“I was never able to build up my
own pension in an organization long enough,” Voelke says. “My husband’s pension is what we had relied upon for our retirement.” Spouses like Brodeur, Voelke, and
Craven often are shocked to learn their SBP annuities will be reduced by any money they receive from DIC. Six years after her husband’s death, Bro- deur’s children now are 9 and 13. With no plans to remarry, Brodeur says she needs to be able to support not only her children but herself far into the future. “I’ve been alone now for six years,”
Brodeur says. “I have to do the job of two people and then some. It’s not easy. When the government takes away the money from the lone survi- vor — the spouse — it really hurts.”
Those who gave all Before Voelke’s husband died, the U.S. Military Academy grad penned an op-ed in a local newspaper on Veter- ans Day about why he wanted to be an Army offi cer. He considered himself fortunate to serve alongside soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines. “They are people who live selfl ess
service,” Paul Voelke wrote. “They ask their families to sacrifi ce — spouses who have to put down roots every few years in a new place, make new friends, [and] learn new school sys- tems and often do it alone.” Brodeur says service to country
was equally important to her husband, who graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo. “He was beyond the word ‘patri-
otic,’ ” she says. Years after losing their husbands,
Brodeur and Voelke continue to sac- rifi ce. They’ve moved their families across the country alone and have faced tough choices as single parents about how to raise their children. Brodeur has put off buying a new family car or taking care of certain home repairs since her husband died. She also has tapped into her savings
Survivor Annuity, Active Duty Death (Spouse, No Children)
SBP is
O-4, 14 years O-3, 4 years E-6, 14 years E-4, 4 years
$36,969 $26,721 $18,570 $12,038
DIC is
$15,095 $15,095 $15,095 $15,095
*Estimates based on FY 2017 pay schedule.
Currently, military survivors must forfeit $1 of SBP for each $1 of DIC they receive from the VA. MOAA believes that for service-caused deaths, DIC should be added to SBP, not deducted from it.
DIC Should Be Added to SBP, Not Substituted For It
Survivor receives
$36,969 $26,721 $18,570 $15,095
MOAA believes survivor
should receive $52,064
$41,816 $33,665 $27,133
E-6 SBP $18,570
DIC $15,095 SBP $3,475 Survivors Should Get But Only Receive They Lose
Why Cut Retiree-Paid SBP When Service Causes Death? Retiree-
purchased SBP
O-5, 22 years E-8, 22 years
$31,654 $18,402
DIC
$15,095 $15,095
*Estimates based on FY 2017 pay schedule.
DIC still is deducted from retiree-purchased SBP when retirees die of service-caused conditions. MOAA believes that when the service causes the death, DIC payments should be added to SBP, not substituted for it.
account to cover some of her kids’ education expenses. “Money cannot buy happiness, but
it can grant [my kids] opportunities to enjoy themselves, to wear nicer clothes, to be able to take vacations, and just be [kids],” Brodeur says. Repealing the SBP/DIC off set
“would take a little bit of the stress away. I would ask [lawmakers] to stop and look at the families,” Brodeur says. “Especially the young ones who have young children — think about what their future will be like after they lose a parent.”
PHOTOS: PREVIOUS SPREAD, JOHN MOORE/GETTY IMAGES; THIS SPREAD, FROM TOP LEFT, COURTESY SUSIE BRODEUR; COURTESY TRACI VOELKE; TABLE INFORMATION: COL. PHIL ODOM, USAF (RET), MOAA GOVERNMENT RELATIONS
Voelke says she is certain the SBP/
DIC off set is an oversight, that it’s not what Congress intended for the fami- lies of fallen military personnel. “Following the advice of
Abraham Lincoln ‘to bind up the na- tion’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan,’ we need to protect the families of those who gave all,” Voelke says.
MO
— Gina Harkins is MOAA’s senior staff writer. Her last article for Military Offi - cer was “The Right to Fight,” March 2017.
APRIL 2017 MILITARY OFFICER 61
Survivor receives
$31,654 $18,402
$33,497
DIC $15,095
SBP lost $15,095
MOAA believes survivor
should receive $46,749
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