Return to the "POINTER VIEW"
                         September 27, 2002

Army revises mobilization policy

WASHINGTON (Army News Service) -- With more detail, but less legalese, a revised deployment and mobilization policy on operations Enduring Freedom and Noble Eagle will hopefully eliminate problems with orders, Army officials said.

Some soldiers have shipped their privately owned vehicles overseas on temporary duty orders, which is not allowed, said Lt. Col. Nobel Lugo, a finance action officer for the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel, G1. Then there are some soldiers who are getting unauthorized per diem, he added.

The Personnel Policy Guidance, which is published at www.odcsper.army.mil, contains eight sections that outline everything from deploying to redeploying troops who are engaged in the war on terrorism. It also delves into equipment, medical and dental and family assistance for deployed troops.

Example travel orders for both operations are printed in the policy because clerks were using orders that were made for other operations and just changing the name, Lugo said. Soldiers also need to understand that the entitlements are different for both Enduring Freedom and Noble Eagle.

Reserve-component soldiers mobilized for the stateside operation, Noble Eagle, are authorized movement and storage of their household goods. However, personnel assigned to Operation Enduring Freedom are not authorized to store or move their household goods, the PPG states.

Entitlements are not only different between Noble Eagle and Enduring Freedom, soldiers participating in the same operation may have inequities of benefits.

Personnel mobilized for Noble Eagle, who had to leave their local commuting area, are entitled to travel pay to the duty station and then back home after the mobilization. They are also authorized per diem during the entire period of active duty, according to the policy.

Personnel ordered to duty at a location within their local commuting area are also entitled to travel pay to the duty station and back home after the mobilization. However, they are not authorized per diem or mileage, the policy states.

The entitlement section had the most changes, but that’s always the case, said Lt. Col. Corrina Boggess, the chief of Military Mobilization Branch, Operations Division, G1. As an operation matures, additional information comes in. Awards are another example of entitlements that have to be added later in the operation.

Initially there are no awards for a particular operation, but now mobilized reservists can wear the Armed Forces Reserve Medal with "M" device, Boggess said.

Personnel policy guidance is written for any contingency the military is involved in, and all the specific requirements and benefits for that particular theater are published in the guidance, Boggess said.

Devising this policy was a unique experience because it was the first time a PPG had been done for a stateside operation, Boggess said. There were also no previous plans stating what type of equipment and immunizations were going to be needed for the Afghanistan theater, she added.