European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 22, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 b the stars and stripes Friday november 22, 1991army targets 2,000 for retirement by Chuck Vinch Washington Bureau Washington a the army will soon hold its most extensive series of selective Early retirement boards Ever As part of its ongoing Effort to trim More than 40,000 soldiers annually Over the next four years the services personnel chief said wednesday. Boards will Convene in january to target up to 1,700 officers and up to 300 sergeants major and command sergeants major for Early retirement it. Gen. William h. Reno said in an interview. This is the first time the army has considered retirement eligible enlisted personnel for Early release from service Reno said. Reno said the boards which go far beyond similar efforts in recent years will consider a line officers from Captain through colonel. Line officers Are All those who Are not in the Legal chaplain or medical Fields. A judge advocate general corps colonels and lieutenant colonels. A chaplain corps lieutenant colonels. A sergeants major and command sergeants major. The Board for the top two enlisted ranks will consider those with 25 to 28 years of service and at least one year in Grade. The line officer boards will consider colonels with at least two years time in Grade As of Jan. 1 who Are not on a promotion list. They will also consider lieutenant colonels majors and captains with More than 18 years of service As of dec. 31 who Are not on a promotion list and Are not already scheduled to retire in fiscal 1992. The judge advocate general corps boards will consider colonels whose Date of rank is Jan. 1, 1990, or earlier and who Are not on a promotion list. Also considered will be lieutenant colonels with a Date of rank of oct. 31, 1988, or earlier who Are not on a promotion list and have been passed Over for promotion at least once. Another Board will consider lieutenant colonels in the chaplain corps with a Date of rank of May 31, 1987, or earlier who Are not on a promotion list and who have been passed Over for promotion at least once. Results of All boards Are expected to be approved in february. Reno said personnel selected by the boards who will reach 20 years of service by sept. 1 must retire by that Date but those who will not have 20 years by then can stay on Active duty until they  selected will be notified by a general officer in their Chain of command and it a will be done with dignity a Reno said. Once the proper paperwork is submitted the retirement will be treated As any other. A no one will Rush to the bulletin hoards to see who is on the list for selective Early retirement because no one is going to know a selection rules loosened during troop cuts by Chuck Vinch Washington Bureau Washington a Congress has Given the military services far More flexibility to involuntarily retire officers than they have had in the past in an Effort to Speed the downsizing of . Forces. The army selective Early retirement boards scheduled for january for example will be conducted much differently than in the past said it. Gen. William h. Reno the army a personnel chief. Previously for example officers considered by a selective Early retirement Board were shielded from review by subsequent boards for five years. Also colonels could not be considered unless they had at least four years in Grade. Lieutenant colonels could not be considered unless they had been passed Over for promotion twice. Captains and majors were exempt. All those rules have been waived for the duration of the draw Down through fiscal 1995, Reno said. The five year Grandfather Rule and the provision to limit consideration of lieutenant colonels to those who have been passed Over twice for promotion have been waived the time in Grade Rule for colonels has dropped to two years and captains and majors Are now open to review. Reno emphasized that the changes Are temporary. Starting in fiscal 1996, All the old rules such As the five year exclusion provision for those who have been considered for Early retirement once will again apply. There wont be a list a he said. Forcibly retiring soldiers involves a a very Tough traumatic set of decisions a he said. A we know we re affecting the lives of not Only the soldiers but also their families who have made a commitment to the  that is Why the army has pushed so hard for transition benefits and programs to do As much As possible to help soldiers and their families ease Back into civilian life he said. A but these decisions have to be made and made decisively so that we can get on with downsizing the Force a he said. Although selections for Early retirement will Cross the spectrum of career Fields Reno said skills with More people than Are actually needed will have More cuts than others. A we will conduct the boards based upon the requirements of the changing army a Reno said. The most recent statistics show that the army has about 710,000 soldiers including 103,000 officers. By the end of fiscal 1995, the army must have no More than 536,000 people on Active duty including no More than 79,000 officers. In addition to trimming retirement eligible personnel the army is also making changes at the other end of the career pipeline to adjust for its future smaller size. The service has decreased the number of new second lieutenants coming in each year to about 6,000, compared with 8,000 to 10,000 a year at the height of the Reagan Era buildup in the 1980s, Reno said. The army will also encourage As Many voluntary separations and retirements As possible throughout the cutbacks. Reno said he is hopeful that new voluntary separation plans recently approved by Congress will help that Effort. In that regard the army will maintain its Long standing policy of allowing officers to submit voluntary retirement applications up to 12 months in Advance. Those who would like to submit such paperwork before being considered by the Early retirement boards must get applications to their career management division in the army personnel come no later than dec. 19 to allow time for processing. Under the 12-month guideline for voluntary Early retirements officers who pick that option will be allowed to stay on Active duty until Jan. 31 1993. That would boost their retirement pay slightly by allowing them to get the pay raise that takes effect each Jan. 1, Reno said. On the other hand personnel who Are reviewed by one of the january boards and will have 20 years of service by sept. 1 must retire by that Date and would not qualify for the raise he said. Even with a heavy emphasis on voluntary separations and retirements the army will Convene More Early retirement boards each year through fiscal 1995, though they Are not expected to be As wide ranging As the january series Reno said. For example the need for Early retirements in the judge advocate general corps and the chaplain corps Are relatively modest and boards for those branches will probably not Convene every year during the downsizing Reno said. The medical specialities which Are not included in the 1992 Early retirement Effort will have some involuntary separations but those plans Are not completed because Congress has limited the ability of the services to Cut medical personnel Reno said. A there s a lot of analytical work going on As to whether we can reduce medical personnel a Reno  Takeoff of e-3a plane being probed Geilenkirche a Germany a amps a military officials Are investigating an incident in which a nato aircraft aborted its Takeoff earlier this week according to a statement released by the nato base Here. An e-3a sentry airborne warning and control system aircraft or a acs came to rest in the grass at the end of the runway after interrupting its departure from Gei in Skirchen about 8 30 . Tuesday. All Crew members safely evacuated the Ai rent it the statement said. X. No additional information was available wednesday about what caused the Crew to abort Takeoff. The Mission of the nato airborne Early warning Force is to provide Early surveillance information for the three major nato commanders. Its e-3a aircraft Are easily identifiable by a dislike appendage above the fuselage. Lawmakers Tell Dod to pad out request for construction funding by Chuck Vinch Washington Bureau Washington a in an unusual Case of Congress telling the Pentagon it Isnit spending enough lawmakers have made it Clear that military officials should beef up their construction funding request for fiscal 1993. The defense department had hoped to drop military construction spending from about $8.5 billion this fiscal year to $5.5 billion next year with most of that going for improvements to existing facilities rather than new construction. But those plans for a a a pause in military construction As Pentagon officials Call it have not garnered Many supporters on Capitol Hill. A a it a really not All that Clear Why they want to do it a said a House armed services committee staffer. A first hey said they wanted to wait for the Force Structure and base closure business to Settle Down Quot the staffer said. A a then they said they had a Cash outlay problem for fiscal 1993 and the easiest Way to solve it was to lop spending for military  Robert Stone Deputy assistant Secretary of defense for installations acknowledged that budget pressures played a Large role in the Pentagon a fiscal 1993 military construction plans. A last year when we put the budget together we had certain targets to meet in fiscal 1993 through the five or six out years of the Long Range defense plan a Stone said. A we made a lot of spending cuts to meet the realities of the new threat environment As Well As the budget agreement set by Congress and the administration a he said. A a Cut in military construction As bad As it May seem did no to look As bad As some of the  lawmakers would not buy that reasoning. The recently completed defense authorization Bill deferred action on the fiscal 1993 construction spending request calling it a unresponsive Quot to the facility modernization needs of the military services. The report accompanying the House version of the Bill said the Pentagon s request for a pause a reflects a philosophy that military construction is in import  a in fact the House believes the Quality of service members Homes and work places is vital to morale and efficiency a the report said. Congress wants the Pentagon to devise another construction request for Fisca 1993, As part of its Overall budget revision to be unveiled in january that provide a More robust facility modernization of  whatever comes of the revised request it is unlikely to have much overseas construction in it. The fiscal 1992 defense authorization and appropriations Bills contain funding for 11 specified overseas projects Alloi them operational initiatives such As a fue facility a communications Center and a Airfield control Tower. The Only True Quality of life initiative in the Bills is an appropriation of $340,000 to the air Force to turn a unused facility at Rhein main a Ger Many into an addition for the based i child care Center