| Comment Number: | OL-10504502 |
| Received: | 3/9/2005 3:10:59 PM |
| Subject: | Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Request for Comment |
| Title: | National Security Personnel System |
| CFR Citation: | 5 CFR Chapter XCIX and Part 9901 |
| No Attachments |
Comments:
Under, The Case for Action, it states that DOD wants to use the NSPS system to give DOD the ability to use the civilian workforce to support the military around the world in every time zone, every day. Most employees are in their profession because of the duties which they perform and from what I am reading those duties and locations could and will change with the needs of the military on a daily basis. Whether it be for DOD or DOI very few quality employees like their duties being extremely changed or being moved, including reporting to a war zone. If DOD employees are expected to respond to this national need then all federal employees should be expected to respond, thus treating all federal employees fairly. DOD is fooling themselves to think they will retain and recruit a high quality work force. As a 0025 Park Ranger I did not sign on with the Corps of Engineers to go to Iraq and be shot at and I doubt many employees of other disciplines did either. The few that did have volunteered and will again. COE will not have high quality Park Rangers because those individuals will not want to be required to perform work that is not considered part of a ranger’s normal duties because they hired on to be park rangers not contract specialists over seeing the Iraq pipe line. Those quality employees will either hire on with another agency or transfer to that agency. Telling employees that they will be recognized financially for good performance is questionable when we have recently gone through a RIF because there was not enough money in budgets to pay salaries. Managers will not reward people if they do not have the budget to pay them. Over a period of time these employees will probably make less money than their counterparts in other federal agencies because of those employees mandated step increases. The employees of the Natural Resource Program within COE will suffer with the implementation of the NSPS and over time will become a poorer quality staff of employees. The public of the United States will suffer from the implementation of the NSPS, because of these poorer quality employees managing the program. This will be irresponsible management on the part of the US Government to the 360 million people that visit COE recreation areas every year. The US taxpayer believes that the COE, who is the largest provider of outdoor recreation in the nation, is in the business of managing and operating vital public lands for the benefit of the recreating public. From what I am reading in the “Case for Action” DOD wants all civilian employees supporting the military. Those natural resource employees should not be used in support of non natural resource duties and if DOD does not believe that those employees perform work that is in support of the military than those employees, lands and management responsibilities should be transferred to a federal agency that manages natural resources for the US taxpayers, such as the DOI or DOA.