Tinker civilians eligible for overseas deployments

Published March 19, 2008
By Brandice J. Armstrong
Tinker Public Affairs

TINKER AIR FORCE BASE -- Serving overseas may be considered a right and privilege to military members. The same could be said for civilians.
   Depending on positions available and their qualifications, federal service employees may volunteer to serve overseas particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan through the Department of Defense's Building Increased Civilian Deployment Capacity program.
   "The Department of Defense has needs for expertise in the area of responsibility overseas in Afghanistan and Iraq and other places around the world," said Bill Swigert, Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center director of Personnel. "It's an opportunity to serve the country in a little bit different capacity than people normally do in their jobs at home."
   Since 2001, more than 7,000 DOD civilians have deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. As of September, it was estimated nearly 2,100 DOD civilians were in Iraq and Afghanistan serving the United States, according to prepared statement by the Honorable Patricia S. Bradshaw, deputy Under Secretary of Defense, about benefits and medical care available to civilians deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.
   To go overseas, federal service employees may fill positions in various fields such as accounting and budgeting, logistics, equipment maintenance and repair, information technology, intelligence and foreign languages. Civilians with satisfactory performance and the requisite skills may apply and be approved for deployments.
   Interested employees should submit their résumé through their chain of command, to their servicing human resources office. Volunteers will be notified of the details through their chain of command.
   Civilians may also be deployed to emergency-essential areas, which included hostile or combat areas, according to Ms. Bradshaw's statement.
   If federal service employees do serve, they are compensated with benefits such as travel and pay allowances including home leave, rest and recuperation breaks and a 35-percent Danger Pay allowance. Depending on the amount of time and location they serve, they may also be eligible for performance medals.
   Furthermore, it looks good on a résumé because it reflects a broadened insight and understanding with respect to DOD operations, Mr. Swigert said.
   "Career-minded civilians who served will be more competitive if they have deployment experience in their history (and) if they choose to compete for higher-level positions in the Department of Defense more specifically for Senior Executive Service, general officer-equivalent positions," Mr. Swigert said.
   In order to qualify, interested DOD civilians must pass a physical examination and get the required immunizations.
   For more information, refer to the Ms. Bradshaw's prepared statement at http://armedservices.house.gov/pdfs/OI091807/Bradshaw_Testimony091807.pdf or the DOD deployment Web page at http://www.cpms.osd.mil/gwot/.