washingtonscene

(without even counting issues like lost spousal income) to make the move. The bottom line here is that many of

\\ COLA News //

In the Red The FY 2016 COLA re- mains in the hole. For the month of November 2015, the Consumer Price Index declined to 1.1 percent be- low the FY 2014 baseline. Because there was not a positive COLA in FY 2015, the FY 2014 baseline is used. Follow the trends at www.moaa.org/colawatch.

the figures attributed as personnel benefit costs have nothing to do with compensa- tion value for military people. An amputee would rather have his or her leg back than a monthly check from the VA. Military fami- lies would be far better off financially if the government never required them to move. Military people understand the facts of life inherent in a military career. But they don’t expect to be handed a bill for their sacrifices. There’s a huge difference between bene-

fit value to the troops and the government’s inherent cost of doing military business. Economists and budgeteers want to

count every penny of what they see as your cost to the government. What those exercises consistently fail to do is split out the government’s cost of readiness or acknowledge the flip side of the issue — the costs your service imposes on you and your family.

Promotions S

Under Fire Lawmakers scrutinize the “up-or-out” system.

enate Armed Services Com- mittee Chair Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) held a hearing in early December 2015 on the military promo- tion system as part of the committee’s ongoing focus on defense reform. Congress enacted current officer

promotion guidelines in the early 1980s through the Defense Officer Personnel Management Act (DOPMA) to reflect the professional-development needs and requirements of the force in the post- Vietnam era.

34 MILITARY OFFICER FEBRUARY 2016

The 1986 Goldwater/Nichols legislation added new requirements for joint duty as a factor in promotion consideration. In order to remain competitive in their

professional military career fields, of- ficers have had to successfully meet their individual service requirements under DOPMA as well as the joint-service ob- ligations required under the Goldwater/ Nichols legislation. McCain wants changes to a system he

says “is overly focused on schedules as compared to merit.” He echoed recent criticism that the system is too inflexible given the nation’s current and future na- tional security requirements. Dr. David Chu, a former undersecre- tary of defense for Personnel and Readi- ness, testified at the hearing. “I think fundamentally it’s not about a particular constraint, it’s about the paradigm that the Defense Department follows that all officers look the same,” Chu said. “We are grooming all officers to be chief of staff.” Ranking Member Sen. Jack Reed (D-

R.I.) voiced concern over the military’s current “up-or-out” policy, which has governed officer promotions for the past 70 years. Although he acknowledged some aspects of the system work well, he wor- ried, “[I]n some circumstances, it requires divestiture of talent at its peak.” Witnesses cited the medical fields as

examples where officers compete for promotion separately from the line ranks and are allowed to serve until later ages. Some propose treating more fields, such as information systems or other technical specialties, this way.

One issue of concern to MOAA is the

past experience with extended service tenure that caused the up-or-out provi- sions to be enacted in the first place. Prior to modernizing the officer promotion sys- tem after World War II, top-notch officers stagnated for years at the same rank in the