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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DMaA who wrote (129817)	8/4/2005 3:58:18 PM
From: unclewest	Respond to of 793914

This needs to be done. Due to attempts to overcome recent recruiting shortfalls, The bonus system is out of whack. uw August 04, 2005 Bush orders new review of pay and benefits By Vince Crawley Times staff writer President Bush has ordered a new review of military pay and benefits —the 10th Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation, a study required by law every four years. In an Aug. 2 memo to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the Bush administration asked that the review look at maintaining quality of life and experienced personnel while also considering ways to simplify and make more flexible today’s complex pay structure. The White House also requested that the review address possible changes to the military retirement system. Rumsfeld already has chartered an independent review by a group of retired officers and senior pay experts known as the Defense Advisory Committee on Military Compensation. The commission has spent the summer studying current pay systems and is expected to start recommending possible changes in late August or September. The commission is due to file its full report early next year, in time for it to be reviewed by the Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation, or QRMC. The 9th QRMC was conducted in 2000, at the end of the Clinton administration. It recommended substantial increases in career enlisted pay, recognizing that today’s enlisted force is more educated and plays a more critical role in operations than enlisted members of earlier generations. The 8th QRMC of 1996 resulted in changes to the pay table that rewarded early promotion. Rumsfeld and his personnel advisors are interested in looking at alternatives to the current military retirement system, which allows troops to retire at 50 percent of basic pay after 20 years of service but offers nothing for those who serve for shorter periods. Rumsfeld also has said he considers the current pay system to be too complex. In recent years, the Pentagon has favored pays that can be fine-tuned to individual circumstances. Bush’s memo asked Rumsfeld to study the potential for a “substantial reduction or elimination of community-specific continuation and career pays in favor of more flexible and effective compensation alternatives.” The full text of the president’s memo follows: August 2, 2005 Memorandum for the Secretary of Defense SUBJECT: Tenth Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation Consistent with section 1008(b) of title 37, United States Code, every 4 years the President directs a complete review of the principles and concepts of the compensation system for members of the uniformed services. You shall conduct the tenth such Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation as my Executive Agent. The Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force in the Department of Defense; the Coast Guard in the Department of Homeland Security; the commissioned corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the Department of Commerce; and the commissioned corps of the Public Health Service in the Department of Health and Human Services perform important roles in the protection of the American people and advancement of their interests at home and abroad. To continue to recruit and retain highly qualified personnel for the uniformed services as they transform themselves to meet new challenges, the departments concerned must offer, in addition to challenging and rewarding duties, compensation appropriate to the services rendered to the Nation. The departments also must apply the substantial taxpayer resources devoted to uniformed services compensation in the most effective manner possible. In the review of the principles and concepts of the compensation system, particular attention should be paid to: •ensuring that personnel in the uniformed services have the abilities and experience necessary to meet the challenges expected in the future, especially with respect to the War on Terror, defense of the homeland, and public warning and health in emergencies; •maintaining the quality of life for members of the uniformed services and their families; •the potential for consolidation of special pays and bonuses into fewer, broader, and more flexible authorities and for the substantial reduction or elimination of community-specific continuation and career pays in favor of more flexible and effective compensation alternatives; •the potential need for enactment of broader and more flexible authorities for recruitment and retention of uniformed services personnel; and •the implications of changing expectations of present and potential members of the uniformed services relating to retirement. Please ensure that the Secretaries of Commerce, Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security participate as appropriate in the conduct of the review. I look forward to reviewing your findings and recommendations in this important undertaking. GEORGE W. BUSH