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2015 Goals T

his year promises to be a sig- nificant juncture for military compensation and the future of the

all-volunteer force. A rising tide of threats to important military personnel programs could cascade into concrete proposals to gut military compensation and benefits. The previous 13 years of wartime sac-

MOAA’s Top 10 Goals for 2015

 Sustain military pay comparability with the private sector  Block erosion of Basic Allowance for Housing and commis- sary benefits  Bar disproportional TRICARE fee hikes  Prevent Medicare/ TRICARE payment cuts  Protect military retirement/COLAs  Sustain wounded- warrior programs and expand caregiver support  End disabled/survivor financial penalties  Fix Guard/Reserve retirement  Improve spouse and family support  Assure timely ac- cess to the VA, and eliminate the VA claims backlog

rifice, stress, and hardship were matched by unprecedented quality-of life im- provements. But growing budget uncer- tainty and the failure of Congress to pass a comprehensive debt-reduction plan has led to a series of proposals to erode pay and the housing allowance, slash the commissary benefit, and shift health care fees onto beneficiaries. Sequestration — arbitrary, budget-driven cuts to defense funding not based on na- tional security requirements — threatens to return in FY 2016 and, if left unchecked, will require an additional $50 billion from the defense budget each year for the next seven years. This comes on top of the nearly $500 billion in cuts the Pentagon already has agreed to absorb. Defense and congressional leaders have acknowledged adding to that figure via sequestration will be devastating to military readiness. MOAA is concerned these severe budget

reductions dramatically increase the pros- pects for large and inappropriate cuts in crucial compensation programs essential to sustaining a top-quality career force. Significant changes in the career incen- tives that form the core pillars of the all-

Sequestration; military retirement, pay, and health care; force levels; and protections for wounded servicemembers and their caregivers top MOAA’s legislative goals list.

volunteer force must be approached with considerable skepticism. Congress should carefully consider the lessons of the past 40 years, when ill-advised adjustments hurt retention and readiness and ended up costing the country at least as much to fix as it had projected to save. In particular, any budget-driven retirement reforms pro- posed by the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission must be fully vetted by Congress to ensure they don’t harm retention of the best and brightest servicemembers. Intensifying budget scrutiny affects not only military programs and benefits but also Social Security, Medicare, federal ci- vilian pay and retirement, COLAs, health care, and virtually everything else on which the government spends money. The remainder of this column provides a summary of key MOAA legislative objec- tives for 2015. To help fulfill these objectives, we urge

you to subscribe to MOAA’s weekly Legisla- tive Update* e-newsletter, so you’ll receive and be able to respond to our calls to action.

Defense Budget

Fund people and weapons A top MOAA goal is to sustain future years’ defense budgets at levels required to meet mission and readiness needs. MOAA believes maintaining military

manpower, replacing and upgrading weap- ons and equipment worn out by years of

*take action: Subscribe to the Legislative Update at www.moaa.org/email or by calling (800) 234-MOAA (6622). 42 MILITARY OFFICER JANUARY 2015