• a combat-ready total force — active duty, National Guard, and Reserve — that is well-trained and equipped, properly resourced, and mission- ready for sustained combat; • quality personnel, with the training, leadership, and integrity needed to sustain a volunteer, professional career force; • a credible deterrent force with the capability of decisively defeating any threat, foreign or domestic; • personnel and medical end strengths and budgets that fully recognize and support mission and readiness requirements, including critical family support and quality-of-life programs; and • medical programs and infrastructure that will enable the nation to honor the lifetime health care commitment to those who served.


• Resolution No. 3 — Wounded Warrior Care and Treatment Whereas, multiple media reports and federal commissions have documented cases of wounded servicemembers and their families who encountered great difficulty navigating military health care and administrative systems upon being transferred to outpatient rehabilitative care, and Whereas, these reports and commissions also documented unacceptable delays for medical appointments and evaluation board processing, with servicemembers and their families left to navigate the confusing maze of medical system and benefit and disability rules on their own, with many being denied equitable compensation and retirement benefits due to inconsistent application of disability ratings, and Whereas, interviews with family members — spouses, children, and parents — revealed heartbreaking dramas of those who quit their jobs to become caregivers to seriously wounded troops and, left with diminishing resources and unfamiliar with military benefit and disability rules, were severely disadvantaged in trying to represent the interests of their wounded spouses and children who couldn’t stand up for themselves, and Whereas, there have been multiple documented instances of systemic efforts to limit wounded, ill, and injured servicemembers’ military disability ratings and caregiver protections, and Whereas, executive and legislative branch officials have made good-faith efforts in taking first steps to redress these problems, but much remains to be done, therefore be it Resolved, that the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) will be vigilant and energetic in sustaining efforts to achieve the goal of seamless transition between DoD and the VA, and be it further Resolved, that MOAA will advocate for initiatives to help ease the transition of wounded warriors and their families into civilian life, including finding employment and long term care and support services, and be it further Resolved, that MOAA will advocate policy and legislation to ensure equitable disability retirement benefits and compensation for service- disabled servicemembers and their families, caregivers, and survivors and protect them from inadvertent or inappropriate benefit reductions.


• Resolution No. 4 — Active Duty Pay and Benefits Whereas, a career in the uniformed services of the U.S. entails extraordinary demands and sacrifices not experienced in civilian careers, including hazardous duty, frequent relocations, overseas service, protracted family separations, long duty hours without extra pay, forced retirement, mid-life career changes, inhibited spousal career opportunities, and forfeiture of many personal freedoms taken for granted by other Americans, and Whereas, the vast majority of Americans find such demands and sacrifices unacceptable and decline to pursue a service career, and Whereas, the government of the U.S., to help offset these unique demands and sacrifices, has found it appropriate to authorize (in addition to pay levels commensurate with those payable to private-sector workers) a unique system of institutional compensation and benefits designed to attract and retain high-quality personnel for careers in uniformed service despite the arduous service conditions, and Whereas, this system includes, among others, such elements as retirement pay; medical care; commissaries and exchanges; morale, welfare and recreation activities; other traditional family-support and quality-of-life programs; and disability and survivor benefits, and Whereas, the uniformed services, at the direction of the legislative and executive branches, have advertised the positive aspects of this institutional compensation and benefits package, orally and in writing, to prospective entrants and careerists for decades as an inducement to career service, and Whereas, the Pentagon has proposed two more years of sustaining military pay raises at the level of the private sector followed by three years of pay raises projected to be below that of the private sector, and Whereas, the level of sacrifice experienced by servicemembers and their families has only increased as U.S. forces strain to fulfill increasing mission requirements, both at home and abroad, therefore be it Resolved, that the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) support legislation to sustain annual uniformed service pay raises at least comparable to the average American’s and provide allowances (e.g., housing, subsistence, permanent change of station, cost of living) sufficient to offset the expenses they are intended to reimburse, and be it further


Resolved, that MOAA monitor proposed changes in compensation and benefits for members of the uniformed services to assess their potential impact on long-term service accession and retention needs, the extent to which they comply with previous government commitments to current members of the uniformed services, and recognition of the unique conditions of military service, and be it further Resolved, that MOAA direct its efforts to ensuring: • no changes are enacted that would jeopardize the maintenance of a capable, high-quality, and combat-ready career force, and • such changes as may be enacted do not break previous commitments, or implied or moral contracts, to active duty, National Guard, Reserve, and retired personnel and their families and survivors, and be it further Resolved, that MOAA support statutory changes to authorize active duty and Selected Reserve taxpayers to exempt their dependent/child care expenses and health care and dental insurance premiums from taxable income through flexible spending accounts and premium conversion accounts.


• Resolution No. 5 — National Guard and Reserve Compensation and Retirement Whereas, more than 842,000 members of the National Guard and Reserve forces have been called to active duty since Sept. 11, 2001, including more than 300,000 who have served multiple call-ups, and Whereas, DoD created a new “operational reserve” policy under which reservists will serve multiple tours of active duty over the course of a 20- year reserve career, and Whereas, operational reserve policy has been further expanded to rely on the call-up of up to 60,000 reservists annually for “non-[national] emergency” military missions that are preplanned and budgeted, and Whereas, the National Guard is “dual-hatted” with the mission of protecting and defending the homeland at the call of state governors and is subject to mobilization for federal missions by the commander-in-chief or in time of war or national emergency, and Whereas, National Guard and Reserve personnel cannot be expected to sustain high personnel and operating tempos indefinitely without adverse consequences to their civilian careers, retirement plans, family life, and employer support, and Whereas, the reserve retirement system established in 1948 was designed to supplement a normal civilian retirement program in exchange for the unlikely event of total war, as opposed to DoD’s policy of the routine augmentation of the regular armed forces by the reserve forces, and Whereas, an adequate compensation and benefits package and employer support incentives are essential to maintaining recruiting, readiness, and career retention in the reserve forces, therefore be it Resolved, that the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) support lowering the reserve retirement age, especially for servicemembers who have been called to active duty service, and other upgrades to reserve compensation reflective of the impact of multiple, lengthy call-ups on members’ ability to build a normal civilian retirement, and be it further Resolved, that MOAA support consistent and improved benefits for National Guard and Reserve personnel reflecting the increased risks, responsibilities, and sacrifices of their service and the sacrifices made by their families, including but not limited to economic incentives for employers, improved educational benefits, and stronger financial and reemployment rights protections, and be it further Resolved, that MOAA support statutory changes to authorize Guard and Reserve taxpayers to exempt their dependent/child care expenses and health care and dental insurance premiums from taxable income through flexible spending accounts and premium conversion accounts.


• Resolution No. 6 — Career Force Compensation and Retirement System Whereas, the uniformed services of the U.S. employ well-trained and highly skilled volunteers who are retained for careers in uniform through a combination of patriotism, equitable compensation, and service in a dynamic and respected force, and Whereas, successful career programs must provide retirement opportunities that serve as incentives for servicemembers to complete a full career and thus generate force stability and professionalism, and Whereas, budget pressures in the past have generated a variety of proposals to modify the retirement system of the uniformed services, and Whereas, the Pentagon has proposed in the FY 2013 budget a base realignment and closure-like commission to recommend changes to the retirement system of the uniformed services that would require a congressional vote without any amendments and only limited debate, and Whereas, the statutory prohibition of concurrent receipt of military retired pay and veterans’ disability compensation remains for thousands of disabled retirees, and Whereas, past and projected drawdowns of overall force strength, combined with continuing and ever-increasing contingency requirements at home and around the globe, have increased the stressors on the force and will make it more important than ever to retain and sustain an all-volunteer, career force of high-quality and professional active, National Guard, and

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