nuclear medical science and optometry specialties. Since fiscal year 1977 was the final year for warrant officer accessions from the Military Physicians' Assistant Program, direct appointment of civilian-trained physicians' assistants will begin in the active Army effective 1 October 1977. Such a program has been in effect in the reserve components since 1976.

Although the Army expects to acquire increasing numbers of physicians through ROTC and the Health Professions Scholarship Program, the Medical Corps during the next five years will need more than 250 volunteers a year. Special efforts this year to increase Medical Corps accessions included revised application procedures and shorter application processing times, greater emphasis on media advertising, national mail campaigns, invitations to selected former medical officers to return to active duty, and a contract study of the factors that motivate physicians to enter and remain in the Army. Nevertheless, Medical Corps strength continued to decline. The assigned strength of the corps at the beginning of fiscal year 1977 was 4,368; by the end of the year it was 4,056, well below the authorized year-end strength of 4,738.

Recognizing the seriousness of increasing Medical Corps shortages, The Surgeon General in March 1977 called together a group of forty-five officers to identify the barriers to retention of physicians in the Army and to develop a plan for overcoming them. The plan developed by the group

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focused on eleven major issues and seventy-six distinct goals. The most important issue was that retention will be impeded unless mission is adjusted to match available resources. Incentives, such as special pay and continuing health education funding, should be predictable and evenly applied. Orientation and transition to active duty and career progression planning should be improved. Efforts should also be devoted to improving professional satisfaction and the physician's image in the military community. Other major issues included expansion of a contract surgeon program and protection of benefits from erosion. The Surgeon General accepted the plan in concept and created an ad hoc panel, chaired by the Deputy Surgeon General, to review it and oversee its implementation.

The number of officer promotions increased for the third consecutive year. Excluding the Medical and Dental Corps, 663 officers were promoted to colonel, 1,821 to lieutenant colonel, 3,023'to major, 4,957 to captain, 278 to CW-4, and 1,155 to CW-3.

In January 1976 Secretary of the Army Martin R. Hoffmann had established promotion reconsideration boards, known as relook boards, to give another chance to officers not selected for temporary promotion to the grades of lieutenant colonel, major, CW-4, and CW-3 in 1974 and 1975 by boards that did not include reserve officers. The relook boards that met between 30 March and 18 October 1976 recommended 1,177 officers for promotion. Additional boards met later in fiscal year 1977. By the end of the year, a total of 1,203 officers had been recommended for promotion and 1,006 of these had been promoted, including 204 former officers who returned to active duty in their new grades. Meanwhile, on 11 May 1977 Secretary of the Army Alexander directed that new selection boards with appropriate numbers of reserve officers be convened to reconsider all primary zone officers originally considered for promotion to the grades of lieutenant colonel, CW-4, and CW-3 in 1971 and 1972. The first of those relook boards convened on 13 September 1977.

In a major step toward full implementation of the Officer Personnel Management System (OPMS), the Army for the first time considered OPMS specialties in the promotion selection process. Official guidance to the board that met in July and August 1977 to select officers for promotion to full colonel required consideration of each officer's primary and alternate specialty. After the board made its initial selections, it received a list of twenty-seven specialties in which a shortage in the grade of colonel was projected for the next twelve months. The board was given minimum promotion quotas for these specialties and instructed to select additional officers from those best qualified to fill the projected shortages. Officers selected to meet the additional quotas were to be true specialists, as shown by previous experience and demonstrated expertise. Furthermore, only those who have already been recommended by at

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least one of the board's voting panels were to be considered eligible. It was understood that if the board determined that the total number of best qualified officers within a specialty did not support additional selections for promotion, a shortfall would be acceptable.

An important element of the Officer Personnel Management System is centralized selection of commanders for Army troop units, logistical organizations, and engineer districts. This year 161 colonels and 443 lieutenant colonels were selected for command positions, while overall command opportunity at these levels declined to approximately thirty-two percent and thirty percent, respectively. The Army extended command tours in Europe to twenty-four months, but command tours in the Forces Command and the Training and Doctrine Command remained at eighteen months. Procedures for selecting project managers for weapons systems and other complex programs were more closely aligned to the colonel-level command selection process, and twenty-five project managers were selected.

The Army Medical Department (AMEDD) has its own command selection program tailored to the specific needs of the department. During fiscal year 1977, the program was fully implemented for the Medical Corps, Dental Corps, and Medical Service Corps, and the first AMEDD Corps Immaterial Command Selection Board met to consider eligible Medical Corps and Medical Service Corps officers to command certain medical research and development units. A total of forty-one colonels and thirty lieutenant colonels were selected for fiscal year 1977 AMEDD command positions. Also, after two years of preparation and staffing, the AMEDD Officer Professional Development and Utilization Guide was issued as DA Pamphlet 600-4 in May 1977.

By the end of fiscal year 1977, Congress still had not enacted the Defense Officer Personnel Management Act (DOPMA). The proposed legislation would amend existing laws governing the appointment, promotion, separation, and retirement of commissioned officers serving on active duty in the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps below the grade of brigadier general or rear admiral. By establishing common personnel management procedures for all officers, it would eliminate or reduce inequities between regular and reserve officers, male and female officers, and officers of the same grade in different services. The Department of Defense expects passage of the DOPMA legislation by the 95th Congress.

Manpower Management

The Army defines manpower management as the planning, programming, development, and evaluation of organizational structures to include determination of requirements, allocation of resources, and review of manpower use. The objective of manpower management is to maintain combat effectiveness with minimum manpower.

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An important Army study completed in fiscal year 1977, the Manpower Management Survey Program Study, concluded that the on-site manpower management survey (an organizational survey, a functional survey, a management review, a consultative study, or a combination) is a necessary and vital part of the total integrated manpower cycle in the Army. Such surveys measure past and projected work loads and translate them into terms of minimum manpower requirements.

The Use of Military Manpower Study, also completed this year, addressed the potential conversion of military to civilian positions. The study concluded that, aside from changing requirements, the Army has met, if not exceeded, its capacity to fill military positions with civilians without seriously reducing its combat potential.

Although borrowed military manpower-soldiers who perform work other than that to which assigned-has been used for essential support requirements by armies throughout the ages, manpower managers have always tried to minimize its impact on unit training and readiness. The Army's manpower management policies generally have not permitted the use of military personnel to offset losses in the civilian work force. In recent years, however, the cumulative effect of military and civilian strength reductions without corresponding decreases in mission or work load has been so adverse that commanders could not sustain essential operations without borrowed military manpower. In fiscal .year 1977, the Army had to divert an average of 13,000 soldiers a day from their normal military duties in order to perform necessary support tasks.

After another civilian manpower reduction was announced for fiscal year 1978, the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs informed the Assistant Secretary of Defense that the Army would not use reduction-in-force to achieve that cut. Instead, the Army would decrease civilian strength through attrition and would eliminate an equivalent number of positions from authorization documents. When possible, work loads would also be decreased. When the work load could not be reduced, the Army would increase the use of borrowed military manpower, but only to the extent necessary.

In December 1976 the Army completed a major civilian substitution program begun in July 1973. During that period, 14,080 positions were converted from military to civilian. The converted positions were largely in the continental United States and in clerical work, administration, supply and maintenance, motor transport, food service, recreation, and medical care. The average grade of the former military position was E-4; the average grade of the new civilian position was GS-4. The conversion made soldiers available for reassignment to troop units, diminished the impact of civilian manpower reductions by creating new jobs, and increased stability and continuity, since civilians tend to stay longer in the

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same job than soldiers. Net savings to the Army associated with the substitution program were approximately $21 million.

Further large-scale conversion of military to civilian positions cannot be absorbed within the current enlisted force structure without inhibiting development of military specialty skills and reducing the number of military positions below the level necessary to maintain an adequate rotation and expansion base in support of the sixteen-division force. Accordingly, the Army has not planned any additional civilian substitution programs for the near future. New rotation base instructions issued in July 1977 listed the military skills which must be retained in units stationed within the continental United States in order to provide proper career development and at least a minimum tour in the United States between overseas assignments. The directive forbade further civilian substitution or contractual service in selected military occupational specialties and should alleviate the rotation base problem. The instructions will be updated annually to reflect current Army requirements.

The Army's budgeted grade structure projects the number of personnel, by grade, available for assignment and provides the basis of procurement and promotion programs. For several years an imbalance has existed between the budgeted grade structure and the grades reflected in The Army Authorization Documents System. A primary cause was that grades in authorization documents had been established through grading standards and job evaluation factors that did not consider career progression and the budget, which largely controlled the actual grades of personnel available to fill these positions.

Efforts to reduce the imbalance have centered on developing grading standards and a grade structure for each specialty that would produce a better alignment of positions and people. Grade standards for commissioned officers are currently under review to improve the grade structure while maintaining the integrity of the grading system. Changes in career management fields within the Enlisted Personnel Management System, especially the revision of standards of grade authorizations, will relieve enlisted grade imbalance. For officers and enlisted persons alike, however, those are long-term efforts.

As an interim measure to prevent any increase in the grade imbalance, the Army in 1975 added command grade objectives to program and budget guidance documents distributed periodically to commands and operating agencies. The grade objectives informed each command and agency of its share of grades projected to be available during a particular fiscal year. The commands and agencies were not required to change authorized grades arbitrarily to match the objectives. But in proposing upward adjustments that would exacerbate the imbalance they had to include compensatory downgrading. For The Judge Advocate General's Corps, Chaplains, and the Army Medical Department, grade

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objectives were managed separately to take into consideration special missions and requirements. Although complete elimination of grade imbalance is still some distance away, improvements have been steady. An ad hoc working group was organized this year within the Army Staff to reduce the imbalance further.

A General Officer Steering Committee sponsored by the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff' for Personnel and a Manning Criteria Working Group supported by the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics were also formed during the year. The two groups inquired into a longstanding disagreement between the Training and Doctrine Command and the Materiel Development and Readiness Command over what constituted adequate manning to perform automotive maintenance. Their preliminary findings suggested a need to review manning criteria for all maintenance functions as well as a stringent examination of the basic planning of all manning criteria. In a related matter, the General Accounting Office undertook a review of manning criteria for aviation maintenance below the depot level.

In December 1976 the Chief of Staff directed the Army Staff to develop an improved system for determining officer requirements. Before that could be accomplished, a more precise procedure was needed for deciding whether a position should be filled by a commissioned officer, a warrant officer, an enlisted person, or a civilian. The Army intends to award a contract for a thorough study of that problem in fiscal year 1978.

Military Compensation

The Third Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation, a comprehensive two-year study that began in January 1975, was completed in January 1977. The draft report submitted to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld included the following recommendations: Military compensation should be a modernized pay and allowance system rather than a salary and should be comparable with the private sector and the federal civil service. Basic pay should be adjusted in relation to civil service salaries; allowances for quarters and subsistence should remain tax-free. The unique conditions, obligations, and hardships of military service should be recognized by the traditional institutional benefits of commissaries, post exchanges, health care, and morale, welfare, and recreation programs. Assignments involving a particular risk or hazard, such as demolition or parachute duty, should be recognized through the system of special and incentive pays.

Secretary Rumsfeld decided not to take action on the report in the last days of the Ford administration, referring it to the new Secretary of Defense, Dr. Harold Brown. In June 1977 President Carter appointed a blue-ribbon panel to restudy the question of military compensation from a fresh point of view. That group was to review the findings of the Third

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Quadrennial Review and several other studies on the same subject, including the Defense Manpower Commission report that recommended a fully taxable salary for members of the armed forces. The President's Commission on Military Compensation was expected to resolve those differences and to propose an integrated, long-term policy fair to both taxpayers and military personnel. The commission was to submit its report through the Secretary of Defense to the President by 15 March 1978.

Maximum military basic pay does not increase automatically with each military pay raise but is limited by law to the rates established for civilian positions classified at level V of the Executive Schedule. Effective 1 October 1976, that level was $39,600, which meant that all three- and four-star generals received the same basic pay. When the ceiling was raised to $47,500 in February 1977, basic pay for three-star generals increased to $43,805 and that for four-star generals to $47,500.

The mechanism to adjust military as well as civilian retired pay in relation to changes in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was revised and the so-called one percent "kicker" to retired pay was eliminated in October 1976. Before that, whenever the CPI rose by three percent over the index figure that had generated the last retired pay increase and remained at or above that level for three consecutive months, retired pay increased by the highest percentage reached during that period plus an additional one percent. Now, increases in retired pay occur on 1 March and 1 September of each year and increase by the same percentage as the CPI increased between the preceding January through, June or July through December.

Last year President Ford reallocated twenty-five percent of the October 1976 military basic pay raise to basic allowance for quarters, which is the maximum permitted by law. This year, President Carter decided that only twelve percent of the October 1977 pay raise would be reallocated to the tax-free quarters allowance.

On 30 September 1977 President Carter signed a bill extending variable incentive pay for physicians and dentists for another year and reinstating special pay for veterinarians and optometrists. Although stipends for students already enrolled in the Armed Forces Health Professions Scholarship Program continued to be tax exempt, Congress deferred relief for new students entering the program after 1976, pending further study of tax relief for all federal health professions scholarship recipients. The Department of Defense, however, remained confident that the tax exemption would be reestablished or stipends would be increased to cover the tax liability.

Legislation enacted in July 1977 set the pay for new service academy and Senior ROTC cadets at $313.20 per month and provided that it be

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adjusted annually when active duty pay is increased. Special provisions were made for cadets who were enrolled in an academy or ROTC program at the time of enactment.

In June 1977 Congress amended the law authorizing garnishment of pay of federal employees, including members of the armed forces, for child support and alimony. Since the original law of 1 January 1975 had placed no limit on the amount of pay that could be withheld, some state courts took up to 100 percent of a soldier's pay. The new law provided that only half of the pay of an individual having a second family could be withheld and set a 60 percent limitation for individuals without second families. An additional garnishment of 5 percent was authorized in cases where child support and alimony payments were more than twelve weeks in arrears. The U.S. Army Finance and Accounting Center, the agency responsible for processing all garnishment orders for active duty, reserve component, and retired Army personnel, honored approximately 3,000 writs and paid out over $1.5 million during fiscal year 1977.

Since passage of the Tax Reform Act of 1976 many states have concluded agreements with the Treasury Department for automatic withholding of state income taxes from service members' pay. In July 1977 the Finance and Accounting Center began withholding state income tax from the pay of soldiers who were legal residents of Alabama, Delaware, Iowa, Kansas, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina, Utah, and Virginia. Soldiers whose legal residence was in Idaho, New Jersey, New York, or Pennsylvania, also had income tax withheld, but only if they were stationed in their home state. In August automatic withholding began for legal residents of Colorado, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia; Kentucky, Louisiana, Nebraska, and Oklahoma were added in September.

Effective 28 October 1976 the mileage allowance for military personnel performing permanent change of station travel was increased from eight cents to ten cents per mile, which is the maximum authorized by law. With the concurrence of the other services, the Army has forwarded proposed legislation to the Department of Defense to authorize the service secretaries to establish appropriate rates.

In December 1976 the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel decided that programs which affect service members, retirees, and dependents financially should be reviewed quarterly to give the Army staff more information on the needs of the soldier as well as on budget, congressional, and Department of Defense requirements. During fiscal year 1977, sixty-two programs were reviewed and the results published and distributed throughout the Army.

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Equal Opportunity

The Total Army goals announced by the Secretary of the Army and the Chief of Staff in September 1977 included the following statement:

An army which is to be creative, dynamic, and effective in the fullest sense is an army which identifies and then employs to the fullest degree the talents of all those who fill its ranks. There will be equal opportunity for all, and the assurance of this equal opportunity is a major managerial and command responsibility. Support of affirmative actions programs within the Army is unequivocal.

The goal of the Army's Affirmative Actions Plan (AAP) is to identify and eliminate institutional discrimination in the active Army and in the reserve components. The new AAP, adopted in June 1975, provided for an annual assessment of race relations and equal opportunity programs in the Army. The first annual assessment, published in December 1976, noted statistical trends which indicated progress in many areas. Of particular importance was the heightened awareness of individual commanders and supervisors resulting in closer monitoring of personnel matters. In addition to describing current status and trends, the report outlined significant management actions undertaken as a result of the 1975 AAP, identified problem areas where discrimination still existed, and recommended actions to isolate and correct causes.

Existing equal opportunity regulations and directives were revised, updated to reflect changing conditions, and combined into a single regulation, AR 600-21, published in June 1977 with an effective date of 1 September. The new regulation stressed greater flexibility and command involvement in two major areas of the Army's equal opportunity program: affirmative action and training. Commanders were to establish their own goals, develop action-oriented plans, and follow through to achieve those goals. They were also required to tailor training to meet local needs, using their own judgment as to the frequency, length, method, and type of training. Finally, the regulation emphasized more active participation and greater command involvement in the Army's equal opportunity program for the reserve components. The new regulation was one of the major discussion topics at the Army's Equal Opportunity and Equal Employment Opportunity Conference, held in the Pentagon in June 1977.

Opportunities for women in the Army have been growing steadily and rapidly. In the past five years, female strength in the active Army has quadrupled, rising to a total of 51,796 by 30 September 1977. During fiscal year 1977, the number of women officers increased from 5,150 to 5,696 and the number of enlisted women from 44,461 to 46,094. At the end of the year, women constituted 6.7 percent of the commissioned officer strength and 6.8 percent of the enlisted force.

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Female strength in the reserve components also continued to expand. As of 30 September 1977, in the selected reserve there were 12,334 women in the Army National Guard and 21,660 in the Army Reserve. The Army has been able to fill its enlisted women quotas consistently with high caliber applicants. Projections indicate about 89,500 women on active duty by the end of fiscal year 1983, with an additional 22,030 in the National Guard and 44,900 in the Army Reserve.

Precommissioning programs for women also gained momentum. As of 30 September 1977, the United States Military Academy at West Point had 81 female cadets in the class of 1980 and 92 in the class of 1981. Of the 119 women who entered the academy in July 1976, 32 percent dropped out, compared to a 30 percent attrition rate for male cadets from the same class. In general, women performed as well as men during their first year at West Point, and there were few problems resulting from their admission.

In the 1976-77 school year, 11,838 women were enrolled in ROTC, 21.65 percent of the total ROTC enrollment and an increase of 2,514 since last year; 495 women received commissions through ROTC this year, and about 845 were expected to graduate in the summer of 1978. ROTC will soon become the Army's major source of female officers; the Women's Army Corps direct commission program ended in September 1977. Women began to attend Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia, together with men, in November 1976. In order to equalize opportunities for women to seek commissions from civilian life, the previously all-male Officer Candidate School enlistment option for college graduates was opened in June 1977 to females.

Also in June, the Army decided to provide common entry-level training for all men and women without prior service. Conversion to the new basic training course began in September at Fort McClellan, Alabama, and Fort Jackson, South Carolina. Officer and noncommissioned officer positions will be interchangeable for men and women at the company, battalion, and brigade level, giving women the opportunity to command and occupy leadership positions. Meanwhile, the Women's Army Corps (WAC) Center and School at Fort McClellan was discontinued on 31 December 1976 and the two WAC training battalions, headquarters, and all training facilities merged with the Military Police School to form a new training brigade of six battalions that will train both men and women.

A comprehensive study on women in the Army, conducted by a special study group under the guidance of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel, was completed and published in December 1976. The study group concluded that the Army's program provided for full and effective employment of women consistent with the current and future needs of the Army. It also identified areas requiring further investigation. In April

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1977 the Army held a symposium, attended by representatives of the Department of Defense, the Secretary of the Army, the Army staff, major Army commands, and the other services, to assure continued high-level interest in activities and issues relating to women in the Army. This year, for the first time, female soldiers participated in the annual REFORGER exercises, as the Army studied the effect of women on unit mission during deployment and operations under extended field conditions.

At the end of fiscal year 1977, women officers were serving in all branches except infantry, armor, field artillery and air defense artillery. Of the 377 enlisted military occupational specialties, 348, or 92 percent, were open to women, including such nontraditional jobs as diver, construction surveyor, dog trainer, air traffic controller, and military police. A total of 190 female officers and 1,728 enlisted women were performing the full spectrum of law enforcement duties in various types of military police units worldwide, representing 6.11 percent of the active Army's military police force. The number of female judge advocates increased from 42 to 56 during the year.

As of 30 September 1977, there were also 57 blacks, 11 Mexican Americans, 7 Puerto Ricans, and 10 Orientals in the Judge Advocate General's Corps, out of a total of 1,691 officers. About 7.4 percent of all commissioned officers, 6.7 percent of warrant officers, and 29.1 percent of enlisted personnel in the active Army were members of minorities. Members of minorities were serving in combat units in proportion to their total number in the Army.

Leadership and Motivation

Each year the Chief of Staff meets with senior commanders to discuss issues and challenges facing the Army. Seventeen generals, including commanders of unified and major Army commands, attended the 1976 Army Commanders' Conference, held in the Pentagon from 29 November to 2 December. The agenda, organized around the theme "the total Army," provided for discussions of active and reserve component programs and initiatives.

The Chief of Staff also hosted the third annual Army Leadership Seminar in August 1977. Sixty-three retired four-star generals were invited, and forty attended. The purpose was to seek the counsel of the Army's former leaders on current policies as well as programs and goals for the future.

In May 1977 the Chief of Staff directed the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel to review Army regulations and eliminate policies which undermine the special trust and confidence vested in officers. The review group identified 197 Army policies detrimental to officer trust. Some were essentially sound management practices or were required by other

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overriding considerations. Others misrepresented Army policy, were established by local directives rather than Army regulations, or were resolved before the review was completed. Finally, some unnecessarily degraded officer trust. The majority in the latter category were traceable to such factors as excessive certification and documentation, needless centralization and over-management, and the tendency to do extra, unnecessary work "just to be on the safe side." In addition to recommending specific policy changes, the review group noted that the Army must have a comprehensive and systematic approach to ethical education and that commanders must discipline officers who violate their trust.

Organizational effectiveness (OE) is a systematic military adaptation of modern management practices, behavioral science methods, and leadership techniques that have been used successfully in industry since the 1950's. After three years of intensive study, the Army officially adopted the OE concept on 1 July 1975 when it established the Organizational Effectiveness Training Center at Fort Ord, California. The center, which became a special activity of the Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) on 1 April 1977, trained 139 organizational effectiveness staff officers during fiscal year 1977. TRADOC meanwhile developed training modules to provide OE instruction at all Army service schools. Courses were also designed for senior officers, and OE seminars were conducted at the Command and General Staff College and the National Defense University. In November 1976 the Chief of Staff convened a study group to assess the status of Army-wide OE activities and training and to recommend an appropriate long-term strategy for the development of organizational effectiveness in the Army.

As a result of the study group's recommendations, approved by the Chief of Staff in April 1977, a separate division was formed in the Directorate of Human Resources Development in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel with responsibility for overall management of OE matters. A special office was also established within the Management Directorate, Office of the Chief of Staff, to provide OE consulting services to the Army staff. By the end of the fiscal year, major Army commands had converted 205 manpower spaces for organizational effectiveness staff officers and were conducting active OE programs.

The decision by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) to open its membership to military personnel attracted national attention and was the subject of considerable discussion throughout the year. The decision was made at the AFGE national convention in September 1976, but no funds for recruitment of military members were authorized at that time. When the question of permitting union leaders to organize military personnel was submitted to a vote of the general membership in June 1977, it was soundly rejected; some eighty percent

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of those voting said no. As a result, the president of the union announced that AFGE did not expect to renew its efforts to unionize the armed forces in the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, legislation that would make military unionization illegal was introduced in both houses of Congress. The Senate passed the bill by a vote of 72 to 3, but by the end of the fiscal year the House of Representatives had taken no action. Meanwhile, the Department of Defense completed an extensive legal review and was preparing a directive that would prohibit the formation of military unions.

The Army has consistently maintained that military unions are totally incompatible with effective command and military discipline. In addition to supporting legislation and directives forbidding unionization, Army leaders also addressed the fundamental factors that would make union membership attractive to the average soldier. The Secretary of the Army and the Chief of Staff stressed the importance of reaffirming commitments already made to service members and their dependents, stopping further erosion of benefits, and expressing, through word and deed, concern for their welfare.

Alcohol and Drug Abuse

A total of 22,543 soldiers started rehabilitation under the Army's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Program (ADAPCP) during fiscal year 1977 (53.8 percent for alcohol-related problems and 46.2 percent for abuse of drugs). This was a substantial decrease from the 31,322 in fiscal year 1976 and the transition quarter, of which 40 percent had been for alcohol and 60 percent for drugs. Average monthly case loads also dropped from 16,370 to 14,770. Abuse of hard drugs appears to be a greater problem overseas, while alcohol abuse is greater among soldiers stationed in the United States. This year, admissions for drug abuse rehabilitation declined markedly, particularly for hard drugs in Europe.

The main emphasis throughout the year was on alcohol abuse, which remains a serious problem in the Army as well as in the civilian population. New methods of early detection and better treatment of alcohol abusers were explored, so that individuals would voluntarily seek help for their problem. The greatest efforts, however, were in the area of prevention. The Army continued to stress that abstinence from alcohol is as acceptable as its use at all social functions and is definitely preferable to over-consumption. Regulations were published aimed at controlling the accessibility and attractiveness of alcoholic beverages at Army clubs around the world. Among the instructions to deglamorize and deemphasize the use of alcohol were: discontinuing service of alcoholic beverages to intoxicated individuals and arranging for transportation to their quarters, reducing the number of hours per week when alcoholic

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beverages were served at lower prices, and prohibiting stacking of drinks. Some commanders issued more stringent rules. The Commander in Chief, U.S. Army, Europe, for example, prohibited all "happy hours" or reduced prices on any alcoholic beverages in Europe.

Crime, Discipline, and Military Justice

Crime continued to decrease and discipline improved in the Army during fiscal year 1977. The rate of crime and incidents dropped from last year's levels in virtually all categories. Command emphasis on discipline and professionalism, stabilization of tours, and effective administrative procedures for eliminating unsatisfactory personnel contributed to the overall improvement. The statistics are particularly impressive when compared to the figures for fiscal year 1973, the last year of the draft. Table 1 shows the various statistical indicators of lack of discipline by quarter from January 1972 to September 1977. The substantial decreases in absence without leave, desertion, and courts-marital reflect the improving quality of the volunteer Army.

Court-martial statistics for fiscal year 1977 were as follows:

a In 739 of these cases, the approved sentence included a bad conduct discharge.

In accordance with a Department of Defense directive, the Army once again prepared the annual report on foreign criminal jurisdiction over Defense personnel and their dependents for submission to the Senate Armed Services Committee. Between 1 December 1975 and 30 November 1976 there were 52,422 cases in which U.S. military or civilian personnel stationed overseas or their dependents were charged with offenses subject to the jurisdiction of foreign courts. Of those offenses, 47,717 were charged against military personnel, including 35,129 against members of the Army. A total of 18,617 charges against military personnel involved violations of both U.S. and foreign law, with the host country having primary jurisdiction, but foreign countries waived that right in 15,527 cases (83.4 percent). The worldwide waiver rate for soldiers was 97.2 percent, for Army military personnel stationed in NATO countries 98.3 percent. As of 30 November 1976, there were 214 members of the U.S. armed forces in foreign confinement, including 99 soldiers, compared to a total of 302 service members and 124 soldiers on 30 November 1974.

In recent years the management of law enforcement, particularly at larger installations, has become increasingly complex. After evaluation and testing, Forces Command recommended that one headquarters man-

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TABLE 1 - INDISCIPLINE INDEX
(Rate per 1,000)

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age all law enforcement activities at a given Army installation. The test demonstrated that law enforcement, crime prevention, resource management, and readiness could be substantially improved under centralized management. At the end of September 1977, the Army staff was evaluating that concept.

This year the Army made a special effort to align .military police resources with requirements and identify potential manpower savings. Plans developed by the Army staff during fiscal year 1977 should result in savings of more than 3,000 military spaces by the end of fiscal year 1980. In another action to improve efficiency, the Training and Doctrine Command and the Forces Command were authorized to obtain 227 heavy duty commercial sedans for use as police vehicles; the use of compact and subcompact automobiles in law enforcement proved to be a drain on the maintenance system and less economical.

The Army's Military Police Investigator (MPI) Program continued to develop during fiscal year 1977. MPI responsibilities were expanded to include the investigation of all offenses punishable by one year of confinement or less and all crimes against property valued under $250. As, a result, criminal investigation agents were able to concentrate on more serious crimes and on crime prevention. When the Under Secretary of the Army delegated telephone tracing authority to major Army commanders, the response time in investigating bomb threats was considerably reduced. The Army has encouraged attendance at drug enforcement training courses taught by the National Training Institute of the Drug Enforcement Administration; this year sixty military police investigators and supervisors successfully completed the two-week course.

The various subsystems of the Military Police Management Information System (MPMIS), designed to automate and standardize certain reporting functions, continued to expand. Forty-three installations were operating under the Vehicle Registration System, and seventeen confinement facilities were using the Correctional Reporting System by the end of the fiscal year. The Prisoner of War Information System was installed at three sites: Fort Meade, Maryland; Fort McClellan, Alabama; and Camp McCoy, Wisconsin. This subsystem will be useful in training reserve component units responsible for handling prisoners of war. The Offense Reporting System, as redesigned and approved by major Army commands, has been scheduled for testing in fiscal year 1978.

Last year the Chief of Staff directed the Army staff to evaluate existing standards regarding the acquisition, use, disposition, arid dissemination of criminal records. The Army Crime Records Policy Study, completed and approved in July 1977, concluded that the Army's law enforcement agencies were maintaining and using criminal records in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act

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of 1974. It did, however, point out some areas of concern and recommended broad policy guidelines as well as specific changes to current regulations and directives in order to clarify Army policy. The study also recommended coordinated efforts to develop compatible automated Army criminal justice record keeping systems and established the basis of the commander's authority to use crime records for criminal justice and administrative purposes.

Another Army study completed during fiscal year 1977 determined the proper role for law enforcement agencies in countering terrorism on military installations and in assisting other federal agencies to counter the terrorist threat. Also, a plan called PEOPLE was developed as a result of an Army-wide assessment of provost marshal and military police activities, conducted from March to September 1976. PEOPLE is the acronym for the official title, "Plan to Elevate Organizational Professionalism in Law Enforcement."

Meanwhile, a professional ethics committee, established in March 1975 by The judge Advocate General, continued to review cases of alleged professional misconduct by judge advocates. The committee can recommend that the individual involved be counseled by his staff judge advocate, be reprimanded, or, in extreme cases, be indefinitely suspended or have his certificate withdrawn. If approved, the recommendations of the committee are carried out by order of The Judge Advocate General.

A new policy delaying the certification of judge advocates as defense counsel went into effect on 1 April 1977. In the past, officers had been certified upon completion of the judge advocate basic course. Under the new policy, attorneys must have a minimum of four months of practical experience as assistant defense counsel or as trial counsel in general or special courts-martial before they can be recommended for certification.

The military magistrate program underwent further development in fiscal year 1977. In August 1976 military judges had been empowered to perform magisterial duties, and by the end of June 1977 they had replaced all full-time judge advocate magistrates. Effective 15 November 1976, a military magistrate of the Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, or Coast Guard could review the pretrial confinement of Army personnel in the other service's facilities, provided such review was authorized by the Chief, U.S. Army judiciary, or his designee.

A proposal to amend the Uniform Code of Military justice was part of the Department of Defense legislative program for the 95th Congress. The major goal was to simplify and reduce work loads created by the automatic appellate review of all courts-martial in which the sentence includes a discharge or dismissal or confinement of one year or more. Under the proposed change, cases would receive appellate review only if the accused filed a timely appeal, but the accused would retain all

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existing appellate rights if he chose to appeal. The discretionary appellate review would establish procedures in the military judicial system similar to those in federal appellate courts. Other proposed changes included significant reductions in the role of the convening authority, entitlement to no more than one military defense counsel, and a modified record of trial.

One of the most important responsibilities of the judge Advocate General's Corps is to ensure that each soldier accused of an offense under the Uniform Code of Military justice receives the best possible defense services. The Judge Advocate General established the Field Defense Services Office effective 1 October 1976. During its first year, the office quickly took an active role in helping military defense lawyers improve their trial skills. In addition to providing trial tactics advice, legal research assistance, and ethical guidance in response to over 775 telephone inquiries from around the world, the Field Defense Services Office held eighteen regional trial practice seminars in the United States, Europe, and the Pacific. Those seminars have been accredited by Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, the only states that have mandatory continuing, legal education requirements for lawyers. The new office also assumed managerial control of The Advocate, a bimonthly journal for military defense counsels.

Civilian Personnel

Civilian personnel strength, about one-third of the Army's total manpower, has been declining steadily since 1969. During fiscal year 1977, appropriated fund civilian employees decreased by another 3.1 percent, from 417,700 to 404,900 (333,100 U.S. citizens and 71,800 foreign nationals).

Continuing reduction in strength, numerous reorganizations and realignments, transfers and consolidations of functions, as well as actual and projected base closures have all contributed to the high degree of turbulence that has been a persistent civilian personnel problem since the end of the war in Vietnam. Curtailment of missions at the Lexington Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky, further reorganization of the Materiel Development and Readiness Command and its subordinate elements, and the decision to close Frankford Arsenal in Philadelphia affected large numbers of civilian employees during fiscal year 1977.

The Army continued its efforts to control the average grade of General Schedule (GS) employees, with particular emphasis on the reduction of positions at grade GS-13 and above, as directed by the Department of Defense. After an Army-wide average-grade goal of 7.5 had been set, staff agencies and major commands were assigned specific high-grade and average-grade ceilings for fiscal years 1977 and 1978. As of 30 September 1977, the average grade of the Army's full-time GS em-

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ployees was 7.58. In the last five years the Army reduced the number of GS-13 through GS-15 positions by eight percent and supergrade positions (GS-16 and above) by twenty percent. Nevertheless, as a result of legislative and administrative actions, there will be further high-grade reductions during the next three years.

In October 1976, the Army staff completed a study on the impact of pay compression and retired pay inversion on the morale, recruitment, and retention of civilian executives. The results of the study, showing an urgent need for relief, were presented to the Commission on Executive, Legislative, and Judicial Salaries. The commission subsequently recommended a substantial executive pay increase, which went into effect in February 1977.

At the beginning of fiscal year 1977, forty-eight installations were operating under the Standard Army Civilian Payroll System (STARCIPS). By the end of the year, the number had increased to sixty-two, and the total number of civilian payroll systems used in the Department of the Army had decreased from thirty-three to only eleven. Extension of STARCIPS to remaining Army installations will continue in 1978. The Assistant Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) has decided, however, that no further consideration will be given to the development of a single Department of Defense Standard Civilian Payroll System.

The Army maintained its good working relationships with labor unions at both the national and local levels. The number of civilian employees covered by exclusive recognition declined slightly during the fiscal year, from 231,000 in 722 bargaining units to 228,000 in 719 units. As of 30 September 1977, about sixty-two percent of the Army's civilian work force had union representation. The first nationwide bargaining unit in the Department of the Army was established when the National Marine Engineers Beneficial Association was recognized in July 1977 as the exclusive representative of 188 licensed marine engineers employed by the Corps of Engineers.

This year the Army again emphasized a variety of special employment programs. A plan for employing disabled veterans and the handicapped increased awareness of the program throughout the Army and expanded opportunities. As a result, 3,054 or 5.3 percent of all civilian accessions during fiscal year 1977 were handicapped persons. The Army continued to fulfill its special obligation to help veterans readjust to civilian life by hiring 9,174 Vietnam-era veterans, 16 percent of newly hired employees. The Army's 1977 summer employment program provided 14,088 jobs for young people, including 8,432 poor youths.

Since enactment of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972, representation and distribution of minorities and women in the civilian work force have increased despite a steady decline in total civilian strength. During fiscal year 1977 members of minorities increased from

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17.5 percent to 17.8 percent of the work force, while women rose from 33.9 percent to 34.5 percent. As of 30 September 1977, 2,734 jobs at grades GS-12 and above were held by members of minorities and 2,516 by women, increases of 41 and 21 percent respectively since 1971. The upward trends were particularly encouraging because the total number of such jobs fell by 9 percent during the same period.

In January 1977 the Department of Defense Affirmative Action Board was established to coordinate efforts throughout the department to increase employment and promotion opportunities for minorities and women at grades GS-15 and above. In a related action, the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs approved expansion of efforts to locate and attract highly qualified minority and female candidates for executive positions whenever Army sources did not produce such candidates.

The Army continued to stress recruitment of minority and women career interns at the GS-5 and GS-7 levels as a means of assuring them equal opportunity for progression into higher paying, more responsible jobs. Upon completion of a formal training program, interns are eligible for noncompetitive promotion to journeyman positions within their career programs. This year the Army hired 181 minority and 447 women interns out of a total of 2,058 career interns selected.

At the end of fiscal year 1977, twenty-one Army-wide civilian career programs covered over 72,000 employees in technical, professional, and administrative occupations. The Army relies on those programs to provide highly qualified civilian specialists and managers. This year, a new records management career program was created, and the manpower and force management career program included an executive development workshop, the first of its type to be held for any Army civilian career program. Also, the basic guidelines within which the career programs operate were revised. The revision defined more clearly the responsibilities and authority of program officials at various levels, standardized procedures for manpower analysis, and changed appraisal, referral, recruitment, training, and equal employment opportunity.

The Army continued to improve and expand its executive development program, using the specific budget line item for civilian executive training approved last year as a valuable tool for managing its executive development funds. The number of managers trained increased from 3,646 in fiscal year 1976 to 5,570 in fiscal year 1977. Efforts to identify future managers continued, as various career program screening panels met and reviewed individual records in search of high executive potential.

Last year the Army began a new Facilities Engineer Apprentice Program to train skilled replacements for the blue collar work force, and by

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the end of September 1976 about 300 apprentices were employed in nine trades at fifty-nine Army installations. Another 300 apprentices were scheduled to enter the program during fiscal year 1977, but the Department of the Army had no funds for the required spaces. Nevertheless, plans have been made to extend the apprentice program to several dozen installations, and six new trades have been added to the program. In accordance with instructions to major Army commands from the Vice Chief of Staff, starting in October 1977, at least twenty-five percent of all vacancies created by retiring facilities-engineer wage grade workers will be filled with apprentices.

On 8 October 1976 the Secretary of the Army personally presented high level civilian awards for exceptional achievement, including outstanding cost saving suggestions, to recipients who came from as far away as Europe. The reinstitution of the awards ceremony as an annual event was part of a special effort to give public recognition and greater visibility to the civilian component of the Army team. The Army also designed a medal for the new Commander's Award, established last year, and introduced a new promotion certificate for presentation to employees (both U.S. citizens and foreign nationals) in appropriate local ceremonies. In addition to recognizing outstanding individual employees, such ceremonies and awards help to improve the morale of the entire civilian work force and make soldiers more aware that civilians are a vital part of the total Army.

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