washingtonscene
Additional provisions in the House-passed bill would: extend foreclosure protections to ser- vicemembers serving in contingency operations, surviving spouses of service- members who die from service-connected causes, and veterans with a 100-percent disability rating; provide TRICARE behavioral health care coverage to dependent children with autism; establish an online system for reserv- ists to track their active-duty service and calculate the amount of early reserve retirement credit awarded for each tour of duty; expand a pilot program to help service- members transition by providing civilian credentialing, licensing, and certification for their military skills; establish a working group to improve pediatric care under TRICARE; strengthen provisions for combating and prosecuting sexual assault; allow transition benefits for servicemem- bers who are involuntarily separated during coming force cuts, including six months’ continued access to family housing and two years of commissary and exchange benefits; ensure protection of child-custody agreements in the event of deployment of a military parent; extend certain refinancing help for qualifying servicemembers who can’t sell their homes in conjunction with military- ordered relocations; require DoD to establish a unified medi- cal command; change the name of the Department of the Navy to the Department of the Navy and Marine Corps; direct the secretary of defense to devel- op data on the long-term costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; establish a commission to recommend improvements in casualty notification,
family support, and disposition of service- member remains; require mental health/PTSD/traumatic brain injury assessments once during each 180 days of deployment; require a Pentagon report on the effects of multiple deployments on servicemem- bers’ well-being; and authorize a DoD pilot program for re- search and treatment of mental health is- sues, substance abuse, and traumatic brain injury in civilian facilities. Selected provisions in the bill ap-
proved by the Senate Armed Services Committee would: require appointment of a Military Compensation and Retirement Mod- ernization Commission to recommend changes in the military pay and benefits package, primarily for future service entrants, with special rules to expedite congressional consideration that limit debate time and bar any amendments. (MOAA strongly objects to limiting es- sential congressional oversight in this way on an issue so essential to long-term retention and readiness.); cut $660 million from the budget re- quest for military construction and family housing; require appointment of a commission to study the appropriate mix of active duty, Reserve, and Guard components for the Air Force; require a Pentagon report on the effects of the sequester that will cut another $500 billion from the 10-year defense budget, starting January 2013; require civilian workforce cuts to gener- ate savings equal to that of a 5-percent cut in military force levels; require annual reports from each service on dwell time between deployments; allow a permanent change-of-station move for Selected Reserve members who are separated because of force reductions
JULY 2012 MILITARY OFFICER 33
COLA Climbs Again Inflation increased by 0.3 percent in April. For the year, the consumer price index is 1.7 percent above its initial baseline. Keep tabs on month-to- month inflation trends on MOAA’s COLA Watch webpage at
www.moaa .org/colawatch.
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 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84