Meanwhile, OPM has finalized another Bush administration initiative, to provide a hiring preference for military spouses that will be discretionary for agencies. Final rules published in the August 12 Federal Register state that eligible persons will be the spouse of a member of the armed forces serving on active duty who has orders specifying a permanent change of station (not for training), a spouse of a 100 percent disabled service member injured while on active duty, or the unremarried widow or widower of a service member who was killed while performing active duty. For those transferred, the preference applies at the new duty station and the surrounding area from which people reasonably can be expected to travel daily to and from work; there is no geographic limitation on the other categories. The preference applies for two years from any of those events, but a spouse may receive only one noncompetitive appointment per move. Spouses hired under the authority will receive competitive service status upon completing probation.