Reservists get 15-day federal leave benefits

CNMI reservists have been granted a 15-day federal leave, entitling them to claim payment for such benefit.

Gov. Juan N. Babauta said in a telephone interview from Washington D.C. Thursday that the U.S. Personnel Service has approved the 15-day leave.

“That’s been approved. Most, if not all of them, should have received their paychecks. They are entitled to that by federal law,” said the governor.

Babauta, who attended President Bush’s inauguration in Washington D.C. Thursday, is set to fly to Louisiana today to meet with the CNMI reservists.

“We want to meet with our men before they are deployed to Iraq. We’d perhaps have a barbeque together,” said the governor.

He said Guam Gov. Felix Camacho would also meet with the Guam reservists in the same training site in Louisiana.

Both officials had also visited the Marianas reservists when they were training in Hawaii last year.

The troops are believed to leave for Iraq later this month.

Local authorities earlier pushed for the granting of administrative leave to the military reservists on active duty when their accrued annual leave is exhausted.

Members of the House of Representatives earlier adopted a joint resolution which said that granting administrative leave to these personnel would be important since members of the CNMI Army Reserve “have existing financial obligations.”

“It is our obligation to accord our service members safeguards, assistance, and protection to give them the peace of mind to focus on their tasks at hand,” it said.

The resolution had cited the U.S. Personnel Service System Rules and Regulations, which allows administrative leave not to exceed 15 days in any calendar year to members of the U.S. National Guard and Reserve components of the Armed Forces.

Most of the CNMI’s 83 reservists received deployment orders of up to 18 months, including a six-month intensive training that began last year.

The House also passed a bill last year entitling CNMI reservists in active duty to receive one-half of their salary once their military and accrued annual leaves are exhausted.

The lawmakers said that House Bill 14-218, introduced by Rep. Claudio Norita, provides “a sense of security for reservists who have recently been called upon to serve our country and for their family members.”

The bill covers both government and private sector-employed reservists.

The bill provides that the CNMI government shall pay one-half the salary of the employees/reservists, provided that they are on active duty for a continuous period of one year.

The private employers, meantime, have the option to pay one-half the salary of the employee/reservists once their military or accrued vacation leaves are exhausted “in lieu of the payment of the employers’ business gross receipts tax.”

The CNMI reservists belong to the 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry Division of the U.S. Armed Forces.