United States

Office of Personnel Management

Office of Merit Systems Oversight and Effectiveness

Digest of Significant Classification Decisions and Opinions

August 1994

No. 19-05

Standard:	General Schedule Supervisory Guide (April 1993)

Factor:	Factor 1, Program Scope and Effect

Issue:	Interpretation of "complex, multi-mission military installation" for crediting Scope at Level 1-3

Identification of the Classification Issue

This issue arose in an Office of Personnel Management region's adjudication of an appeal. The agency's evaluation credited Level 1-3 to a position that involved supervision of complex administrative services by equating the employing installation to a "complex, multimission installation." This determination was based on the complexity of the installation's mission, which included multiple cargo, property storage and shipment, and other traffic management functions accomplished throughout a geographic area covering several States within the Continental United States (CONUS) and locations outside the United States, including Central America and Europe.

Resolution

The region's factfinding revealed that the total population directly serviced by the appellant's staff function consisted of approximately 1,800 employees. At the primary work site, the serviced organizations included a small garrison (205 authorized positions), a small command (502 authorized positions), and a small co-located terminal facility (104 authorized positions). The second major site had 321 employees, and the two largest European organizations were staffed with about 185 positions each.

According to the General Schedule Supervisory Guide, a "complex, multimission installation" or a group of several organizations (directly supported by the position under evaluation) includes four or more of the following: (1) a garrison; (2) a medical center or large hospital and medical laboratory complex; (3) annual multimillion dollar construction, civil works, or environmental cleanup projects; (4) a test and evaluation center or research laboratory of moderate size; (5) an equipment or product development center; (6) a service school; (7) a major command higher than that in which the servicing position is located or a comparable tenant activity of moderate size; (8) a supply or maintenance depot; or equivalent activities.

The region found that the scope of the installation's program exceeded that of a small or medium military installation referenced in the criteria for Level 1-2 and proceeded to examine the intent of the criteria for a "complex, multimission installation" at Level 1-3. The region considered the varied components of the installation's transportation mission--freight traffic within CONUS, storage of personal property, sea lift cargo booking, and terminal facility operations. The region concluded that these varied program segments did not comprise an organization comparable to a "complex, multimission installation," primarily because of the limited size (i.e., employee population) and complexity of the organizations carrying out these programs. None of the individual components of the installation was found to be equivalent to any of the eight organizational components that typically comprise a "complex, multimission installation." Thus, despite the geographic dispersion and the variety of functions carried out by the components of the installation, the region found that the overall organization was not equivalent to a "complex, multimission installation." Consequently, the scope of the appellant's supervisory duties could not be credited at Level 1-3, and thus Level 1-2 was assigned.