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He called on Congress to support a bipartisan debt-reduction package to replace sequestration. “Continued sequestration cuts for FY 2016 and beyond will place national security at risk,” he said.
Much of the Joint Chiefs’ testimony focused on personnel cost growth since 2000. Tilelli countered their argument saying, “Since 2000, personnel and health care costs experienced an average 7.8-percent rate of growth due to the necessity of correcting previous cutbacks from breaking the career force. However, since 2011, personnel cost growth has not just slowed but [rather] declined an average of 1.5 percent per year.” (See chart above.)
Not all associations were in agreement about the recent deceleration of personnel cost growth. AFA President Gen. Craig R. McKinley, USAF (Ret), said in his opening statement, “Our airmen and retirees deserve every dollar they earn. However, as you have heard today, personnel compensation costs continue to climb at unsustainable rates, and if not addressed, they will consume our combat, training, and modernization spending over the next few decades.”
The dramatic effect of sequestration led some organizations to support the FY 2015 proposal to cap military pay below private-sector pay growth for a second year.
AUSA President Gen. Gordon Sullivan, USA (Ret), said, “AUSA is committed to military pay raises that match the Employment Cost Index, but this year, because of sequestration, the funds freed by a slightly smaller pay increase is the price that must be paid to have soldiers who are trained and ready.”
McKinley said, “We felt that the cost-of-living adjustment at 1 percent was a valid approach, and as General Sullivan said, we have to look at the out-years. We can’t sustain that over a period of time.”
Tilelli said no federal obligation is more important than protecting national security and the most important element of national security is the sustainment of a dedicated, top-quality career military force. “The past 12 years of unprecedented demands and sacrifices highlight how radically different military service conditions are from civilian life, something many budget analysts and think tanks don’t understand.
“The only times the all-volunteer force has been jeopardized have been due to the budget-driven cutbacks in the military compensation package that gave insufficient weight to the extraordinary demands and sacrifices inherent in a service career,” Tilelli continued.
JULY 2014 MILITARY OFFICER 35
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