The Pentagon is moving out on its implementation of the National Security Personnel System—minus the part that deals with labor relations. DOD and union officials last week agreed to hold off on the labor relations portion of NSPS until February. A group of unions filed suit against DOD over the NSPS rules published earlier this month. (DR 11/09/05) What can DOD do before February? It can train employees and issue implementing guidance. The agreement does not rule out the possibility of the unions filing a request to temporarily or permanently stop NSPS—it just provides more breathing room for both sides.
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall doesn’t see great value in trying to break the Sentinel ICBM program off as a separate budget item the way the Navy has with its ballistic-missile submarine program, saying such a move wouldn’t create any new money for the Air Force to spend on other…