Executive Order 11521

Authorizing Veterans Readjustment Appointments for Veterans of the Vietnam Era

Government record

By: President Richard Nixon

Date: March 26, 1970

Source: The National Archives. "Executive Order 11521—Authorizing veterans readjustment appointments for veterans of the Vietnam era." <http://www. archives.gov/federal-register/codification/executive-order/11521.html> (accessed May 26, 2006).

About the Author: Richard Nixon (1913–1991) was the thirty-seventh president of the United States, serving from 1969–1974. Prior to his presidency he served as a Naval officer and as Dwight Eisenhower's Vice-President. In 1974, he resigned from office.

INTRODUCTION

United States law is created in several distinct ways. Most commonly, a bill is passed by both houses of Congress and signed into law by the president. In some cases, a president may refuse to sign a bill, and if Congress can gather enough votes, the bill becomes law without his signature. At times, federal courts intervene in the law-making process, limiting the scope or impact of a law. This system of checks and balances is intended to limit the power of any single branch of government.

While the president's law-making ability is generally limited by his forced cooperation with Congress, he is able to make some significant policy decisions on his own. Since the earliest days of the United States, presidents have issued executive orders. These proclamations, which carry the force of law, are generally issued to assist various government agencies in carrying out their assigned missions, such as when the Federal Emergency Management Agency assists disaster victims. However, some executive orders have much more far-reaching effects; President Lincoln's 1862 Emancipation Proclamation, which formally freed all slaves in Confederate territory, took the form of a presidential executive order.

During his presidency, Richard Nixon signed an average of one executive order per month, dealing with topics ranging from the sale of U.S. Savings Bonds to government regulation of industrial pollution levels. As the commander-in-chief of the United States armed forces, President Nixon used executive orders to modify several policies dealing with military affairs. Executive Order 11537 changed federal policy dealing with the military draft; Order 11545 established the Defense Distinguished Service Medal.

As the United States neared the end of the Vietnam conflict, the president turned his attention to returning veterans. Past administrations had also issued orders and passed laws intended to smooth the transition from military to civilian life. Following World War II, veterans were made eligible for a variety of benefits, including cash bonuses, education funding, and mortgage assistance. A 1952 act made Korean War veterans eligible for the same benefits offered under the original G.I. Bill of 1944, and later legislation extended these benefits to Vietnam-era veterans.

Executive Order 11521 was signed in 1970. The act acknowledged that military veterans typically sacrifice career advancement while on overseas assignments and might find it harder to secure work upon returning. It also noted that veterans are often instrumental in recruiting efforts, making their treatment an important element of future recruiting efforts. For these reasons, the act created veterans readjustment appointments, meaning that federal jobs could be preferentially awarded to veterans within one year of their separation from active duty. By allowing such appointments, the act was intended to level the playing field between veterans who had just returned from duty and non-veterans whose recent experience might give them an advantage in securing work. The order extended a previous policy that allowed preferential appointment of veterans, but only on a temporary basis.

PRIMARY SOURCE

Executive Order 11521—Authorizing veterans readjustment appointments for veterans of the Vietnam era

WHEREAS this Nation has an obligation to assist veterans of the armed forces in readjusting to civilian life;

WHEREAS the Federal Government, as an employer, should reflect its recognition of this obligation in its personnel policies and practices;

WHEREAS veterans, by virtue of their military service, have lost opportunities to pursue education and training oriented toward civilian careers;

WHEREAS the Federal Government is continuously concerned with building an effective workforce, and veterans constitute a major recruiting source; and

WHEREAS the development of skills is most effectively achieved through a program combining employment with education or training:

NOW, THEREFORE, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution of the United States, by sections 3301 and 3302 of title 5, United States Code, and as President of the United States, it is ordered as follows:

Section 1. (a)Subject to paragraph (b) of this section, the head of an agency may make an excepted appointment, to be known as a "veterans readjustment appointment," to any position in the competitive service up to and including GS-5 or the equivalent thereof, of a veteran or disabled veteran as defined in section 2108(1), (2), of title 5, United States Code, who:

1. served on active duty in the armed forces of the United States during the Vietnam era;
2. at the time of his appointment has completed not more than fourteen years of education; and
3. is found qualified to perform the duties of the position.

(b)Employment under paragraph (a) of this section is authorized only under a training or educational program developed by an agency in accordance with guidelines established by the Office of Personnel Management.

(c)An employee given a veterans readjustment appointment under paragraph (a) of this section shall serve subject to:

1. the satisfactory performance of assigned duties; and
2. participation in the training or educational program under which he is appointed.

An employee who does not satisfactorily meet the conditions set forth in paragraph (c) of this section shall be removed in accordance with appropriate procedures.

An employee serving under a veterans readjustment appointment may be promoted, reassigned, or transferred.

An employee who completes the training or educational program and who has satisfactorily completed two years of substantially continuous service under a veterans readjustment appointment shall be converted to career-conditional or career employment. An employee converted under this paragraph shall automatically acquire a competitive status.

In selecting an applicant for appointment under this section, an agency shall not discriminate because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or political affiliation.

[Sec. 1 amended by Executive Order 12107 of Dec. 28, 1978, 44 FR 1055, 3 CFR, 1978 Comp., p. 264]

Sec. 2 .

1. A person eligible for appointment under section 1 of this order may be appointed only within one year after his separation from the armed forces, or one year following his release from hospitalization or treatment immediately following his separation from the armed forces, or one year after involuntary separation without cause from (i) a veterans readjustment appointment or (ii) a transitional appointment, or one year after the effective date of this order if he is serving under a transitional appointment.
2. The Office of Personnel Management may determine the circumstances under which service under a transitional appointment may be deemed service under a veterans readjustment appointment for the purpose of paragraph (f) of section 1 of this order.

[Sec. 2 amended by Executive Order 12107 of Dec. 28, 1978, 44 FR 1055, 3 CFR, 1978 Comp., p. 264]

Sec. 3 . Any law, Executive order, or regulation which would disqualify an applicant for appointment in the competitive service shall also disqualify a person otherwise eligible for appointment under section 1 of this order.

Sec. 4 . For the purpose of this order:

1. "agency" means a military department as defined in section 102 of title 5, United States Code, an executive agency (other than the General Accounting Office) as defined in section 105 of title 5, United States Code, and those portions of the legislative and judicial branches of the Federal Government and of the government of the District of Columbia having positions in the competitive service; and
2. "Vietnam era" means the period beginning August 5, 1964, and ending on such date thereafter as may be determined by Presidential proclamation or concurrent resolution of the Congress.

Sec. 5 . The Office of Personnel Management shall prescribe such regulations as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this order.

[Sec. 5 amended by Executive Order 12107 of Dec. 28, 1978, 44 FR 1055, 3 CFR, 1978 Comp., p. 264]

Sec. 6 . Executive Order No. 11397 of February 9, 1968, is revoked. Such revocation shall not affect the right of an employee to be converted to career-conditional or career employment if he meets the requirements of section 1(d) of Executive Order No. 11397,1 after the effective date of this order.

Sec. 7 . This order is effective 14 days after its date.

Editorial note: The provisions of section 1 of Executive Order 11397 of Feb. 9, 1968, 33 FR 2833, 3 CFR, 1966–1970 Comp., p. 712, are as follows:

Section 1 Under such regulations as the Civil Service Commission may prescribe, the head of an agency may make an excepted appointment (to be known as a "transitional appointment") to any position in the competitive service at GS-5 or below, or the equivalent thereof, of a veteran or disabled veteran as defined in section 2108 (1), (2) of title 5, United States Code, who:

1. served on active duty in the armed forces of the United States during the Vietnam era;
2. at the time of his appointment has completed less than one year of education beyond graduation from high school, or the equivalent thereof; and
3. is found qualified to perform the duties of the position.

1. An employee given a transitional appointment under paragraph (a) of this section serves subject to:
   1. the satisfactory performance of assigned duties; and
   2. the satisfactory completion, within such reasonable time as is prescribed in the regulations of the Civil Service Commission, of not less than one school year of full-time approved education or training, or the equivalent thereof, except that two school years of full-time approved education or training, or the equivalent thereof, shall be required when an employee has not completed high school, or the equivalent thereof, by virtue of that education or training.
2. An employee who does not satisfactorily meet the conditions set forth in paragraph (b) of this section shall be removed in accordance with appropriate procedures.
3. An employee who satisfactorily meets the conditions set forth in paragraph (b) of this section and who has completed not less than one year of current continuous employment under a transitional appointment shall, in accordance with the regulations of the Civil Service Commission, be converted to career-conditional or career employment when he furnishes his employing agency proof of the satisfactory completion of the required education or training. An employee converted under this paragraph shall automatically acquire a competitive status.
4. In selecting an applicant for appointment under this section, an agency head shall not discriminate because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or political affiliation.

SIGNIFICANCE

The use of executive orders has been criticized by some legal scholars. Presidents have occasionally used this authority to radically alter U.S. law; President Harry Truman's integration of the armed forces is one example of such an order. Arguably the most extreme use of executive authority was President Franklin Roosevelt's order relocating Japanese American and German American citizens to internment camps during World War II.

Although the court system has the authority to invalidate an executive order, this has occurred only twice in U.S. history. Congress is also empowered to limit executive authority, either by passing legislation that conflicts with the order or by refusing to authorize funds for the order's implementation. A two-thirds majority is necessary to override a presidential veto in such cases.

A recent survey by the Brookings Institution ranked programs to assist veterans in re-entering civilian life among the federal government's fifty most significant achievements in recent history. The Department of Veterans' Affairs currently oversees programs and benefits for more than twenty-four million military veterans at a cost of more than $70 billion per year. In the decades since the first G.I. Bill, more than twenty-one million vets have received federal educational assistance; of these, more than one-third served in the Vietnam era. Additional extensions to veteran benefits have also provided educational assistance for thousands of veterans' spouses and children.

FURTHER RESOURCES

Books

Kimbell, Jefferey P.Nixon's Vietnam War (Modern War Studies). Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2002.

Mayer, Kenneth.With the Stroke of a Pen : Executive Orders and Presidential Power. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2002.

Mettler, Suzanne.Soldiers to Citizens : The G.I. Bill and the Making of the Greatest Generation. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.

Periodicals

Campbell, Alec. "The Invisible Welfare State: Establishing the Phenomenon of Twentieth Century Veteran's Benefits."Journal of Political and Military Sociology32 (2004): 249ndash;267.

Jaffe, Greg. "As Benefits for Veterans Climb, Military Spending Feels Squeeze."Wall Street Journal—Eastern Edition(January 25, 2005): A1–A6.

Ortiz, Stephen R. "The "New Deal" for Veterans: The Economy Act, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the Origins of New Deal Dissent."Journal of Military History38 (2006): 27–29.

Web sites

Brookings Institution. "Government's 50 Greatest Endeavors: Support Veteran Readjustment and Training." <http://www.brookings.edu/gs/cps/50ge/endeavors/vet erans.htm> (accessed May 26, 2006).

National Archive. "Richard Nixon–1970." <http://www. archives.gov/federal-register/executive-orders/1970. html> (accessed May 27, 2006).

United States Department of Veterans' Affairs. "Fact Sheet: Facts About the Department of Veterans' Affairs." <http://www1.va.gov/opa/fact/vafacts.asp> (accessed May 27, 2006).