By Al Kamen
Wednesday, April 26, 2006; A23

Vast numbers of lawmakers have signed on to the congressional delegation shuttle to Baghdad. And nary a one has failed to ensure that troops from the home district -- who, of course, have nothing better to do -- are rounded up to have lunch and talk to their representative.

These chats -- and the fine photos they produce -- pay handsome dividends. Obviously there are the bragging rights: "Well, I've been over there talking with our troops, with Jimmy Jones and Sally Smith -- whose parents are here today -- and with others, and let me tell you . . ."

More ominously, the lawmaker might even return from these forays thinking he or she actually knows what's going on over there. A truly frightening thought.

But it's the photos with the brass, Iraqi leaders and especially the troops -- suitable for signing, for newsletters and for campaign literature -- that are the key benefit, though some photos don't quite work out.

For example, here's a very nice shot of Rep. John Carter (R-Tex.), whose district includes Fort Hood and its 4th Infantry Division. As always, some troops from home were selected to meet with the congressman.

Apparently somebody had a sense of humor. Carter found out afterward that this warm "grip 'n' grin" shot was with Sgt. 1st Class Rob Harrell, whose mother, Mary Beth Harrell, a lawyer in Killeen, Tex., will be Carter's Democratic opponent in November. The challenger's husband, we're told, is retired military. Another son, also on active duty, is to be deployed in Iraq this summer.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association have been battling over a new contract. The FAA declared an impasse on the dispute two weeks ago, starting the 60-day review by Congress.

The FAA has been briefing the Hill on its case. NATCA is there this week. Whole forests are being leveled as both sides push their arguments.

And amid of all this, the FAA's chief negotiator, Joseph Miniace, who handled the brutal West Coast longshoremen's labor battles when he was head of the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), has a civil trial starting May 22.

It's an exceptionally nasty fight that began two years ago, after the PMA board of directors voted unanimously to fire Miniace from his $350,000-a-year job, saying he had received benefits that were not formally disclosed or approved by the board.

Members of the board were miffed to find that Miniace, who they say was supposed to receive a company car along the lines of a Buick LeSabre, picked out a $60,000 Jaguar and had a PMA subsidiary lease a Porsche for him.

Then there were other expenditures he authorized, including some pricey insurance policies he approved for himself and a couple of other PMA officers and memberships to fine country clubs, one reportedly costing $45,000 to join.

Miniace, who's the FAA's deputy assistant administrator for strategic labor management relations, in turn sued the PMA, seeking 18 months in severance pay and other benefits and punitive damages. He said that he was fully authorized as head of PMA to take the actions he took and that he was the victim of an enemy board member's "plot to kill the king."

A San Francisco federal judge, ruling on some of the complaints, said PMA acted within its authority in firing him and dismissed his claims of "emotional distress," but other matters are pending.

On March 10, Miniace's lawyers asked the judge not to postpone the trial because it has "taken an enormous emotional toll," and he wanted to have his "day in court as soon as possible" and put PMA's "mean-spiritedness" behind him.

"He does plan to go out for one day," an FAA spokesman said yesterday, "to testify in the trial and should be back the next day." To deal with NATCA.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has vowed to change the military. And if there were any doubts, check the want ads in last Sunday's Washington Post.

"Senior Air Force Reality Officer," says an ad for a job paying $107,521 to $139,774. Responsibilities are "worldwide." This is a big, quite existential job, calling on a broad array of skills.

Applicants must also be able to handle "disposal of real estate assets."

President Bush formally sent up to the Senate yesterday the nomination of Peace Corps Director Gaddi Vasquez to be ambassador to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, based in Rome.

And Bush also nominated April H. Foley, a pal of his from Harvard business school days who has been a member of the Ex-Im bank board, to be ambassador to Hungary.