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OCA fill
7 December 1988
OCA 3955-88
NOTE FOR: Opal Andrews
Office of Assistant Secretary of
Defense for Intelligence
Department of Defense
FROM:
Legislation Division
Office of Congressional Affairs
SUBJECT: FY90 Intelligence Authorization Bill
1. I have received from Bill Allard additional
justification for a DIA proposal to ensure comparability in pay
and other benefits between DIA and the State Department. The
proposal had not been included in the last draft of the
Intelligence Authorization bill because we had not received an
adequate justification for the proposal.
2. I am attaching for your review and comment the DIA
proposal, along with the justification for it. I appreciate
receiving the views of your Office on whether DoD will support
this proposal. I assume that you will have FM&P review the
proposal in formulating a DOD position.
3. It is important that we have views on this matter no
later than close of business on 12 December.
Attachment as
stated
OCA/LEG
STAT
STAT
7 Dec 88 STAT
Distribution:
Orig - addressee
1 - D/OCA (w/att..)
1 - DDL/OCA (w/-.. att.)
1 - DMP Chroho (w/o att.)
OCA Recofds
1 - OCA/LEG Subj. File (FY 90)
OCARead
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DIA Overseas Personnel Benefits Comparability
SEC. [33. (a) Section 1605 of title 10, United States Code,
is amended by striking from the first sentence of paragraph (a)
everything following "employees of the Foreign Service".
(b) Section 432 of title 37, United States Code, Is amended
by striking from the first sentence of paragraph (a) everything
following "employees of the Foreign Service".
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THE NEED FOR COMPARABILITY IN OVERSEAS BENEFITS
FOR THE DEFENSE ATTACHE SYSTEM
Most military members of the DAS believe they are treated as
second class citizens because their package of benefits and
allowances does not compare favorably with that available to
Foreign Service Officers and other U.S. government civilian
employees at the same Embassy. Glaring discrepancies have caused
serious morale problems within Defense Attache Offices (DA0s) and
have caused a significant problem in attracting well-qualified
individuals and retaining experienced intelligence collectors
within the DAS. Largely because of such Inequities, only one
third of DAS personnel opt to serve a repeat tour In the DAS.
Experienced personnel are the most valuable asset In the system.
A fifty percent repeat tour rate would optimize professional DAS
experience while still allowing sufficient new blood to enter
the system so as maintain close !Inks between attaches and the
Services they represent. Surveys of DAS personnel show that
inequitably distributed benefits have the greatest negative
Impact on DAS morale and retention and that roughly 11 percent of
military personnel would opt for repeat tours In the DAS if
benefits for DAS members were roughly, comparable to those
received by their Foreign Service and Civil Service colleagues.
DAS morale and retention problems, founded on feelings of
relative deprivation, have actually increased over the years as
the size of the DAS has shrunk. The DAS is asked to perform more
tasks with fewer people, and these people increasingly associate
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with other U.S. government employees who receive substantially
greater benefits for service at the same post.
Civilian education allowances for dependent boarding schools,
paid home leave benefits, substantial foreign language
proficiency pay, substantial danger pay, and post hardship
differential pay are the overseas benefits most desired by
military members of the U.S. mission. DAS members quite
understandably would like to have these benefits, which flow
automatically to State Department and CIA personnel serving
overseas. Discriminatory treatment has caused DAS family morale
problems which have repeatedly come to the attention of
Ambassadors, Community Liaison Officers. and Embassy medical
specialists.
It is, of course, very difficult to substantiate the degree
to which morale and retention problems In the DAS negatively
affect DAO mission performance. It Is clear, however, that It
takes new members of the DAS six to twelve months on the job to
become fully proficient. Most members of the DAS have lengthy
and expensive foreign language training and Intelligence or
administration training prior to posting. In many cases attaches
have also been fully funded for area studies degrees in
preparation for attache duty. The investment In attache training
Is so great that we need to get more than one or two years of
productive payback. We need to have at least 50 percent repeat
tours for DAS personnel. This Is not only the conclusion of DIA;
It Is also the conclusion of the Senate Select Committee on
Intelligence, which has repeatedly pressed DIA to insure a
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greater percentage of experienced professionals In the DAS.
Fortunately, benefits and allowances for DIA civilians
working In the DAS are virtually identical to State Department
benefits. With the exception of schooling issues, DOD civilians
are covered by the "Standardized Regulations (Government
Civilians, Foreign Areas)." Though Dependent Schooling for DoD
civilians Is tied to DOD Dependent Schools (DoDDs), DIA has
already received congressional authorization to separately fund
schooling for DAS dependents as may be made necessary by
particular posting hardships.
The real problem Is in providing comparable benefits and
allowances for military personnel and their dependents In the
DAS. Existing legislation authorizes DoD to provide military
members of the DAS with some of the benefits and allowances now
provided to State Department personnel serving overseas.
However, there Is a need to obtain a more general authorization
for DoD to provide to DAS personnel In appropriate cases benefits
and allowances comparable to those received by their State
Department colleagues.
Congress has authorized several Important benefits for State
Department and DoD civilians that it has not authorized for
military members of the DAS. The first of these Is "Post
Hardship Differential Pay," an amount equal to 10, 15, 20, or 25
percent of base pay. This additional pay Is explicitly designed
as a recruitment and retention incentive for posts characterized
by extraordinarily difficult living conditions, excessive
physical hardship, or notably unhealthful living conditions (see
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5 USC 5925). There are now 62 capital cities where U.S.
government civilian employees receive post hardship differential
pay but their military colleagues serving In the DAD office do
not, though the military personnel and their dependents clearly
suffer identical hardships. As a result the DAS suffers
recruitment and retention problems at the 62 posts listed in
Enclosure 1. In the 1940s Congress authorized Special Foreign
Duty Pay for military personnel (10 percent of base pay for
officers and 20 percent of base pay for enlisted personnel) as a
morale factor and In recognition of greater-than-normal rigors of
service in particular locations. Now, however, such pay Is only
available to enlisted personnel and it never amounts to more than
$22.50 per month.
A second major discrepancy In benefits exists In foreign
language proficiency pay. Uniformed military personnel may
receive only $100 per month (37 USC 316), while State Department
Personnel may receive a bonus of up to 15 percent of base pay for
the identical language skill used In the same way at the same
post (22 USC 4024). In fact, 27 languages qualify for a State
Department 15 percent bonus at the S4/R4 proficiency level and
for a 10 percent bonus at the S3/R3 level.
A third major inequity relates to danger pay. For military
members hostile fire pay or imminent danger pay cannot exceed the
lowest level of hazardous duty incentive pay, currently $110 per
month (37 USC 310), while State Department personnel can receive
up to 25 percent of base pay for service In the same location (5
USC 5928).
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A fourth major inequity in legislative authority relates to
dental care. State Department personnel and their dependents may
receive one round trip per year, plus one day per diem, for
dental care not available at a remote location (22 USC 4081).
Uniformed members of the DAS have no comparable benefit unless
the dental problem results in a medical emergency.
There are a host of small, but cumulatively significant,
discrepancies that can be ticked off:
- State Department personnel serving unaccompanied tours
In danger areas are permitted two paid round trips per year to
visit their families. Members of the DAS can only accomplish
such visits while on environmental and morale leave and could
have only a portion of their expenses reimbursed (22 USC 4081)
(8)).
- Ali State Department employees have an 18,000 lb.
shipping allowance. Senior officers In the military will qualify
for this only In mid-1989, and lower ranking personnel receive
considerably less (5 USC 5724 and 5726, 22 USC 4081 (11) and (12)
versus public law 100-565 of 31 Oct 88). The shipping allowance
Is particularly important to DAS personnel In light of the
substantial representational requirements of their mission.
- State Department personnel can qualify for special
Sunday pay, no similar benefits (22 USC 3972 and 5 USC
5545/5546).
- State Department personnel can be reimbursed for
converting household appliances, obtaining new auto registration
and drivers' licenses (5 USC 5924). Military personnel have no
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similar authorizations.
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COUNTRY
STATE DEPARTMENT
HARDSHIP POST
DIFFERENTIAL
RATE (%)
NUMBER OF
MILITARY MEMBERS
IN THE DAD
Algeria
15
3
Bangladesh
25
2
Belize
20
2
Bolivia
25
5
Brazil
10
11
Bulgaria
15
4
Burma
25
5
Camerodn
15
3
Chad
25
3
Chile
10
8
China
20
14
Colombia
15
9
Congo
25
2
Cyprus
10
3
Czechoslovakia
10
4
Dominican Republic
20
4
Ecuador
15
7
Egypt
20
8
El Salvador
20
9
Fiji
15
2
Ghana
25
3
Guatamala
15
5
Haiti
25
3
Honduras
20
9
India
15
11
Indonesia
15
10
Iraq
25
2
Ivory Coast
15
6
Jamaica
15
3
Jordan
10
5
Lebanon
25
3
Liberia
25
6
Madagascar
25
2
Malawi
10
2
Malaysia
10
6
Mexico
10
13
Mozambique
25
2
Nepal
15
2
Nicaragua
25
5
Nigeria
25
4
Oman
20
5
Pakistan
20
9
Panama
10
5
Paraguay
10
2
Peru
10
9
Philippines
15
11
Poland
15
4
Romania
15
4
ENCLOSURE 1
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Saudi Arabia
20
9
Senegal
15
3
Somalia
25
6
Sri Lanka
25
3
Sudan
25
3
Surinam
20
3
Syria
25
3
Thailand
10
12
Tunisia
10
5
Turkey
10
12
USSR
25
15
Yemen
25
3
Zaire
20
8
Zimbabwe
10
2
TOTAL 346
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