Yudu - 2016 02 February

yourviews

VANT LEADERSHIP SERVANT LEADERSHIP

DECEMBER 2015 $4.75 ANT LEADERSHIP

RVANT LEADERSHIP LEADERSHIP ANT LEADERSHIP

SERVANT LEADERSHIP SERVANT LEADERSHIP NT LEADERSHIP SERVANT LEADERSHIP SERVANT LEADERSHIP

MILITARY OFFICER

THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF MOAA | NEVER STOP SERVING® WWW.MOAA.ORG

LEADERSHIP SERVANT LEADERSHIP

SERVANT LEADERSHIP

SERVANT LEADERSHIP SERVANT LEADERSHIP

SERVANT LEADERSHIP S SERVANT LEADERSHIP

SERVANT LEADERSHIP SERV MOAA President Vice

at the HelmYears SERVANT LEADERSHIP

Adm. Norbert R. Ryan Jr., USN (Ret), departs after a dynamic run 58

SERVANT LEADERSHIP SERVANT LEADERSHIP

President Vice Adm. Norbert R. Ryan Jr., USN (Ret),] can well take personal

“

[Former MOAA

‘that the most satisfying part is who we serve.’

pride in … his justifiable expression

— Cmdr. Kevin D. Harty, USN (Ret)

”

SERVANT LEADERSHIP SERVANT LEADERSHIP

Leadership Appreciation I just had to express my sincere admira- tion for the wonderful, successful 13-year term of [former MOAA President Vice Adm. Norbert R. Ryan Jr., USN (Ret), pro- fi led in “Legacy of Leadership,” December 2015]. He can well take personal pride in his long and huge success and his justifi - able expression “that the most satisfying part is who we serve.” — Cmdr. Kevin D. Harty, USN (Ret)

Life Member, Lake & Sumter Counties (Fla.) Chapter via email

Benefits and Congress [Lt. Col. Donald Kaag, USA (Ret), “Benefi t Erosion,” Your Views, December 2015] is right on. Over the years, I have written and emailed my congressional representatives to enlist their support for legislation supported by MOAA. Rarely is there a response, and that is usually just a reply that my input is valued but that I should rest assured that Congress is very busy doing the nation’s work. Even those few in Congress who have had some military service seem to neglect those serving or who have served. … We truly have no real support in Congress or this administration. — Capt. Joe Sharpe, USN (Ret)

Life Member, Charleston (S.C.) Chapter via email

Lieutenant Colonel Kaag, after bemoaning military pay and benefi t cuts, closes his letter by asserting civilians have had their benefi ts untouched. Nothing could be fur- ther from the truth. Pay: Civilian pay has been completely

frozen many recent years and, when they do get a raise at all, it’s been the same or less than the military raise. The “seques- ter furlough” a couple years ago resulted in an almost 3-percent pay cut that year,

16 MILITARY OFFICER FEBRUARY 2016

essentially off setting all pay raises for the past fi ve-plus years. Health benefi ts: Civilian premiums, deductibles, and copayments change every single year, almost always for the worse. Retirement: The civil service retire-

ment system changed nearly 30 years ago to 1 percent per year served, with a 5-per- cent penalty for each and every year of “early” retirement, with no COLAs what- soever until age 62 (and no “catch up” even then), and then only partial COLAs even after age 62. For those few who might benefi t from the Special Retire- ment Supplement (SRS), it only lasts until age 62, there are no COLAs whatsoever, and any earnings from a post-retirement job reduce the SRS. I am not arguing that civilian benefi ts should be on par with military benefi ts. And I support Kaag’s right to argue for more military benefi ts or fewer reduc- tions. But he can’t argue that civilian pay and benefi ts have remained untouched. Retirement benefi ts were substantially reduced three decades ago, and other ci- vilian benefi ts are “touched” every year. Arguments to the contrary, like the many other Internet arguments about supposed congressional pensions and health ben- efi ts, are urban myths. — Capt. Glenn C. Powers, USN (Ret) Life Member via email

Financial Correction I’m neither a [certifi ed public accoun- tant] nor a [certifi ed fi nancial planner], but it didn’t take me long to spot two glaring fi nancial errors in [the December 2015] Military Offi cer. 1. In Washington Scene, “Major Part

B Spikes Reduced,” … “The 2016 income thresholds are based on the adjusted gross income from your 2014 federal tax return.” This is not correct. Medicare