ENLISTED PAY AND ALLOWANCES/WORKYEARS

The conferees agree to a reduction of $108,350,000 from fiscal year 1987 funding requested for active duty enlisted pay and allowances, providing adequate workyear flexibility to meet the end strength levels displayed above.

OFFICER PAY AND ALLOWANCES/WORKYEAR

Significant reductions in the Department of Defense officer corps are recommended in the pending fiscal year 1987 Defense authorization bill. Accordingly, although the conferees have not included legislative language mandating specific decreases in the number of officers, they agree to a reduction of $77,200,000 in fiscal year 1987 funding for officer pay and allowances. This reduction is to be applied by the services to the officer pay and allowance accounts as deemed appropriate, either through a decrease in the total number of officers or through policy or program execution revisions.

PERMANENT CHANGE OF STATION TRAVEL

The conferees agree to the following adjustments to the Department of Defense permanent change of station (PCS) travel budget request:

In accordance with the adjustments listed above, the conferees agree to total funding of $2,456,389,000 for PCS travel for fiscal year 1987. In addition, the conferees have agreed to a general provision which places a ceiling of $2,506,389,000 on funds to be obligated by the Department of Defense for permanent change of station travel in fiscal year 1987. This ceiling provides limited latitude above the appropriated level, to accommodate any inceased requirements due to foreign currency fluctuation and also provides adequate flexibility to conform with the conference agreement regarding payment of temporary lodging expenses for junior enlisted members discussed below. The conferees will consider prior approval reprogramming action within this PCS ceiling only for these purposes.

The conferees agree with the concerns of the Senate regarding the low level of execution for the temporary lodging expense (TLE)

program in the continental United States, and the pending program revisions. However, the conferees are aware of the adverse financial impact that cancellation of this program could have on junior enlisted service members and their families. Accordingly, the conferees have agreed to a general provision which would limit payment of temporary lodging expenses in the continental United States to enlisted members in grades E-1 through E-4 serving in a with-dependents status. The conferees understand this limited use of the TLE will require a modest funding level, which may be accommodated within existing resources, or, if required, submitted in the form of a prior approval reprogramming within the limitations of the total PCS ceiling.

The conferees fully support efforts by the Department and the services to control PCS costs through policy changes, including increased tour lengths. The conferees are convinced that the $186,000,000 reduction associates with such policy revisions in fiscal year 1987 is achievable and directs that the Department continue to evaluate and implement additional policy related costsaving initiatives in fiscal years 1988 and 1989.

SELECTIVE REENLISTMENT BONUSES

The conferees agree to a reduction of $238,790,000 in the fiscal year 1987 Department of Defense request for selective reenlistment bonuses.

Of this reduction, 171,600,000 is associates with the prohibition on the payment of more than 50 percent of such a bonus in a lump

sum.

MILITARY PERSONNEL, ARMY

The conferees agree to provide $22,353,990,000 instead of $22,270,626,000 as recommended by the House and $22,358,742,000 as recommended by the Senate. Details of the adjustments are as follows:

MILITARY PERSONNEL, NAVY

The conferees agree to provide $17,104,850,000 instead of $17,056,104,000 as recommended by the House and $17,035,461,000 as recommended by the Senate. Details of the adjustments are as follows:

MILITARY PERSONNEL, MARINE CORPS

The conferees agree to provide $5,266,053,000 instead of $5,245,086,000 as recommended by the House and $5,225,361,000 as recommended by the Senate. Details of the adjustments are as follows:

The conferees agree to provide $18,940,731,000 instead of $18,810,225,000 as recommended by the House and $18,957,861,000

as recommended by the Senate. Details of the adjustments are as follows:

The conferees agree to a reduction of $228,058,000 from amounts requested for Guard and Reserve end strengths. Of the total reduction, $145,158,000 is to be applied to the requested increases for full-time reservists and $82,900,000 to the selected reserve. Although making a minor reduction to the nearly $5,000,000,000 requested for training of drilling reservists, the conferees anticipate the Department will be able to attain the budgeted end strength levels. The civilian technician and full-time reserve end strengths portrayed below are the basis for the technician floor and full-time reserve ceiling included in the general provisions.

The following table summarizes end strength levels agreed to by the Committee of Conference:

INDIVIDUAL READY RESERVE SCREENING

The conferees have included a total of $15,250,000 for the Individual Ready Reserve Mobilization Test instead of no funding as proposed by the House and $61,000,000 as proposed by the Senate. A distribution of the funds requested and recommended by account follows:

By service, the conferees' recommendation amounts to 25 percent of the budget request. In view of the difficult budget climate, the conferees are recommending a go-slow approach to this new initiative. Rather than recommend a specific methodology for the Department to follow with the reduced funding level, the conferees have provided the program's managers the flexibility to redesign the IRR screening for fiscal year 1987. The Committees on Appropriations will carefully review the program execution decisions made by the Department for the 1987 program during hearings on the fiscal year 1988 budget submission.

The conferees note that in addition to the $15,250,000 available for IRR screening, in 1987 the Department will have more than $117,000,000 available for other mobilization training. Such training, including several categories of short duration active duty, is designed to ensure that IRR personnel have their skills developed

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