washingtonscene
when those costs are driven up by unique have preyed on military families strug-
military readiness requirements, docu- gling to make ends meet.
mented ineffi ciencies, and ineffective ac- In many cases, the government has
counting systems that have been deemed risen up in righteous outrage to strike
unauditable by the GAO and DoD’s own back. On the military people side, DoD
inspector general. and Congress worked hard to pass leg-
The obvious question is, what’s likely islation to corral payday lenders who
to happen with these recommendations? chisel servicemembers $500 to $5,000
First, these recommendations were at a time.
prepared under the purview of the previ- Unfortunately, they’re not as sensitive
ous administration, so there’s no telling about their own roles in an even bigger
how the new political leaders will view scandal that, with every passing day, tac-
them. Second, they’re considerably more itly swindles more servicemembers and
vague than previous recommendations, their families out of hundreds of thou-
and the more vague the recommendations, sands of dollars in future retirement ben-
the harder it might be for them to gain efi ts — the REDUX retirement system and
traction. The people who conducted the its $30,000 “career status bonus.”
study acknowledge the possibility that the Congress passed the REDUX system
new administration might want to take in 1986 as a means of cutting defense
a year to study the issues for themselves spending. REDUX cut retired pay for
before taking a position — but that, too, is subsequent new service entrants to 40
pure speculation. percent (versus the previous 50 percent)
The fi rst true indicator we’re likely to of high three-year average basic pay at
have is what’s in the fi rst Obama admin- 20 years of service and reduced annual
istration budget submission to Congress. COLAs in retirement by 1 percent a year.
And we won’t see specifi cs on that until REDUX retirees see a one-time “catch-
April. After that, it’s up to Congress. up” increase at age 62 but then suffer the
annual COLA caps for life.
The $30,000
At the time, then-Secretary of Defense
Caspar Weinberger warned Congress
REDUX Scandal
that REDUX would hurt retention — and
it did. By 1999, the joint chiefs were urg-
“Bonus” will costs troops
ing Congress to fi x it.
hundreds of thousands.
The fi x Congress approved offers peo-
ple who entered service on or after Aug.
1, 1986 (the REDUX effective date), a
T
here’s no shortage of scan- choice between reverting to the previous
dals these days, with athletes on military retirement system or accepting
steroids, bailed-out executives a $30,000 “career status bonus” and stay-
spending a million dollars to decorate ing with REDUX.
their offi ces, and Ponzi-scheme artists That “bonus” was a bad deal at the
bilking gullible investors out of billions time, and it gets worse with every passing
of dollars. year as pay (and retired pay) increases.
Military-oriented programs haven’t After taxes, the so-called bonus is
been exempt, as procurement managers more like $22,000 or $23,000. And to get
and contractors can’t account for hun- that, the typical NCO who retires with
dreds of millions of dollars in wartime 20 years of service must agree to sacri-
spending, and payday-lending loan sharks fi ce more than $300,000 in future retired
3 0 M I L I T A R Y O F F I C E R A P R I L 2 0 0 9
AApr_scene.indd
30pr_scene.indd 30 33/5/09 5:01:19 PM/5/09 5:01:19 PM
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80