SERVICE PLAN COULD END UP HURTING ARMY

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, March 6, 1993                   TAG: 9303060009
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Knight Ridder/Tribune
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium
SERVICE PLAN COULD END UP HURTING ARMY
President Clinton's proposal for a civilian national service program is viewed with suspicion by the military, which fears that it could hurt recruiting.
Retired Army Col. Erik Johnson, legislative director for the Association of the U.S. Army, said, "If you give an educational benefit to someone who doesn't have to serve in the military, you lose a big drawing card.
"To me, Clinton's [national service] program is asking for a GI Bill without the GI," he said.
Johnson was referring to the 1984 legislation that was largely the handiwork of Rep. G.V. "Sonny" Montgomery, D-Miss. Under Montgomery's GI Bill, a person who joins the military for three years can earn $12,600 toward post-service education. Effective April 1, the benefit increases to $14,400.
However, to participate in this program, the service member forgoes $1,200 in pay. The money is not a contribution and is not refundable if the member does not use the GI Bill benefits.
Under a comparable program, reserve personnel, such as those in the National Guard, can earn an educational benefit of about $6,800. They can use it only while serving in their units, which includes attending one weekend drill per month.
So far, the program has been self-financing because more service members join the program than use the benefits. About $1.6 billion in pay deductions have been deposited in the U.S. Treasury, and about $1.5 billion in tuition benefits have been paid out.
Montgomery's legislation provided a seamless continuation of the Vietnam War-era GI Bill, which expired Dec. 31, 1989.
A congressional source said that while details of Clinton's plan are not yet clear, it appears that youths could receive about $10,000 in education benefits for two years of civilian service in such occupations as teaching, clinic work or neighborhood police patrols.
The comparison raises questions about equity, because active-duty military personnel must serve at least three years for a $14,400 benefit, and reserve personnel must serve six years for a $6,800 benefit.
Clinton's plan, which he outlined Monday, could be more generous than the military's program in that it may provide more money toward college tuition for the same period of service without imposing the military's limits on personal freedom, to say nothing of the risks of warfare.
The congressional source, who is close to Montgomery, said the congressman will examine Clinton's proposal and its possible impact on military recruiting.
If it's easier to obtain tuition credits through community service at home, the high-quality, college-bound youth that military recruiters are looking for may be less willing to join the armed forces.
"We see a slippery slope that could be troublesome," the source said.
She said the percentage of people joining the Army who are high school graduates has slipped from 100 percent to 96 percent. Even more significant is that, for the first time in years, the Army is enlisting a small number of youths whose military aptitude test scores place them in the bottom 25 percent of the youth population.
The trends are ominous, because the Army long been has considered a bellwether for enlistments in the other services.
Clinton's program not only offers more youths an alternative to military service in exchange for education benefits but his 1994 budget calls for increasing the $1,200 pay deduction to $1,600 for those service members who participate in the GI Bill program.
Johnson said, "The practical effect is that it makes the soldier pay for the new national service program. The president's proposal should be dead on arrival."
The cost-effectiveness of Clinton's proposal is almost sure to be examined, the congressional source said.
Administration aides outlined a national-service program that by fiscal 1997 would cost $3.4 billion for 100,000 volunteers, or about $34,000 per participant. That cost involves about $10,000 in education benefits, plus wages, medical insurance, management overhead and other expenses while individuals are performing their community service.
In other words, Clinton's plan could involve about $24,000 in other expenses to realize a $10,000 tuition benefit.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB