Comment Number: OL-10509683
Received: 3/15/2005 5:01:00 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:

I have been concerned for many years already about the current situation with DOD and the Corps of Engineers. We have been restructured and re-organized to a state of inefficiency that is ludicrous to say the least. It would seem at this day and time, that what a body of "team members" can make look good on paper is the way to go. As many federal employees as there are, our bargaining representatives are sorely lacking now, how will that improve in the future? Our insurance rates continue to rise to sky levels, our coverages lessen, our ABC and OPM functions are so far behind it is embarassing, and now there is going to be another change, to put the power in the hands of supervisors, some of which have no idea what their employees do anyway. In my situation, there has never been opportunities to get into upward mobility positions, nepotism rules, the Veterans Readjustment Program is no longer in existence, and I now work for an organization that shafts veterans and keeps personnel employees' sons and daughters around. If you have a degree, it can be in Home Education, Animal Husbandry, anything, just as long as it's a degree. Experience no longer counts for anything, and we are losing valuable resources as employees retire, because they are taking their knowledge with them when they go. And if you're related to a section chief, name your ticket. There is still no rhyme or reason as to regulations for hiring, etc. And every time you blink twice there is a new system for resumes. Our supervisor does not even pass along job vacancy announcements now, so most of the time jobs have been vacant and filled before we know they've been announced. We have been informed that this is not a requirement, just a courtesy. That would be fine if someone would have provided us with web sites or information on how to get job announcements. We have been forced to be "on our own" but then you have to hear about the "family" and the "team". I feel there is a lot more to "fix" in DOD than how people are hired. How do you propose to train personnel, when we are being told, for the last several years, there is no training money? We have approximately eight so called "professional" team members, that are Park Rangers, who take up our budget in overhead, and sit around in the office all day. They don't patrol, we have no shoreline management issues, they get all the training money (if any is available) and seem to get all of the jobs. We have engineers that sit around and play computer games, go to the Y in the Goal Medal Program for one or two hours during the day, take off and charge leave or not, whatever they want to do. And all that appears to be just okey dokey. There's been talk that this new system will have the flexibility to assign an employee to a war zone, etc. at the whim of whoever is in charge. I don't necessarily think that is a bad thing. I would be willing to go on disaster duty, to Iraq, etc. but when I've asked about doing that, my supervisor tells me that it is necessary for me to be here to fulfill our mission. I'm a park contract inspector. It would seem that someone else could be out there inspecting, but I am "essential to that mission". That is the kind of supervisor we have, and I should be happy to be put under his thumb moreso? I DON'T THINK SO! This may not be a bad idea if you start with restructuring supervisors and management in DOD. If you clean out some of those unproductive people, maybe that would be a start and this new system would be a chance to better an organization that needs bettering. If you would begin by giving military and their families living wages and benefits, like more than $10,000 to $12,000 in life insurance, there might be enough military personnel that these changes would not be necessary. I'll retire in two and a half years