Justice Or Windfall For The Colonels?- In 1992, a US Army board forced 1,169 Lieutenant Colonels to retire. This was the largest single mass firing of field-grade officers. Of these, about 20 were women and about 45 were minorities; the rest were white males. A law suit alleging that the selection criteria were written to unconstitutionally favor women and minorities has just been given class-action status, and 1,100 former lieutenant colonels are likely to get a substantial windfall. The suit is demanding back pay for the years to normal average retirement, increased retirement pay based on longer service, and special promotion boards to consider which of these men would have been promoted to full colonel or general (and received even more retirement pay) if allowed to stay. --Stephen V Cole