STUDY OF OVERSEAS EMPLOYEES WHO RETURN SHORT OF TOUR

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00357R000600090024-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 29
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 17, 2001
• Sequence Number: 24
• Content Type: REPORT

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During 1966
Prepared by
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Page
Purpose of Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Scope of Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Findings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Tab A -- Short Tour Returnees by Career Service and
Major Geographical Areas
Tab B -- Length of Short Tours Served
Tab C -- Reasons for Return Short of Tour
Tab D -- Grade Levels of Short of Tour Returnees
Tab E -- Who Pay the Short of Tour Travel Costs?
Tab F -- The "D" Service has the Highest Short Tour Rate
Tab G -- Who Authorizes Returns Short of Tour?
Tab H -- Deferred Decisions Concerning Financial Responsibility
Tab I -- Is all Known Information Being Used?
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1. Purpose of Study: To survey the extent of the problem of employees
returning short of tour from overseas including number, reasons, areas,
etc.; and to develop revisions, as necessary, in Agency policies and
procedures which could result in a reduction in the number of early
returnees.
2. Scope of Study: The case of each employee who returned short of
tour during calendar year 1966 was analyzed on the basis of the following:
career service, grade, date of arrival and departure from the overseas
station and reasons for the return short of tour. The bulk of the data
in the study was provided by the various career services.
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Findings
During each of the past three years, 16% of the Agency's staff
employees did not complete their overseas tours. An analysis of
those employees who returned short of tour during calendar year 1966
reveals the following:
1. Of them employees who returned PCS from overseas assign-
25X9A2 ments, = did not complete their tours. The returns short of tour
for each of the Career Services amounted to five and one-half percent
of their returnees except that for the "D" Service, it ran about 27%.
The number of early returnees from the various major geographical
areas of the world were about in proportion to the total number of
employees assigned to those areas. (TAB A)
2. The average number of months served by short of tour returnees
was 14+.7 months (TAB B). Seven percent of these returnees had served
more than 23 months, while 31.5% had served five or less months. The
"D" Career Service early returnees served 15.6 months as compared to
the 9.2 months served by those in the "SC" Career Service.
3. In most cases the reason for the return of employees short
of tour was determined to be for the convenience of the Government.
Twenty-six percent of the group were brought back from overseas early
to meet priority requirements in other locations, eight percent for
other operational reasons and 15% were because of family reasons. (TAB C)
4. All grade levels, GS-5 through GS-18, had some early returnees.
More than one-half of all employees who returned short of tour were
in grades GS-11 and above. (TAB D)
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Conclusions
1. Normally, the Agency authorizes short of tour returns at
Government expense. Those individuals who were required to pay some
of the return travel costs were usually clerical employees. (TAB E)
2. There appears to be rather widespread feeling on the part
of some employees and supervisory personnel that the Agency should not
hold an individual financially responsible when he breaches his signed
travel agreement. (TAB E)
3. The overall short of tour practices in the "D" Career Service
generally are less strict than in the other Career Services. (TAB F)
4. Present Agency policy may not in every instance encourage or
even permit firm decisions on short of tour problems. (TAB G)
5. The decision as to who will pay return travel costs is some-
times deferred until after the employee returns from overseas. (TAB H)
6. Negative information on employees and/or dependents is not
always available or used during the screening process of prospective
overseas assignees. TAB I)
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Recommendations
1. The Agency should follow an unwritten policy that the short
of tour employee will not be held liable for any travel and transporta-
tion costs. However, unless the reason for return is fully acceptable
to the Head of the Career Service, the employee would no longer be in
good standing within his Career Service.
2. Agency regulations should be amended so that the decision con-
cerning requests for return short of tour would be made by the Head
of the Career Service having jurisdiction over the employee, with the
Director of Personnel monitoring the program. (TAB G)
3. All Heads of Career Services should:
a. Endeavor wherever possible to make more careful long-
range plans for staffing overseas positions.
b. Endeavor to develop a stricter discipline throughout
the Service and hold all participants in the short of
tour decision-making process responsible for their
actions and/or recommendations.
c. Screen employees and their dependents more carefully by
making full use of information available both inside and
outside the Career Service. (TAB I)
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A. SHORT TOUR RETURNEES BY CAREER SERVICES AND MAJOR GEOGRAPHICAL AREAS
25X9A2 Of the _ staff employees who returned PCS from overseas assign-
ments during calendar year 1966, approximately 831, of the -employees 25X9A2
who returned short of tour were from the "D" Career Service, with the
remainder (17%) from the other Career Services. Those returning short of
tour were generally distributed among the major geographical areas of the
world in proportion to the total number of employees assigned to those
areas. However, a slightly higher proportion of early returnees from the
Near East was offset by a lower proportion from the Far East.
The following table shows the distribution of short of tour returnees
by Career Services and by major geographical areas of the world:
Africa
Europe
Near East
Far East
Western
Hemisphere
* Excludes SC Career Service
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D. LENGTH OF SHORT TOURS S AVED
Forty-two percent of Lie "D" Career Service short of tour returnees
had served overseas r:ore than 18 months and seven percent had served at
least 23 months. The "SC" employees who did not complete their overseas
tours returned much sooner than was the case with the "D" Career Service.
For exaxmiple, all "SC" early returnees served a maximum of 18 months with
the average short tour being 9.2 months. Fifty-two percent of the "D"
personnel served 18 . onths or less with an average short tour of 15.6
:- -onths .
In the last minute rush of out processing for an overseas assignment,
the major portion of employees sign a two-year tour agreement. This agree-
may or may not always agree with the verbal understanding had with
Career Service officials. The verbal understanding in many instances is
for a longer length tour and in some instances may be for a tour of perhaps
less than two years. In the latter cases, individuals who return from.
overseas in less than tweet;;--four months do not consider their return to be
short of tour.
The following table shows the number of e>?_ployees by Career Service
who served various lengths of short tours:
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TOTAL
AV. Lt0 .
Ap rod, of~se
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C. REASONS FOR RETURN SHORT OF TOUR
The Agency has followed the general practice of authorizing short of
tour returns for the convenience of the Government. During all of 1966,
25X9A2 only six out of the_short of tour returnees paid some of their return
travel expenses.
Thirty-one percent of the early returnees from the "D" Career Service
was for the purpose of meeting priority assignments in other locations. A
considerable number of this group were for assignment to Vietnam; nine per-
cent of the "D" Service short tours were terminated due to other operational
reasons.
The following summary table enumerates, by reason and by Career Service,
the number of employees who returned
Reasons for Early. Return
1. Priority Reassignment
Requirement
2. Operational Reasons
3. Discontinued Work
Requirements'
4. Medical
5. Resignation, Retire-
ment, Death
6. Home Leave and New
Tour
7. Inefficiency/Employee
Conduct
8. Dissatisfaction with
Job/Surroundings
Personal Reasons:
Family, Marital,
School
10. Marriage to American
11. Marriage to Alien
12. Pregnant
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:ID
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Number of Agency overseas Employees
Returned Short of Tour During 1966
Listed by Grade Level and Reasons for Return
D - CAREER SERVICE
Priority Reassignment Requirement
operational Reasons
Discontinued Work Requirement
Medical
Resignation, Retirement, Death
Home Leave and New Tour
Inefficiency/Employee Conduct
Dissatisfaction With Job/Surroundings
Personal Reasons: Family, Marital, School
Marriage to American
Marriage to Alien
Pregnant
TOTAL
Medical
Inefficiency/Employee Conduct
Personal Reasons: Family, Marital, School
Marriage to Alien
TOTAL
S - CAREER SERVICE (ST, SL, SF)*
Operational Reasons
Inefficiency/Employee Conduct
Personal Reasons: Family, Marital, School
TOTAL
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Number of Agency Overseas Employees
Returned Short of Tour During 1966
Listed by Grade Level and Reasons for Return
I - CAREER SERVICE (IM)*
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Personal Reasons: Family, Marital, School
R - CAREER SERVICE
Medical
Inefficiency/Employee Conduct
Dissatisfaction with Job/Surroundings
TOTAL
* Career Services not listed had no short of tour returnees.
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E. WHO PAYS THE SHORT OF TOUR TRAVEL COSTS?
Regardless of any differences of opinion as to whether the employee
should ever be expected to pay some or all of his travel costs when he
breaches his travel agreement, the Agency in actual practice rarely
requires employees to do so. Out of the - employees who returned 25X9A2
short of tour during 1966, only six, all from the "D" Service, paid
some of the costs; none paid all of the costs.
The concensus of those offices and Career Services having some
responsibility for dealing with the short of tour problem is that
we must tighten our policies and procedures so as to reduce the
number of returns short of tour, particularly in those instances
where the reasons are not clearly for the convenience of the Agency.
There is considerable difference of opinion as to how a drastic
reduction in the number of short of tour cases could be accomplished.
For example, there seems to be a rather widespread feeling that, when
necessary, individuals should be authorized to return short of tour
at Government expense regardless of the reasons involved. This
attitude is based primarily on the belief that the employee holds the
upper hand and that the Agency is largely helpless to other than
authorize his return when he demands it.
The Office of Communications takes the position that an overseas
employee who strongly desires to return home short of tour, for whatever
reason, should be brought back at Government expense. They believe
that such an employee is a liability to the station and to require him
to remain against his will would in the long run create more problems
and cost more than to bring him home. The determination as to an
individual's continued employment and/or future standing in his Career
WF6%cY PBB 9 reaa~ Of} 7 :'L9As >lTy3 99*c b 5return.
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Although the consensus appears to be that individuals who return
short of tour for other than strictly official reasons should be re-
quired to pay their travel and transportation costs in accordance
with the terms of their signed travel agreements (copy attached. It
is quite obvious, however, that the majority of such employees are not
in a position financially to pay their travel and transportation costs
or to reimburse the Government for such expenditures. For example,
a Communicator, GS-7, assigned to the Station, who has a
wife and two small children probably would not be able to pay the
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return travel costs for his family, much less the costs for shipment
of household effects and privately owned vehicle all of which would
amount to perhaps several thousand dollars.
The position of the Clandestine Services generally is that employees
who return short of tour for personal convenience should be expected
to pay their return costs. However, there appears to be something less
than complete uniformity of thinking among the many and widely scattered
officials concerned with the various aspects of this matter as to
exactly the difference between personal and official convenience. This
has led to some confusion, misunderstandings, hard feelings and practices
which range from the very strict to the very lenient. Under present
Agency policy, it is the responsibility of the Director of Personnel
to determine whether or not a service agreement has been breached and,
if so, the employee is expected to pay the travel costs.
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F. THE "D" SERVICE HAS THE HIGHEST SHORT TOUR RATE
The returns short of tour for each of the Career Services amounted to
five and one-half percent of their total returnees except that for the "D"
Service it ran about 27%. It might be interesting to consider some of the
reasons why the rate of early returnees from the "D" Service is five and a
half times greater than for any of the other Career Services. The "D" Service
had a larger number of priority requirements to fill during 1966 than is
normally the case. Thirty-one percent of their early returnees were to meet
priority requirements; nine percent were for a variety of operational reasons
and six percent were due to diminished or discontinued work requirements.
Therefore, 46% of the "D" employees who returned short of tour did so because
of various operational reasons. Thirty percent returned early for the same
reasons as did all the "SC" early returnees. Twenty-four percent of the
group returned early for reasons other than operational or for reasons
which applied to the "SC" group.
If the "D" Career Service had conformed to the five and one-half
percent short of tour practice typical of the other Career Services, it
25X9A2 would have had only-early returnees instead of_
25X9A2 ^ who were returned for various operational reasons is
25X9A2 of ^ the total of early returnees would have been ^
who actually returned early. There is no intention to
total of 25X9A2
the figure25X9A2
I instead of the '5X9A2
imply that M 25X9A2
short of tour returnees for the "D" Service would be normal, ideal or even
attainable. It does, however, seem reasonable to assume that the actual
25X9A2 number of short of tour returnees, _ may have been higher than perhaps
necessary.,
It must be remembered that the stresses, strains, limitations, and
varying conditions under which many of the "D" personnel must operate
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abroad may be considerably different from those which apply to other Agency
employees stationed abroad. It, therefore, would seem reasonable to
assume that the "D" Service would have a higher percentage of short of
tour returnees because of the necessity for flexibility in conforming
with rapidly changing requirements, situations, and operational climates.
The vast and farflung nature of the "D" Service, the lack of a strict
discipline in some areas, the oft time difference of opinion among super-
visors and station chiefs in some aspects of the field of personnel
administration, the tendency of some supervisory personnel to fail to pass
for-ward unfavorable information concerning an employee may, when coupled with
a highly decentralized personnel planning and assignment mechanism, tend
to create a favorable climate for something less than a uniform, tight,
and hard nosed but fair decision making process for handling short of tour
problems.
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TAB
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G. WHO AUTHORIZES RETURNS SHORT OF TOUR?
25X1A Headquarters Regulation _ covers the service or travel agree-
ment for assignment abroad. The last sentence of the paragraph reads
as follows:
. . . . The Director of Personnel, after consultation with
the Operating Official concerned, shall determine whether the
employee has breached his service agreement and, if so, shall
immediately inform the Director of Finance."
By omission this would seem to indicate that the Director of
Personnel is not required to get involved in the short of tour decision
making process whenever an Operating Official determines that the
return was for the convenience of the Government and there obviously
was no breach of service agreement. quoted above places
responsibility on the Director of Personnel for determining if a
service agreement has been breached. This places the Director of
Personnnel in the position of being the big bad wolf when he determines
that the service agreement has been breached and he may be accused
by some of being to soft when he determines that the service agreement
has not been breached. Rarely would the Director of Personnel have
any personal knowledge concerning the facts of a case other than what
an Operating Official may have furnished him. It would appear that
all too often the Director of Personnel is being asked to make a
decision on a set of facts which may be incomplete or perhaps slanted
toward the type of decision that the originating official in the field
would like to see made.
It would seem, therefore, that the authority for approving all
returns short of tour is de facto a line responsibility. The Head of
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the Career Service concerned possesses far greater details of any
particular case than is true of the Director of Personnel. He like-
wise is in a much better position to estimate the possible impact of
a given decision on the Career Service in general and the employee in
particular. The Director of Personnel should monitor the short of
tour program in order to ensure that equitable and uniform treatment
is maintained throughout the Agency. Employees who are dissatisfied
with the decision of the Head of Career Service on a short of tour
matter should always have the opportunity of appeal to the Director
of Personnel.
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H. DEFEIURED DECISIONS CONCERNING FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
During 1966 there were several instances in which individuals were
authorized to return from overseas assignments short of their tour agree-
ments with no decision being made with regard to whether the Agency or the
employee would pay the travel and transportation costs.
Upon return of the employees to headquarters, the Agency began negotia-
tions in an attempt to get the employee to reimburse the Government for the
travel and transportation costs. Usually this involved much unpleasantness
as the employees were generall-r unable financially to make any reimbursement
for travel and transportation. In only a few instances have they been able
and/or willing to repay part of the costs. All cases involved the expenditure
of much time and effort which resulted in hard feelings, lowered morale and
perhaps new problems.
This delay in making a decision as to who must pay the costs has
resulted in an unconscionable amount of official time being taken to
resolve the matter after the fact. All of this could have been avoided
had the decision been made prior to departure from the field as to who
had financial responsibility for the travel costs.
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I. IS AIL KNOWN INFORMATION BEING USED?
Some of the returnees short of tour were not first-time offenders.
Some previously had been returned short of tour for similar reasons.
This would seem to indicate that known information may not have come
to light during the screening process which preceded overseas selection
and processing. In some cases, supervisors, station chiefs, and/or
operating officials may not have made sufficient effort to ensure that
negative personnel information which might have a possible bearing
on future overseas assignments was properly reported, verified, and
recorded. Supervisors and other officials must be held strictly
accountable when they, whether intentionally or unintentionally, with-
hold vital information which could raise doubts concerning the
advisability of assigning a particular individual overseas.
Approximately 15% of the 1966 short of tour returnees had to
return because of family reasons, primarily marital. This would seem
to indicate that the Agency must give some greater measure of attention
to the screening of family members in addition to careful screening
of employees prior to approval for overseas assignments.
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A-DD/Pers/P&R 512 Magazine
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5 E 6 Headquarters
1967
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