1997 Annual Defense Report Table of Contents - Air Force Magazine

families return to civilian life each year. Operation Transition's goal is to prepare service members and
their families to make a successful transition. Transition Assistance Programs save the Department as
much as $150 million per year in unemployment insurance costs.
The facts and figures for Transition Assistance speak for themselves. 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 with good results. During FY 1996, service
members made 841,369 visits to transition offices for preseparation counseling and employment
assistance. In FY 1995, DoL and VA provided 3,200 employment assistance workshops at 204 military
installations.
Automated systems are a vital part of DoD transition programs and are being used more and more by
civilian employers. The Defense Outplacement Referral System (DORS) is a resume data base and
referral system linking private sector employers to departing service members and spouses. The number
of employers in DORS went from 13,431 in FY 1995 to 16,358 in FY 1996, an increase of 22 percent.
Employer requests for resumes went from 26,578 in FY 1995 to 34,798 in FY 1996, a 31 percent
increase. There were 1,197,426 resumes forwarded to employers in FY 1996, while 881,448 were sent
during FY 1995, a 36 percent increase. The Transition Bulletin Board (TBB) allows employers to list job
openings that are electronically transmitted to military installations. In FY 1996, 35,720 job opportunities
were listed. The public and community service registry, established in June 1994 to encourage departing
service members to enter public or community service, had 125 organizations registered at the end of FY
1994. By the end of FY 1996, 1,948 organizations had registered, an increase of 39 percent over FY 1995.
Both DORS and TBB are now on the Internet. DoD has also offered the use of DORS and TBB to other
civilian federal agencies.
Spouse Employment
The Quality of Life Task Force emphasized the need to focus on employment opportunities for military
spouses, particularly since federal employment opportunities for spouses have diminished with
downsizing. This is particularly true for military families stationed overseas.
In January 1996, DoD conducted a review of military spouse preference policies. Resulting
recommendations to improve military spouse preference include:
• Allow military spouses overseas to exercise spouse preference for vacancies in Nonappropriated
Fund and Appropriated Fund systems.
• Standardize leave without pay in all Services for one year until downsizing is complete.
• Change current policy so that spouses can take temporary employment and not lose their spouse
preference.
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