DoD Allocates Buyout Authority

The Defense Department has made its fiscal 2005 allocation across the military services and defense agencies of the 25,000 buyouts it is authorized to grant annually for downsizing and restructuring purposes. The allocations, based on percentages of overall DoD employment, are: Army, 8,135, Navy, 6,983, Air Force, 5,870, defense agencies, 4,120. The authority, granted by a law enacted last year, allows DoD to pay those buyouts without separate legislation and without approval from the Office of Personnel Management, which is needed by most other departments and agencies before paying buyouts. Buyouts related to base closing and restructuring do not count against the 25,000 figure. There is no limitation on the number of early retirements that DoD also can offer for downsizing or restructuring purposes.