washingtonscene \\ COLA News //
Inflation was down more than 1 percent for the first four months of FY 2016. It was down twice as much last year at this time, so there’s still a po- tential for a 2017 COLA. Follow the trends at www
.moaa.org/colawatch.
said Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chair Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.). “The solution to fixing a broken agency is not simply giving it more money.” During a House Veterans’ Affairs Com- mittee hearing, McDonald stressed the importance of these funds in executing MyVA, including the VA’s plan to consoli- date all of its community care programs into a single new Veterans Choice Program. In 2014, Congress provided $5 billion
for the VA to hire more physicians and staff and another $10 billion to improve access to non-VA providers under the Veterans Choice program. This funding will expire in 2017, leaving a great deal of uncertainty about future funding for the program. House Veterans’ Affairs Committee
Chair Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) sent a clear message to officials at the hearing, saying, “I will fight to ensure the VA has the resources it needs, but given the complete lack of ac- countability for the department’s string of past financial failures, this budget request will receive every bit the scrutiny it is due.” There is no question system-wide VA
reform is necessary. MOAA will con- tinue to work closely with lawmakers, the administration, and the VA to help the department make necessary changes to meet the needs of veterans and their families now and in the future.
Total Force T
Approach Urged Panel aims to balance the needs of the Army’s components.
he National Commission on the Future of the Army announced recommendations
that would balance missions and re- sources between the Army’s regular and reserve components.
*online: View the full report at
www.ncfa.ncr.gov. 40 MILITARY OFFICER APRIL 2016
The recommendations offer a compro- mise that could ease past budget, equip- ment, and mission disagreements between the Army components. But for its recommendations to suc- ceed, commissioners said DoD and the services must receive relief from the sequestration law that was the source of most of the budget differences of the past. Those tensions led Congress to cre- ate the nine-person commission, chaired by Gen. Carter F. Ham, USA (Ret). Its charge was to conduct a comprehensive study of the roles, structure, and size of the Army.
The commission’s report* offers 63 rec- ommendations for action, including: An Army of 980,000 is the minimally sufficient force to meet current and antici- pated missions at an acceptable level of national risk; A regular Army of 450,000, an Army National Guard of 335,000, and an Army Reserve of 195,000 represent the right mix of forces and the absolute minimum per- sonnel levels to meet America’s national security objectives; The all-volunteer force is a national trea- sure that must be sustained versus going to a conscription model; Development of a true “one Army” total Army culture is essential; Funding at the president’s FY 2016 level provides the minimum resources necessary to meet mission requirements at acceptable risk; and Army education infrastructure and re- cruiting must be streamlined.
MO
— Contributors are Col. Steve Strobridge, USAF (Ret), director; Col. Mike Barron, USA (Ret); Col. Bob Norton, USA (Ret); Capt. Kathy Beasley, USN (Ret); Col. Phil Odom, USAF (Ret); Cmdr. René Campos, USN (Ret); Brooke Goldberg; Jamie Naughton; and Trina Fitzgerald, MOAA’s Govern- ment Relations Department. Visit
www.moaa.org/ email to subscribe to MOAA’s Legislative Update.
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