Skip to main content

Military Personnel: Options To Implement Officer Reductions

NSIAD-87-162 Published: Aug 05, 1987. Publicly Released: Aug 05, 1987.
Jump To:
Skip to Highlights

Highlights

In response to a congressional request, GAO examined the adequacy of current officer separation policies to achieve a 6-percent reduction in the number of active duty officers by the close of fiscal year (FY) 1989.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should estimate how much the cap on separation pay could be raised temporarily to equitably compensate officers currently protected, but who might be subjected to RIF before they reach retirement eligibility, and include that temporary separation pay increase among the legislative proposals DOD is considering for non-retirement-eligibles.
Closed – Not Implemented
With the passage of the FY 1989 Defense Authorization Act, Congress relieved DOD from any further officer reductions. Accordingly, options to implement the remaining 4-percent officer reductions are no longer applicable.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should assess the benefits of extending the time frame to implement the remaining 5-percent reduction by 2 years so that the reduction can include overstrengths in officers with 16 to 20 years of service when they become eligible for retirement, and report DOD findings to Congress with its legislative proposals.
Closed – Not Implemented
With the passage of the FY 1989 Defense Authorization Act, Congress relieved DOD from any further officer reductions. Accordingly, options to implement the remaining 4-percent officer reductions are no longer applicable.

Full Report

Office of Public Affairs

Topics

Government retirement benefitsMilitary compensationMilitary dischargesMilitary officersMilitary promotionsPersonnel managementPolicy evaluationReductions in forceService creditSeverance pay