The rule defines “competing employee,” “competitive service tenure group,” “excepted service tenure group,” “reduction in force,” “initial probationary period,” “trial period,” “government obligation,” and “military spouse.” Notably, the amount of veterans' preference provided under these provisions is much greater than the preference veterans receive in competitive examining for hiring using numerical rating and ranking under 5 U.S.C. That makes the revised RIF veterans' preference materially stronger than hiring preference as a scoring weight. That is a feature of a system designed to give meaningful effect to both veterans' preference and performance, not evidence that veterans' preference has been erased. The Veterans' Preference Act of 1944 did not define “competing employees” to include all individuals serving in Federal positions.