According to Thomas (the Congress' legislative web site), the 2010 CG
Authorization Act (HR 3619) has been unanimously passed in the Senate by voice
vote and (presumably) is in conference committee.  When passed out of
conference, it will have to be voted on again by both houses and sent to the
President to complete the enactment process.  I do not know when the bill is due
out of conference committee, except that Congress is coming up on the August
recess and probably won't get to HR 3619 until sometime after that. 

In addition to HR 3619 Section 407's amendment of title 24 USC 410 (to include
USCG as part of the Armed forces for Armed Forces Retirement Home (AFRH)
purposes), it also amends title 10 USC 2007 and title 37 USC 2007(i) to direct
the CG to accrue and pay into the AFRH Trust Fund all UCMJ fines & forfeitures
from active duty enlisted & CWO personnel as well as any accrued P&A that would
otherwise be paid to active duty enlisted & CWO deserters. 

 

It will also direct the CG to involuntarily deduct up to $1.00 per month (currently DoD deducts $0.50/month - would be the same for the CG) from all active duty enlisted, CWO,
& limited duty officers (presumably that means enlisted & CWO personnel who hold
temporary Regular commission appointments) and pay the aggregate amount into the
AFRH trust fund. 

 

In return, all active duty CG enlisted, CWO, & certain commissioned officer retirees (the latter with 10 or more years enlisted/CWO active service) would be able to become residents of the AFRH in retirement under the same conditions as their DoD counterparts.  RC retirees (retired under non-regular retirement authority - 10 USC 12731) are not eligible for AFRH residence and thus are not subject to the monthly pay deduction - this is the same in DoD services. 

If any of the info addressees to this e-mail are not familiar with AFRH, please
check the institution out at its web site:  http://www.afrh.gov/.  It's really a
nice place for elderly retirees - probably the best retirement/assisted living
home value anywhere. But because it's only open to retirees and not their
spouses (unless spouse is him or herself an active duty retiree), it's not for
everyone.  

II do not know how much the accumulated fines & forfeitures would amount to that
the CG will have to pay out of AFC-01 to the AFRH Trust Fund after enactment,
but it will probably be somewhat less than $1M/year. 

V/R,

Cliff Samuel
Pay & Benefits Policy Team Leader
Compensation Division
USCG Headquarters (CG-1222)