Ending WOT isn't the deterrent.
In fact, it maybe a strong reason to join.
Afghanistan was a reaction.
Iraq is action.
The folklore is different- the challenge
is convincing they are the same thing,
and those who either believe it or persuaded
by that argument will join knowing what may
lie ahead.
Remember Cheney talks up Iran.
Really big sell, huh?
How about the brass and the politicos come clean
on their promises:
rotation(on some timely base)
equipment,
using the military for military action not police, (i know-canof worms and no way out for me- i lose handsdown with this one and the next)
stop/slow inscription of the reserves,
uncaring for vets health and veteran benefits.
Don't do it,
the sell job get pretty tough.
And I forgot- promise them a MOS and give it to them.
but look what they get-- free outside base housing!
"Five years ago, the Department of Defense began pushing a plan to reduce average out-of-pocket expenses when a member lives off base to zero by the year 2005."
What Congress Has in Store For You
From Rod Powers,
Your Guide to U.S. Military.
usmilitary.about.com
The FY 2005 Military Authorization Act
Military pay and benefits are primarily based upon two yearly acts of legislation. The first is the Defense Appropriations Act, which allocates funds to the military. The second is the Defense Authorization Act, which basically tells the military how to spend the money granted by the other act.
Both bills for Fiscal Year 2005 are now law. The President signed the final bill, HR 4200, the FY 2005 Military Authorization Act, into law on October 28th.
The bills make up 19.9 percent of the total fiscal 2005 federal budget and 3.6 percent of the gross domestic product. Last year, the percentages were 20.2 percent and 3.8 percent, respectively.
So, what are the major provisions that Congress has in store for military members?
Basic Pay. This year, Congress authorized an across the board 3.5 percent basic pay raise (see FY 05 Basic Pay Charts).
Unlike the past several years, this year Congress elected not to target higher percentages to certain ranks/pay groups. This across-the-board raise will lower the "average pay gap" between military pay and civilian pay to 5.1 percent. As with other years, the raise becomes effective on January 1, which means service members will see the increase in their January 15th paychecks.
Housing Allowance. (See BAH Rate Charts). Five years ago, the Department of Defense began pushing a plan to reduce average out-of-pocket expenses when a member lives off base to zero by the year 2005. The FY 2005 Military Authorization Act continues to support this plan, authorizing an average raise of 3.5 percent more than the increase in housing/rental prices. This means that most military members will see an average BAH raise of around 6.2 percent over their 2004 Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) rates.
DOD is currently in the process of gathering housing price data to compute the new rates for 2005. Historically, they release the new rates around the middle of December. When the rates are released we'll have them here on the About.com U.S. Military site. As with previous years, the new rates will take effect on the 1st of January, so service members will see the increase in their January 15th paycheck.
Under current BAH rules, if a service member moves to a state-side location for an assignment where dependents are authorized to travel at government expense, the military member recieves the BAH rate for the location of his/her assignment, even if they elect not to move their dependents. The new law allows military members serving at an assignment for training or school that is less than 12 months in duration, to elect the BAH rate of their previous assignment, if they choose not to relocate their dependents.
Combat Pay. In 2002, Congress temporarily increased Hostile Fire Pay, also known as "Combat Pay," or "Imminent Danger Pay," from $150 per month to $225 per month. This temporary increase was scheduled to run out on January 1. The new law makes the increase permanent.
Family Separation Allowance. As with Combat Pay, in 2002 Congress passed legislation to temporarily increase Family Separation Allowance from $100 per month to $250 per month. This provision would normally expire on January 1, but the new act makes the increase permanent.
Concurrent Receipt. The bill also speeds up concurrent-receipt payments for retirees rated 100 percent disabled. In the past, retirees had their pay docked dollar for dollar by the amount of disability payments the Department of Veterans Affairs paid them. Last year, Congress authorized a phase-in process that would eliminate the concurrent-receipt prohibition over a decade.Veterans who are 100 percent disabled will now receive their entire retirement pay, effective on January 1st.
Foreign Language Bonus. Under the old law, the services could pay up to $100 per month for service members who maintain a proficiency in a foreign language that the service deems "critical." The law increases the maximum bonus amount to $1,000 per month for enlisted members, and up to $6,000 per year for Reservists. However, Congress left it entirely up to the military services to decide what criteria they would use to award the bonus, and the services do not have to award the maximum amount. We'll have to wait and see what implementing regulations DOD and the individual services devise to find out what amounts will be paid, and what the eligibility criteria will be. This is likely to take several months
Bonuses. As in previous years, both versions contain provisions which allow the services to pay bonuses (such as enlistment and re-enlistment bonuses) for the next year. Additionally, the law allows the services to pay re-enlistment bonuses to military members with up to 16 years of service. The previous law authorized re-enlistment bonuses only to members with 14 or fewer years of military service.
The new law also increases the maximum re-enlistment bonuses for reservists from $10,000 to $15,000, and authorizes the services to pay the bonuses in a "lump sum" (of course, that doesn't necessarily mean the services will choose to do so).
Additionally, the law increases the maximum enlistment bonus for reservists from $8,000 to $10,000, and allows the Reserves to pay a maximum $3,000 bonus for active duty troops who leave active duty to join the Reserves.
Also, the bill allows the Reserves to pay a maximum $2,000 bonus to reservists who re-train into a critical job.
The bill allows the Reserves to pay a maximum $6,000 accession bonus to new commissioned officers in "critical skills."
Overseas Move Expense. The new law authorizes the military to reimburse members moving overseas for one-time expenses connected with the move, such as taxes and registration fees required by the foreign government. Only nonrecurring, one-time expenses are covered, and the expense needs to be something that is not already covered under other programs and/or must be significantly higher than like expenses in the United States. DoD will have to prepare a regulation to determine exactly what kind of expenses will be authorized for reimbursement. Expect this to take several months.
Survivor Benefit Plan. Under the old law, a survivor received 55 percent of a military member's retirement pay until age 62, when it drops to 35 percent. The new law eliminates this reduction, but it is phased in over the next 3 1/2 years:
For months after September 2005 and before April 2006: 40 percent
For months after March 2006 and before April 2007: 45 percent
For months after March 2007 and before April 2008: 50 percent
For months after March 2008: 55 percent
Firefighter Danger Pay. The services are now authorized to pay a $150 per month hazardous duty pay to military members who reguarly service on firefighting crews.
Advanced Pay for Combat Zones. The act allows the services to advance (loan) up to three months of basic pay to military members assigned/deployed to a combat zone for more than 12 months. Under the plan, one month of basic pay would be automatic, and an additional advance of up to two months of basic pay would be based on hardship situations. The "loan" is repaid by monthly deductions for the member's pay over a 12 month period.
Servicemans Group Life Insurance. The FY 2005 Military Authorization Act increases maximum SGLI coverage from $250,000 to $350,000. However, this increase isn't effective until 1 October 2005. Additionally, the provision automatically increases the maximum coverage each year by a percentage equal to the average increase in basic pay, beginning in 2007. Also, beginning 1 October 2005, the first $10,000 of SGLI coverage will be provided to service members for free, with the amount of "free" coverage increasing each year by the same percentage as base pay increases.
Death Gratuity. The law increases the current $12,000 death gratuity paid to survivors when a military member dies on active duty, automatically each year to equal the percentage in average increase in basic pay. The first increase is 1 January, and will match this year's increase in basic pay, which is 3.5 percent. That means, beginning January 1, the death gratuity will increase to $12,420, with future automatic increases each year.
Continued Pay After Death. Beginning 1 October 2005, the services would pay a lump sum payment, equal to 12 months of the military member's base pay, to the family members of a service member, who died on active duty, if the death occurs in the line of duty. If the member died as a result of hostile fire, the survivor(s) would receive the member's basic pay for 2 years.
Exclusion of Pay for Federal Assistance. The new law excludes family separation allowance and combat pay when determining eligibility for certain Federal assistance programs, including the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act, Child Nutrition Act of 1966, the Head Start Act, Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990, and the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981.
Meals When Hospitalized. The new law eliminates the requirement for military members who are hospitalized to pay for their meals. Under the old law, hospitalized military members received a subsistence allowance, but were required to pay the meals they consume in military hospitals. The new law allows members to continue to receive BAS, but eat meals for free when hospitalized in military treatment facilities.
Reserve Medical Care. Medical benefits for guardsmen and reservists who are called to active duty change significantly under provisions in this year's authorization act.
Recent changes made reserve component members and their families eligible for medical care up to 90 days before a deployment. A major change in the new act provides for considerably extended coverage after deployment as well.
Activated reserve-component servicemembers are now eligible for one year of Tricare Standard coverage for each 90 days of active duty service. Members pay 28 percent of the cost for care, but must agree to stay in the Selected Reserve for their entire period of coverage.
Previously enacted temporary benefits -- including 180 days of transitional health care for activated reservists, waiver of Tricare deductibles for those called to active duty for more than 30 days, and payment of up to 115 percent of Tricare maximum allowable charges -- became permanent under the new act as well.
The act also addresses medical readiness of reservists and guardsmen. It provides for a review of medical and dental readiness of reservists and guardsmen called to active duty.
Guard/Reserve Education Benefits. In the past, education benefits for reserve component troops were considerably below those for active duty troops, even when RC servicemembers were activated for extended periods. That is now changed, based on how long a reserve member is activated.
Members who have been activated more than 90 consecutive days will now receive 40 percent of the active duty monthly rate under the Montgomery G.I. Bill, or $401 a month for those attending school full time.
The rate goes up to $602, 60 percent of the active duty rate, for those activated more than one year. For those reserve component members activated at least two years, the rate jumps to 80 percent of the active duty rate, or $803 per month. Active duty servicemembers must generally serve at least a three-year enlistment to earn full benefits under the Montgomery G.I. Bill.
Body Armor Reimbursement. After 9/11, and continuing into the Iraq invasion, many military members purchased their own body armor to make up for military shortages. The new law requires the Department of Defense to reimburse military members or their families and friends for such purchases. To be eligible for reimbursement, the equipment must have been purchased between September 11, 2001, and July 31, 2004. The maximum reimbursement is $1,100 per item, and it must be certified as being critical to the "health, protection, or safety" of the military member. Additionally, the item had to be unavailable for military issue. If DoD provides reimbursement, they are authorized to take ownership of the item.
Active Duty End-Strength. The new bill allows the active duty Army to increase in size by 20,000 troops, and the active duty Marine Corps to increase in size by 3,000. The end-strength of the other services remain the same as last year.
Army -- 502,400
Air Force -- 359,700
Navy -- 365,900
Marine Corps -- 178,000
Selected Reserves End-Strength. Both versions of the bill contain identical end-strength numbers for the Selected Reserves:
Army National Guard -- 350,000
Army Reserve -- 205,000
Naval Reserve -- 83,400
Marine Corps Reserve -- 39,600
Air National Guard -- 106,800
Air Force Reserve -- 76,100
Coast Guard Reserve -- 10,000
The authorization act also eliminates the so-called "180-day rule." Under previous accounting guidelines, reserve component servicemembers who were mobilized for more than 179 days had to be counted against active duty statistics. Now, mobilized reserve members do not count against the active duty end-strengths, no matter how long they are mobilized.
Reserve Member Call-up. The act now allows the military services to mobilize their RC members for training. In the past, a common scenario was to activate guardsmen or reservists, send them away from home for training and then deploy them to an operational mission. That often resulted in an 18-month continuous active duty (training, plus deployment).
New rules contained in the authorization act allow RC members to be activated just for training, then demobilized until they're needed for operational missions. |
