from the president
Officers, Leaders
With military pay and health care targeted for budget cuts, military officership means keeping a clear head, taking responsibility, and standing up for the troops and their families.
Lately at MOAA, we’ve been thinking about what it means to be a military officer, and we refer to the values, standards, and ethos of being an officer as “officership.” It’s particularly relevant right now because one of the things officership has always meant to me is to be responsible and accountable, no matter what. Officers need to be clear-thinking, steady individuals who keep their heads when all about are losing theirs.
At MOAA, we also believe in understanding the issues and being part of the solution. We do not sign on to being a scapegoat for problems, and we will only endorse effective and fair solutions.
This matters because defense leaders rightfully are concerned about DoD’s budget. Difficult changes are necessary. We applaud Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel for saying he will cut headquarters staff by 20 percent and taking time to talk with our troops and their families. It shows he truly desires to stay in touch.
We will, however, adopt a wait-and-see attitude regarding whether he can follow through with a reasoned, innovative approach and successfully execute his intentions. We want to see him look at the whole picture and not target military pay and retiree health care as the main problems.
The DoD budget needs to be looked at in totality. Personnel costs, including health care, pay, and benefits, are only one part. These funds, especially health care, have been used during the past three years as a cash cow to fund other programs. (See “A Bargain, Not a Liability” at
www.moaa.org/storming2013.) But DoD must look at balancing infrastructure, acquisition programs, operations and maintenance, training and readiness, and force structure. Leaders need to make difficult choices.
Some DoD leaders say MOAA is being unreasonable. We know we are not “the deciders,” but we must tell it like it is. Our troops and their families count on their leaders to look out for them because they often are too distracted after 12 years of war to worry about their earned benefits. They assume their leaders speak up for them.
In a perfect world, we would see Pentagon leaders protecting earned benefits and looking for aggressive ways to cut costs across the total DoD budget. We would see them doing due diligence and making bold moves to be a better aligned, more efficient and effective defense department.
We at MOAA are proud of standing up for our troops and stating the facts. We are eager to see how Secretary Hagel will employ his considerable skills to make the most of his leadership of the finest fighting force in the world.
Please let us know what you think. Log in to
connect.moaa.org and search for the “Officers, Leaders” discussion.
— Vice Adm. Norbert R. Ryan Jr., USN (Ret)
online: Add your thoughts to the “Officers, Leaders” discussion at
connect.moaa.org.
14 MILITARY OFFICER SEPTEMBER 2013
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