fromthepresident Perfect Storm A
Congress is in recess until after Labor Day, but a perfect storm is gathering as House and Senate leaders mull big changes for health care, commissaries, pay raises, and housing allowances.
As budget pressures rise, the Pentagon and Congress again are proposing changes that erode manpower, pay, and benefi ts — even while more than 400,000 service- members are deployed around the world, many in harm’s way. The service chiefs are united in their call
for recapitalization requirements and the immediate need to address readiness. As a result, we’re witnessing increased pressure on personnel accounts to come up with funds to cover those costs. Gen. Daniel Allyn, vice chief of staff of
the Army, told Stars and Stripes that budget constraints and mandatory force-size cuts have left the Army sending its units to sup- port missions across the globe as quickly as it can prepare them for those operations. Allyn lamented, “I think our soldiers de- serve a level of commitment commensurate with [the sacrifi ces] they make to lay it all on the line every day for the nation.” In 2014, Congress changed retired pay COLA rules to cut lifetime retired pay by $82,000 for an E-7 and $124,000 for an O-5. This aff ected currently serving and retired members. MOAA fought for repeal and put that money back in your pocket, but now more cutbacks are compounding: Annual pay raises and housing allow-
ances have been cut up to 1 percent a year for currently serving troops, costing an E-5 almost $5,000 and an O-3 almost $8,000, with more cuts coming. The latest Senate plan would cut housing allowances 50 percent or more
for thousands of servicemembers; that’s $10,000 to $20,000 a year — or more — for many. Other proposals would raise health
care costs dramatically and threaten the commissary system as we know it. Last year, Congress reduced military
retirement, forcing troops to rely on their savings. But pay and allowance cuts will make it much harder to save. This isn’t nickel-and-dime stuff — it’s
real money. With cuts mounting, MOAA is fi ghting an uphill battle to protect the uni- formed services community’s interests. As offi cers and leaders, it’s our obligation
to stand up and be heard, not just for our- selves and our families, but for our troops, their families, and their successors. Who will fulfi ll that responsibility if we don’t? MOAA’s membership count is our cur-
rency on Capitol Hill. To remain successful, we must grow and strengthen our voice. We are ramping up marketing eff orts and empowering our chapters to accomplish that. I’m asking you to use your personal network to build MOAA membership by asking someone you know who is eligible for membership to join our ranks. Please stand with MOAA to fi ght for
your interests, your family’s — and your troops’ — and never stop serving.
— Lt. Gen. Dana T. Atkins, USAF (Ret)
*online: Visit
www.moaa.org/BAHcut to watch a MOAA video on the proposed cuts. 8 MILITARY OFFICER AUGUST 2016
PHOTO: ROB CANNON
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