Discount vacation online

Discount military vacation club now online

The terms "cheap" and "vacation" don't often go together, but the Armed Forces Vacation Club manages the feat.

The club is an arrangement between the Army and Resort Condominiums International, or RCI, a "timeshare" managing company. Last year, it began offering active and reserve military ID cardholders, military retirees and DOD civilians "spaceavailable" units at selected resorts worldwide for $209 per week.

Hundreds of people have already used the club. The normal rates are $600 to $1,500 per week in season, according to John Cully, RCI national vice president.

The company recently opened the program to service members and DOD civilians overseas and has also opened a club Web site at www.afvclub.com to make it easier to book a condo.

To book a $209 vacation, check the Web site and make your selections. Then call the club's toll-free number, 1-800-724-9988. Give the vacation counselor your name, the number of people traveling with you and your service. They will also ask for the name of your military installation in your area; local Morale Welfare and Recreation/Information Tours and Travel offices receive a $20 rebate for every confirmed vacation. The company advises Guardsmen to select an installation that corresponds to their normal training activity or one that routinely supports your unit. Be prepared to give at least three choices of places you want to go and times and have a credit card handy.

Mike Overfelt, vice president of Cendant Alliance Marketing, RCI's parent company, suggests checking the Web site often because the $209 vacations depend on availability, which changes daily Typical resorts are located in Europe, Latin America and throughout the United States.

RCI is affiliated with 3,500 "time-share" resorts worldwide. Because not all resort units are used by owners or rented all the time, the company must still pay upkeep costs, but receives no revenue while units are vacant. Overfelt and Culley, both retired Army officers, suggested RCI offer these condos at cost to military members and DoD civilians.

"This way we're able to cover expenses and the service member is getting a fun, cheap vacation," Overfelt said.

Some restrictions apply. Confirmed vacations are not transferable. Pets are not allowed at any resort location.

Cully said service members and civilians must be flexible with their requests. "You're not going to get Vail (Colorado) at Christmas," he said. "Generally what's available is off-season."

Participating resorts have different amenities. Typically, condos feature up to three bedrooms, a living room and fully equipped full or partial kitchens. Many units have laundry facilities or such amenities as whirlpool tubs or fireplaces. Guests have access to on-site or nearby facilities, such as beaches, golf courses, tennis courts, spas, ski slopes, fishing lakes, hiking paths, horseback riding, restaurants and shops. Many resorts also provide planned adult and children's activities.

RCI is a time-share company, but club users have no obligation to sit through sales pitches.

However, the study said that since the effort has been piecemeal and without a clearly defined goal, the Army cannot precisely measure and evaluate its effects. And without such analysis, properly tasking and resourcing the Guard will remain difficult.

The GAO, the investigative arm of Congress, found that further integration in such activities as peacekeeping has increased the Army's personnel costs. This is because disbursements from pay and allowance accounts increase when a reservist serves more than 39 days a year.

It also found that many aspects of integration initiatives are unfunded-as a result, resources are being taken away from other reserve requirements.

"This means that some costs of integration are being absorbed by Guard and Reserve units themselves, or even by individual soldiers," the report said.

It concedes, however, that this process could reduce risk in implementation of military strategy overall, by "improving training and readiness levels in both the active and reserve forces."

The report suggested that the Army develop a clear plan to guide integration, and reexamine tasking and funding priorities for the Guard as they are used more frequently.

"We retained our recommendation calling for a overarching plan because none of the documents the DOD cited contain measurable goals or the firm criteria necessary to guide and evaluate integration efforts," the report said. "None of the existing oversight bodies has provided a clear integration strategy for the Army to follow."

Charles Cragin, deputy assistant secretary of defense for reserve affairs, disagreed with the GAO in a letter included in the final report.

He especially took issue with a GAO conclusion that the Pentagon has emphasized integration without clearly defining it. Cragin cited a memorandum from Defense Secretary William S. Cohen characterizing integration, in part, as "the confidence that reserve component units are trained and equipped to serve as an effective part of the joint and combined force."

Cragin said that peacekeeping in general increases the Army's costs, not the use of Reserve-component personnel.

"As various integration initiatives mature, 'precise' measurable effects will become more apparent," Cragin wrote. "However, with respect to measuring general effects, the Army offers the current Bosnia mission with the Texas 49th ... as testimony that their integration efforts are `on target."'

The full GAO report, GAO/NSIAD00-162: "Force Structure: Army is Integrating Active and Reserve Combat Forces, but Challenges Remain," can be read online at www.gao.gov.