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But with the budget woes facing DoD under sequestration, it feels like déjà vu.
As the FY 2014 Defense Authorization Bill moves forward, the two chambers don’t see eye to eye on the pay raise. The House rejected the administration’s pay cap and would allow a 1.8-percent raise, while the Senate supports the cap of 1 percent.
After all of the pay raises over the past decade that exceeded private-sector growth, some have asked why make a big deal over 0.8 percent.
History has shown once Congress starts accepting proposals to cap military pay below private-sector growth, pay caps continue until they have weakened retention and readiness.
It appears that is the plan again. In the FY 2013 budget submission, the administration and DoD rolled out a three-year pay-cap plan below ECI starting in FY 2015. The FY 2014 plan looks to either accelerate or extend this cap plan, even though DoD won’t commit one way or the other.
What’s the impact of losing 0.8 percent over a servicemember’s career?
For example, an O-4 with 10 years of service would lose an additional $52 a month in FY 2014 without the 0.8-percent raise.
That might not sound like much, until the power of compounding comes into play.
For the first year, that $52 a month equates to a loss of $624. Over the remaining years of his or her career, the O-4 loses nearly $8,000 in pay from this one-year cap (assuming a 2.5-percent inflation factor). Over his or her retirement, by age 85, that one-year cap costs the O-4 an additional $20,000 in retired pay.
The grand total loss is roughly $28,000. Compound that with several years of pay caps, and this is just the tip of the pay-cap iceberg.
DOMA and the Military
DoD expands spouse benefits after the Supreme Court ruling.
On June 26, in a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court struck down the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), finding it unconstitutional. The majority found DOMA “violates basic due process and equal protection principles” and turns aside “the tradition of recognizing and accepting state definitions of marriage” to “deprive same-sex couples of the benefits and responsibilities that come with federal recognition of their marriages.”
DOMA defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman and guided most decisions about federal benefits, including military and veterans’ compensation.
After the ruling, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel issued a statement that the ruling changed the “law of the land” and DoD “intends to make the same benefits available to all military spouses — regardless of sexual orientation — as soon as possible. ... Today’s ruling helps ensure that all men and women who serve this country can be treated fairly and equally, with the full dignity and respect they so richly deserve.”
The legal recognition of same-sex marriages will allow spouses to enroll in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System. Defense officials estimate enrollment will take approximately three months to complete.
It currently is unclear how DoD policy will be altered in the wake of the ruling and how benefits will be established in states that don’t allow gay marriage. MOAA will continue to report on the issue as more details become available.
SEPTEMBER 2013 MILITARY OFFICER 35
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