INTRODUCTION
Protecting the quality of life (QOL) of America's service members is not only the right thing to do, it is critical to preserving military readiness. Readiness depends on attracting top quality people and retaining them after they have developed technical and leadership skills. To do so, DoD must offer not only challenging and rewarding work, but also an appropriate quality of life, a term used to encompass the entire package of compensation, benefits, and work and living environments for military service personnel. DoD must provide for the basic needs of both service members and military families, and recognize the aspirations they have for themselves. To accomplish this, the Department is designing quality of life programs to address both present and future needs.
AN AMBITIOUS APPROACH TO QUALITY OF LIFE
In FY 1995, Secretary of Defense Perry announced an ambitious plan to improve and institutionalize quality of life for service members in three critical areas: compensation, housing, and community and family support. In February 1995, President Clinton announced that he was adding $25 billion to the defense spending plan to provide more funding for readiness and to improve quality of life programs. The Secretary and senior military leaders believe these steps are needed to sustain healthy levels of recruitment, retention, and morale that are necessary to maintain a ready, high quality fighting force.
To support this focus on military quality of life, $7.7 billion of President Clinton's $25 billion program increase will fund pay raises for military personnel at the full rate authorized by law through the end of the decade, an unprecedented commitment. Secretary Perry added an additional $2.7 billion to the Future Years Defense Program to increase the Basic Allowance for Quarters, initiate a new Cost of Living Allowance for high cost areas in the United States, improve housing, expand child care, bolster recreation programs, and enhance family violence prevention programs.
In addition to targeting these high priority concerns, the Secretary of Defense also established a Quality of Life Task Force of outside experts to provide further recommendations for improving housing and the delivery of community and family services, and for reducing the time service members spend on deployment, otherwise known as personnel tempo (PERSTEMPO). The Task Force, chaired by former Secretary of the Army Jack Marsh, issued its report on October 19, 1995, outlining a series of observations and specific recommendations to improve the lives of men and women in the armed services.
As a complement to the Task Force, Secretary Perry chartered an internal Quality of Life Executive Committee, chaired by the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Force Management Policy, to begin work on improvements to quality of life and to review task force recommendations for implementation. While awaiting the Task Force results, the Executive Committee made progress in many quality of life areas which are low cost, but have a high payoff. These include expanding space-available travel opportunities for family members, reengineering the way personal property is shipped to reduce damage claims and improve services, diverting resources to maintain a robust nursing presence in DoD overseas schools, and establishing an aggressive program for meeting the special needs of adolescents and their parents in military communities.
COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS
The Department has long recognized the importance of an appropriate level of compensation in sustaining a robust quality of life program. The military compensation package is made up of both pay and nonpay benefits -- the components of a standard of living. In the area of pay benefits, the Department has addressed four initiatives. Operating together, these four initiatives serve to stimulate retention which, in turn, contributes to the operational readiness of U.S. forces.
Pay Raises
The Administration has funded the maximum pay raise for military personnel authorized by law through FY 1999. This commitment of $7.7 billion reflects the recognition that adequacy of military pay is essential to attract and retain high quality personnel. Individuals deciding whether to join the military typically compare the pay and other benefits available in the military with those of the private sector. While the military offers many benefits, like medical care, it is very important that military pay, the most visible element of military compensation, be competitive with private sector pay. This allows recruiters to focus on the benefits and rewards of military service and continue to enlist high quality and motivated young men and women.
Similarly, retaining the best members of U.S. forces depends on giving them the ability to provide their families with a decent standard of living -- and pay is the most important factor in determining living standards. DoD's commitment to the maximum pay raise sends a very positive message to uniformed personnel that their country truly values their service and recognizes the unique hardships, obligations, and dangers of military service.
Improved Quarters Allowance
Over two-thirds of military families reside in civilian communities. These families receive housing allowances which were intended by Congress to cover 85 percent of their housing costs. In 1995, housing allowances cover less than 80 percent of service members' out-of-pocket housing expenses. The Department and Congress have funded an additional 2.8 percent increase in housing allowances for 1996 which will cover more than 80 percent of out-of-pocket costs for the first time since 1985.
Military Retired Pay
Military retirement pay is a critical element of the overall military compensation package. Service members want to know that the retirement benefits they were promised when they joined the military will be there for them when the time comes. The Administration believes it is imperative that the United States keeps faith with men and women in uniform. Unfair changes to the retirement pay system amount to broken promises, and have a seriously negative effect on retention of quality people and the morale of the forces. That is why the President spoke out strongly against a proposal that would have broken faith with past commitments to U.S. service members. The Department strongly supports Cost of Living Adjustments to military retirement pay, thus maintaining the commitment to provide a measure of income security for those who complete military service careers.
Continental United States Cost of Living Allowance
At present, 30,000 military families are assigned to areas in the continental United States (CONUS) in which payments for goods and services exceed 109 percent of the national average. These costs are in addition to housing expenses which are partially compensated under housing allowances. Assignments to areas such as Long Island, New York, or Los Angeles, California, place an undue financial burden on military families. The National Defense Authorization Act for FY 1995 authorized the CONUS Cost of Living Allowance to assist military families residing in high cost areas. The Department began compensating military members experiencing these high costs in July 1995. This increase will boost the average monthly pay in high cost areas by $40, and in some cases as much as $167 per family.
Commissaries
The commissary is an important element of the military nonpay compensation package and a critical aspect of quality of life. Commissaries help support the standard of living for service members stationed both overseas and in the United States. Overseas, military commissaries are often the only source of American products and are the only convenient source in remote areas of the United States. Commissaries affect income through savings on purchases of food and household items for the military member and family. Surveys show patrons average 20-25 percent savings when compared to commercial retail food stores; annual savings can range from a few hundred dollars to more than $1,500, depending on family size. Military members value the commissary as one of the most important elements of nonpay compensation. As of October 1995, there are 201 commissaries in the United States and 111 overseas. Commissaries, and the savings they offer, help offset a large portion of the economic stress military families experience. Overseas, American products also provide a constant and stabilizing feeling of home. They are an institution in military life and serve as proof the government understands the special needs of the personnel it values so highly.
Off-Duty Education
Another important nonpay military benefit is off-duty, voluntary education, which contributes to individual growth as well as to the quality of military personnel. Programs offered to service members help individuals to continue their education on off-duty time or to increase their proficiency and competitiveness in their military career. Use of tuition assistance for college programs continues to increase even as the size of the force decreases. In FY 1994, service members received $134 million in tuition assistance for college-level courses, including Navy's Afloat Program. Preliminary figures for FY 1995 indicate that funding was at slightly increased levels, about $138 million. Course enrollments and degrees earned are shown in Table II-1. These voluntary education programs are essential in meeting the needs of motivated young people who gravitate towards careers that offer opportunities to advance and grow.
| Table II-1 | ||
| Voluntary Education Program (FY 1995) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Programs | Course Enrollments | Degrees Earned |
| High School/GED | 485 | High School/GED Diplomas 266 |
| Undergraduate | 519,878 | Associate Degrees 15,501 Bachelors Degrees 9,818 |
| Graduate | 84,643 | Master's Degrees 10,701 Doctorate 20 |
| Functional/Basic Skills | 36,593 | N/A |
| DANTES Testing * | 227,580 | N/A |
| * Includes tests taken by Active Duty, Reserve, and National Guard Personnel. | ||
The QOL Task Force found that training and education are most frequently cited by survey respondents as reasons for enlistment. The Task Force focused on tuition assistance and distance learning. It found that there are differences between tuition assistance benefits offered by the Services. The Department is in the process of establishing a minimum tuition assistance standard. Also, the Task Force emphasized that distance learning, especially for deployed service members, should be a priority. The Department will explore the feasibility of establishing distance learning capabilities in education centers worldwide.
PERSONNEL TEMPO
As part of the quality of life review, the Department looked at the demands made on personnel, especially time away from home. The Quality of Life Task Force made several observations and recommendations which will be reviewed for their potential to help reduce personnel tempo and turbulence. Additionally, the Department continues to support programs aimed at increasing the stability of families despite requirements for service member deployments. The Department's goal is to find a balance between mission and training requirements and service members' needs to spend adequate time with their families. To accomplish this goal, the Quality of Life Executive Committee will fully evaluate Task Force and internal recommendations which include expanding use of Reserve components to reduce the personnel tempo for the active force and increasing contractor support of certain functions.
HOUSING
The Secretary of Defense has placed special emphasis on improving the overall quality of housing for service families. There is a direct relationship among readiness, retention, and quality of life. To the extent that the Department encourages or directly provides quality housing for both unaccompanied and married service personnel, it will materially improve job performance and satisfaction, improve the retention of quality individuals, and through these means, sustain the high levels of force readiness needed to meet the Department's national security missions. The Army has an expression, "You enlist the individual, but you reenlist the family." Both the Defense Science Board's Quality of Life Task Force and the Department's own Quality of Life Executive Committee have focused on measures to redress long-standing problems in the living conditions of too many service members, both on and off post.
Near-term goals, and in many cases accomplishments, include:
Family Housing
Approximately one-third of military families live in military family housing. Much of this housing is in desperate need of repair or revitalization. But two-thirds of military families live off post. For many of these families, housing allowances are not in line with commercial housing costs. This imbalance can force these families to live in inadequate housing. The Department has found that housing problems, whether on or off post, have a material effect on reenlistment decisions. The military family housing budget for FY 1996 contains an increase of over $500 million to address these problems. This sum includes $22 million for private sector housing ventures. This initiative is described further in the Installations and Logistics chapter.
Bachelor Quarters
Housing for single military members is as important as for married members. About a half a million single service members live in military quarters. The Department wants to replace run down, cramped buildings with quality residential facilities. To initiate this process, the Department has adopted a new construction policy which increases the barracks/dormitory standard living space by over 31 percent, from 90 square feet to 11 square meters of net living area per living/sleeping room.
The barracks repair, maintenance, and construction program budgets were increased in FY 1996 through the Secretary's QOL initiative. Congress then enlarged that budget further, for a total increase of $673 million. In FY 1997, the Department will continue to improve its barracks. Its budget request for barracks revitalization, construction, and maintenance increases funding by about 20 percent above Service requests. This QOL initiative will improve approximately 7,000 additional barracks spaces above the 42,000 spaces previously programmed. Almost $2.5 billion has been programmed from FY 1996 through FY 2001 for this important program.
COMMUNITY AND FAMILY SUPPORT
In the area of Community and Family Support, the Department provides social service, recreational, and education programs wherever military families are stationed worldwide. While these programs mirror those found in civilian communities, the Department has adopted goals and measures in 24 community and family support program areas. These goals and measures to be fielded in early 1996 will provide a road map for quality of life in the Department and move the Services towards equity across installations and Services; ensure programs are driven by demand and meet the needs of the military lifestyle; and be benchmarked against the best of the civilian community. At the same time, the Department has taken action to improve the capability of tracking funds and improving consistency and accountability in programs and budgets.
Child Development Programs
One special area of interest this past year has been child development programs. Child care is a critical quality of life issue for military families, particularly very young families. Over 65 percent of military spouses are in the labor force; the majority of these spouses report they work just to make ends meet. The number of spouses in the labor force is up 11 percent in the last seven years. During March 1995, DoD reassessed the need for child care. Currently, military families have over 299,000 children, ages birth through 12, who need some kind of child care. The Department is able to meet about 52 percent of this need with military child development programs. Currently there are 155,311 spaces at 346 locations. These include 644 child development centers, 9,981 family child care homes, and school-aged care located in youth facilities, schools, and other community support facilities. During the past year, a Secretary of Defense initiative added over $38 million to expand child care. DoD's short-term goal is to meet 65 percent of the need, and expects most of the growth will come in school-aged care spaces. The Department's ultimate goal is to meet 80 percent of the need.
In response to congressional interest in outsourcing, as well as acknowledging that DoD is nearing maximum potential to meet child care needs on bases, the Navy and the Defense Logistics Agency were designated to serve as executive agents for outsourcing child care. They are conducting two evaluation tests. One is to contract with civilian child care centers in five locations (San Diego, California; Norfolk, Virginia; Jacksonville, Florida; Seattle, Washington; and Honolulu, Hawaii) to buy down the cost of spaces for military families in these locations. Secondly, the Defense Logistics Agency will be testing the outsourcing of the management of a defense-owned child care facility in Dayton, Ohio.
Family Advocacy Programs
The Department's continued turbulence related to increased PERSTEMPO has increased stress and the potential for family violence. The Department has been aggressively pursing efforts to reduce the potential for child abuse in military families by providing assistance to new parents and families of first-term service members. The New Parent Support Program was implemented in accordance with the recommendation from the General Accounting Office, the U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect, and the National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse. This program is designed to prevent child abuse by providing parents with education and support around the time their first baby is born, including prenatal and postnatal home visiting services. Such programs also have the potential to reduce spouse abuse, since the highest risk for spouse abuse occurs during pregnancy and immediately after the birth of a child. Increased funds from Congress in FY 1995 support creating 114 New Parent Support teams worldwide.
New Parent Support Programs in each Service offer basic support services to all parents who request services, with more intensive services offered to first-time parents, young parents, single parents, parents with disabled or premature infants, and bicultural or isolated families. Each New Parent Support Team offers a set of core services to every expecting family, including a prenatal hospital visit and assessment, one prenatal home visit, postnatal visits in the hospital and to the home, and education and support groups. Written and observational screening techniques are used to assess parenting adequacy and family environment for those families accepting services. Families with special needs and high-risk families are referred to the appropriate community support program for additional services.
Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR)
Morale, welfare, and recreation programs create the American hometown wherever American troops are stationed around the world. Small MWR programs also deploy with units to provide needed respite and recreation during contingency operations. Programs such as fitness centers, libraries, sports and athletic programs, youth centers, clubs, bowling facilities, and a wide variety of other recreational and social activities are structured to give service members and families recreational opportunities on installations similar to those they might find back home. Of all the major programs offered by MWR, physical fitness is a priority program. The Quality of Life Task Force specifically addressed the mission importance of MWR activities and addressed the need to build more fitness centers and expand their operations and services. Surveys of service members indicate a strong desire for good quality places to work out, and many view fitness as recreational as well a critical part of their job. In recognition of the Quality of Life Task Force recommendations, but also as an ongoing priority, the Department will conduct a thorough review of physical fitness facilities, to include equipment, the hours of operation, and their location to ensure they are readily accessible to junior enlisted personnel and of high quality. Much progress has been made as the Navy improves fitness centers and libraries on ships and the Marine Corps has forged ahead with major improvements in staffing, equipment in fitness centers, and in libraries.
The Secretary's FY 1996 quality of life initiative provides $194.7 million over five years to aid the Services in achieving better comparability of MWR programs and services across Services. DoD is working to achieve the minimum baseline of $295 per capita established in FY 1995 in all Services.
With the near completion of the drawdown and restructuring of the military, the Department is concentrating on revising policy for MWR programs. This long-standing effort will consider alternative methods to deliver the programs while increasing oversight and enforcing standards for an equitable minimal level of support by each Service.
Continued quality of life initiatives for the MWR programs have focused on making all aspects of the programs more efficient through increased initiatives to become more businesslike in both operations and financial management. The MWR programs continue to identify and implement innovative solutions for program delivery. Exchange service programs are also a vital part of the MWR program. The exchanges provide not only value and distinction in both merchandising and service to their patrons, but also are important sources of revenue to support MWR programs. In the past year, exchanges have undergone significant restructuring to reduce overhead and increase service and profits.
Relocation Assistance Programs
Research indicates that relocation is one of the most stressful events in the lives of military families, especially for first-term families and for those with young children. Nonreimbursed, out-of-pocket relocation expenses place a major strain on family resources. Over the past three years, significant strides were made in standing up Relocation Assistance Programs (RAP) to alleviate some of the negative effects of frequent moves. This year, DoD estimates there will be over 800,000 moves, with first-termer moves accounting for approximately one-fourth of these. To assist, RAP provides relocation planning and counseling sessions to individuals to better prepare them for their new home. Last year, RAP provided over 20,000 briefings and 219,000 Relocation Planning Sessions to over 443,000 attendees. These services are available at over 313 locations worldwide. In addition, the Standard Installation Topic Exchange Service (SITES) will be available in a new version in 1996, including video capability to over 300 installations. SITES will also be available via Internet by end of FY 1996.
Base Realignment and Closure Quality of Life Assistance
Geopolitical changes brought about by the end of the Cold War necessitated downsizing the active duty force and a corresponding reduction of the supporting infrastructure. Living and working on Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) installations is a major source of added stress for service members, their families, and civilian employees. Leaders must maintain readiness, accomplish the new mission of closure, and provide quality of life programs and services, even as they face diminished resources, staffing shortages, and the turbulence associated with closure. Unaddressed QOL issues become a drain on installation resources. The Department will identify existing and needed resources and disseminate best practices for QOL services throughout the closure process. Other initiatives include establishing an electronic bulletin board, creating a central repository of BRAC QOL experts and resources, and developing a commander's installation survey instrument. The Department's goal is to minimize the stress of closure by sustaining functions through innovation and community collaboration.
The Department's recent policies allowing exchange operations and MWR programs to continue on BRAC installations under specific situations are clear acknowledgment of the need to continue to provide these important nonpay benefits to service members as installations are closed or realigned. Department policies now also allow for exchanges and exchange marts on closed installations that have reserve populations, while clearly stating these facilities cannot be supported with appropriated funds and must be profitable.
Family Centers
There are 313 family centers throughout DoD, serving as cornerstones to provide information and respond to the needs of 1.6 million military members and 2.3 million family members. Family centers provide single service members and married service members and their families with a host of educational, preventive, and social programs, as well as information to assist them in establishing ties quickly within a new community. Family centers focus on reducing the amount of time a member is absent from his or her unit for family responsibilities and assists in decreasing the amount of time it takes a family to adapt to a new environment. Services at family centers include providing single and married service members and their families with information referral, deployment support, crisis response, relocation assistance, transition assistance, volunteer programs, personal financial management, classes and counseling assistance with employment, elder care information, family readiness, and various other counseling assistance programs that assist the military member and their families, especially during deployment.
As troops departed for Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Department provided them with the best training, the best equipment, and the best technology of any fighting force in the world to help them accomplish this peacekeeping mission. Family Centers, in conjunction with civilian support agencies, mobilized support systems for military families. Lessons learned from previous deployments show that the number one issue for families is the need to be informed. That flow of good, accurate information, combined with support and comfort from family support systems, helps families cope with challenges they face during deployments. The following support systems were provided:
Model Communities (Youth Initiative)
In the spirit of reinventing government, DoD established a model communities incentive award program to encourage installations worldwide to take responsibility for the problems of youth and their families. Each participating installation submitted proposals which defined their local needs, described a plan to meet those needs, and indicated how they will manage their solutions. The 20 winning installations, selected from almost 150 submissions, will serve as test projects for new ideas and as models for military bases around the world. Proposals were submitted from all four Services and represented installations around the world. The winners received up to $200,000 per year for a three-year period.
Spouse Employment
Spouse employment is an important quality of life and economic issue for the military family and a driving force for other programs, such as child care and relocation assistance. The increase in the number of spouses in the labor force over the last 10 years is indicative of this change. Currently, 65 percent of all military spouses are in the labor force. Another key demographic factor is the increasing number of civilian male spouses. Survey data reveals 65 percent of active duty service women have civilian spouses in the labor market. The rank of the service member appears to be a significant factor in a spouse's decision to become employed. The lower the rank, the more likely it is that the need for money for expenses is a major contribution in the decision of the spouse to become employed.
Based on the increased importance of spouse employment as a quality of life issue for military families, DoD held a policy forum in June 1995 to examine employment issues facing military spouses. Attendees included commanders, academics, and spouses with a variety of employment backgrounds. The forum developed recommendations for DoD on how to assist military spouses seeking employment.
The demographics of today's force reflect that over one-half of military members are married. The percentage of married members increases to approximately two-thirds of the force when the focus is on career personnel, or senior enlisted and senior officers.
This increase in married members among the career force also reflects a change concerning what is important to these spouses. The proportion of spouses in the labor force increased from 54 percent in 1985 to 65 percent in 1992, with the largest movement into the labor force being spouses of enlisted personnel.
Armed Forces Professional Entertainment Overseas
The Armed Forces Professional Entertainment Office (AFPEO) is a joint-Service program that logistically supports entertainers who are willing to perform free of charge for service members at military installations overseas. Live entertainment overseas adds that little touch of home so desired by troops serving in foreign countries. American entertainers energize troops and offer welcome respite to those who must serve far from home. Entertainers perform at numerous locations, with a priority to remote and isolated sites; shows are also organized for troops mobilized for missions in such places as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Haiti, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Croatia, or Southwest Asia. In FY 1995, the AFPEO sponsored 100 noncelebrity tours and 27 celebrity United Service Organization/DoD tours. These tours performed an estimated 3,000 shows, entertaining over 300,000 service members and their families. This small but vigorous program touches the lives of troops overseas, when they most need it.
Department of Defense Dependent Schools
The Department's educational structure supports the educational needs of children of American military personnel and some other government related employees. The Department's goal is to maintain quality education for these children. The overseas and stateside school systems are discussed below.
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE DEPENDENTS SCHOOLS OVERSEAS
Department of Defense Dependents Schools (DoDDS) overseas will support 86,000 students in FY 1997. For school year 1996, schools in Europe and the Pacific have been stabilized from the drawdown. DoDDS will continue to strive for educational excellence by maintaining the Seven-Year Curriculum Review sequence and by pursuing the President's National Education Goals. Also, DoDDS maintains Title XIV, Dependents Education Act, 1978, which requires the Department to offer instruction in special, vocational, compensatory education, and English as a Second Language.
DoDDS' goal to minimize the effects of the drawdown on children's education has been extremely successful. In spite of the reductions, DoDDS students scored 8-19 percentile points above the national average in all Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills and American College Test test areas over the past school year. Although students already perform well above the national norms on Standardized Achievement Tests, DoDDS has set even more demanding targets under the National Education Goal in the areas of mathematics and science, as well as core studies throughout the elementary and secondary grades.
DoDDS has maintained a quality educational program in the past with enhancements such as Distance Education, Foreign Language Immersion, Reading Recovery (a program to help children-at-risk learn to read), and Advancement Via Individual Determination (a college preparatory program for students who come from backgrounds most underrepresented in four-year colleges and universities). DoDDS has also offered a test bed for applications of advanced technology, including the use of the Defense Simulation Internet. DoDDS now serves all preschool children between the ages of 3-5 with disabilities under the provisions of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
In support of the children and youth of service members in Bosnia and Herzegovina, dependent schools overseas are implementing assistance groups with certified counselors, school psychologists, and social workers. These assistance groups will counsel children and help them cope with parents being away from home.
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE DOMESTIC DEPENDENT ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS
The Department of Defense Domestic Dependent Elementary and Secondary Schools (DDESS) program, formerly referred to as Section 6 Schools, was reauthorized in the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 1995. These schools provide education to approximately 33,000 eligible dependents residing on 16 military installations in the continental United States and in Puerto Rico. The schools have locally elected school boards that participate in the development and oversight of policies, procedures, and programs. Current educational initiatives related to the National Education Goals include special projects to support a high degree of parental participation in child development, preschool, and early childhood development programs. Other resources range from advanced placement courses to special instructional models and strategies designed to help students learn. This program also has oversight responsibility and fiscal support of eight special contractual arrangements with local educational agencies in five states and Guam, serving an additional 6,000 students.
Every American child deserves a quality education, including the children of military service members. Department schools must allow the children of servicemen and women access to a school system that will deliver an education program equal to the best public school systems in CONUS, and one that will prepare students to compete in a global economy.
Chaplain Services
Chaplain services exist first and foremost to provide religious ministry and ensure the constitutionally mandated free exercise of religion within the military. They are a mission essential key to readiness, linking service members, their families, and support services throughout the Department. Military chaplains provide for the religious and spiritual needs of deployed service members worldwide; they extend pastoral care to family members who remain at home; and they offer professional assistance, including confidentiality, to all. Chaplains serve as liaisons with Family Centers, Family Advocacy, and other military relief programs. They also work with outside organizations such as the American Red Cross and drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers. The specialized ministries of military chaplains are integral to the readiness, health, and well-being of U.S. military personnel and their families.
Transition Support and Services
The consideration and assistance given to over 300,000 service members and their families who return to civilian life each year remain priorities for the Department. These veterans are a tremendously talented pool of employees -- 99 percent have high school diplomas; 22 percent have some college credit; and approximately 19 percent have at least one college degree. Operation Transition's goal is to prepare service members and their families to make a successful transition to civilian life. Transition Assistance Programs save the Department as much as $150 million per year in unemployment insurance costs.
Each Service, in conjunction with DoD, the Departments of Labor (DoL) and Veterans Affairs (VA), and state employment service agencies, has initiated innovative transition programs. During FY 1994, service members made 724,964 visits to transition offices for pre-separation counseling and employment assistance. Within the United States, DoL and VA also provide employment assistance workshops at 204 selected bases. In FY 1994, 163,044 service members and spouses participated in 3,686 workshops. In one outstanding example of seamless government, DoD, DoL, and VA implemented the Service Members Occupational Conversion and Training Act to address the needs of unemployed veterans, particularly those whose military skills do not readily translate to civilian jobs. As of November 1994, VA processed 58,235 training applications and 8,388 eligible veterans were placed in job training under this program. Also, a new program, administered jointly by DoD and the Department of Justice in 1995, promoted the entry of qualified service members into law enforcement.
Automated systems are a vital part of DoD transition programs. The Defense Outplacement Referral System (DORS) is a resume data base and referral system linking private sector employers to departing service members and spouses. In FY 1994, there were 7,980 employers and over 60,000 personnel registered in DORS. Since December 1991, 730,078 resumes have been sent to employers. The Transition Bulletin Board (TBB) allows employers to list job openings at military installations worldwide. In September 1994, TBB listed 9,693 want ads, business opportunities, and federal jobs. The Verification Document (DD Form 2586) translates service members' military skills and training into civilian terms. The public and community service registry, established in June 1994, contains information on organizations desiring to hire veterans. So far, 125 organizations are registered, with hundreds being researched for inclusion. Since June 1994, 69,751 separating personnel have registered.
DoD also provides additional benefits for involuntarily separated military members and their families, and to certain voluntary separatees. Examples include extended health care and extended commissary and exchange privileges.
Troops to Teachers Program
Troops to Teachers is a teacher and teacher's aide placement assistance program designed to assist separated service members, DoD and Department of Energy civilians, and certain defense contractor employees in becoming certified and employed in the teaching profession. The program is designed to help improve the quality of public school education by injecting the talent, skills, and experience of dedicated veterans into schools serving a concentration of students from low income families. DoD received 10,684 applications for this program and began placing departing service members in teaching positions over the past summer. Currently, over 857 individuals are teaching in school districts across the country; 1,488 selectees are in training in 35 states. One-third of participants are minorities, and one-half have a background in mathematics and science.
CONCLUSION
Secretary Perry has made quality of life one of his highest priorities. A standard of living that demonstrates the value the nation places on those who defend its freedoms is critical to recruiting and retaining a high quality, well-trained, and motivated force. The improvements planned for quality of life reach out to each and every service member. They represent an enormous commitment to people -- the foundation of military readiness.
