Military Buyout Plan Focuses on Older Members : Employment: Nunn proposal also offers retraining. Program would affect 225,000 older officers, enlisted people.

Congress began grappling Thursday with the question of what to do about the million military and defense personnel who are expected to be thrown onto the job market as a result of post-Cold War defense cuts.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) unveiled a sweeping proposal designed both to ease the cutback of America’s armed forces from their Cold War levels and to prepare retiring service people for jobs in the civilian world.

The plan, outlined in a Senate speech, would bolster the Pentagon’s corporate-style buyout program to focus on those with 15 to 20 years’ military service and to offer those with inadequate skills a year’s leave with pay to train themselves for civilian jobs.

Analysts said about 225,000 senior officers and enlisted personnel--about 12% of the current active duty force--would be eligible for such buyouts under Nunn’s plan. The existing early retirement program, begun a few weeks ago, has mostly benefited younger servicemen.

In a bow to those who want to address the country’s domestic needs, the proposal would provide extra incentives to retiring military personnel who take jobs in so-called “critical” civilian occupations--such as education, health and law enforcement.

To help cushion the impact of military cutbacks on workers in defense industries, Nunn also called on the Pentagon to activate a little-used program designed to provide federal grants to help states, local communities and employers adjust to plant closings.

He also suggested that the federal government find more ways to use retiring military personnel as teachers, both by assigning them to help train displaced civilians and by drawing up new proposals for accrediting them as public school teachers and administrators.

Nunn said that his new proposal would enable the nation to rechannel “the tremendous talent that won the Cold War in solving some of the pressing problems that affect our nation’s future”--from teaching math and science to patrolling high-crime areas.

“Clearly there is plenty of work to do here at home,” he said. “People leaving defense-related jobs cannot solve all these problems. We can, however, ensure that those who can contribute in critical occupations are given every opportunity . . . to do so.”

It was not immediately clear how much support the chairman’s proposal would receive. Nunn conceded in his floor speech that he had not yet discussed his plan either with the Bush Administration or with members of the House Armed Services Committee.

But congressional strategists said the proposal might be just what lawmakers are looking for to help ease the pain of the cutback in military spending on workers in defense-related industries, which already have been forced to lay off employees as the Pentagon budget is cut.

The job issue has become a serious one. Even those Democrats who advocate cutting defense spending sharply have been having second thoughts as they consider the possible impact of larger defense cuts on the jobless rolls.

The Administration has projected the cutbacks already under way will result in the release of about 1 million military and Defense Department personnel by 1996, virtually all of whom are expected to be seeking jobs in the civilian economy.

And a study by the Defense Budget Project, a private research group here, has predicted that cutbacks in private-sector defense industries will throw up to 800,000 U.S. workers out of jobs by 1996--more than 200,000 of them in California.

There was no immediate estimate of how much Nunn’s program might cost. But Senate staff members noted that the price tag most likely would be offset by personnel savings if enough senior officers and enlisted personnel accepted the early retirement offer.

Times staff writer Melissa Healy contributed to this story.

Easing the Military Cutback

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) unveiled a sweeping proposal for America’s armed forces. Nunn’s proposal would:

Offer early retirement to some 225,000 senior officers and enlisted personnel who have 15 to 20 years’ service--just short of the traditional retirement benchmark of 20 years on the job. Existing programs to cut the military have focused on personnel with between six and 15 years’ service. Allow those retiring early to make up part of any retirement benefits that they lose by taking jobs for as much as five years in “critical” civilian fields, such as education, health or law enforcement. Lost benefits would be restored after a retiree reached age 62. Permit those military personnel in specialties such as combat arms that cannot be transferred easily to the civilian world to take a year’s leave of absence at full basic pay to enroll in college or vocational schools. Tuition would be paid by the GI Bill. Reinvigorate a $200-million grant program designed to help companies and local communities that have been hurt by closings of defense-related plants. Nunn also suggested expanding an existing program to help defense workers who have been thrown out of jobs. Ask the Department of Education to draw up proposed nationwide guidelines for “alternative teacher certification programs” that allow former military personnel to count some of their service in the armed forces in qualifying as public school teachers. Order the armed forces to use some of their excess military training facilities to help retrain both military and civilian defense workers who are preparing to enter the civilian economy.