yourviews
MILITARY OFFICER
SEPTEMBER 2011 $4.75
WWW.MOAA.ORG
Decade of Change
MOAA members share how their
lives have changed in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attack 82
PLUS: BROWSE MOAA’S RETIREMENT SECTION
military must be rewarded properly, it cannot prevail on patriotism alone.
“
A well- founded
—Cmdr. W.F. Hamelrath, USN-Ret. ”
Service and Sacrifice After reading the latest MOAA Legislative Update, I feel that our commander-in- chief is being misled by his staff advisors. I’m referring to the administration pro-
posal to reduce the military health care program by $27 billion and a further re- duction in the military retiree health care program, i.e., the financial intent being to generate savings by bringing the military health care and retirement systems more in line with civilian plans. It is highly probable that administra-
tion staff making these recommendations are nonmilitary personnel who have no idea what a tour of military duty is like. I am reluctantly ready to accept a “fair share” financial sacrifice because of the financial plight of our country, but if my health [care] benefits are being compro- mised to make them the same as [those of] federal service civilians, who suffer from “computer fatigue” rather than “battlefield fatigue,” then I say no way. May I suggest the president take these
staffers out of their air-conditioned offices and place them in the heat of the Afghani- stan climate for a tour of duty? If they then like the military retiree health [care] ben- efits, they can remain in service and earn them after 20 years. —Cmdr. Loren M. Thorson, USNR-Ret. via email
Why is it that in all of the discussions on possible new rules for retirement pay there is no mention of the “hip pocket” orders that I carried with me for 18 years after leaving active duty? As a Regular Army officer I was sub-
ject to recall until the age of 60, at the pleasure of the president, without a na- tional emergency being declared. I had 72 hours to report to my designated duty station in Fort Huachuca [Ariz.] for as- signment in some intelligence capacity. I
14 MILITARY OFFICER NOVEMBER 2011
turned 60 in 1990 and missed being a part of the first Gulf War by about six months. The money I received in retirement had
very real strings attached. The possibility of being involuntarily recalled to active duty was always present, yet that fact is never presented in discussions of future military retirement. The public has never heard of hip pocket orders, and I’ll wager neither have some of the bean counters working in DoD. Let’s get the word out and be sure it is factored into any discus- sion on future military retired pay. —Lt. Col. I.T. Sheppard, USA-Ret., Ph.D. Bainbridge Island, Wash.
I retired in 1970 after 32 years of service. Two of those years were spent with the Idaho National Guard. The remaining 30 were as a member of the Navy. Fourteen of the Navy years were as an enlisted man, the rest as a commissioned officer. … As an enlisted man I was an engineer,
and the day went as follows: I [started] with standing a watch from 0400 to 0800. Upon completion of the watch, I spent the next eight working hours in the engine room; then it was time for another four- hour watch. This adds up to 16 hours, and it is still the same day. This routine goes on for a week, then the watch is dogged and there are different hours of watch stand- ing, but the total hours involved remain the same. There was no overtime pay, no union to which to voice our complaints of work- ing conditions, no sick leave if I became ill, no board to review any complaints I had if I suffered verbal abuse. None of this was expected, and we continued to serve. As a commissioned officer, the routine
was similar, but the extra hours I put in during a day’s work were all a part of my responsibility as an officer. … Why did I continue to serve my coun- try for 30 years? The answer is, I loved my country then as I do today. I never bucked
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