Article partially attributed to NGAUS:
The commission charged with revamping the military compensation system set the stage to make changes in its final recommendations with an interim report released last week. Analysis of the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission’s initial work indicates that the Commission is focused on creating a more flexible and modern system as opposed to drastically cutting benefits. Their attitude contrasts with that of some Pentagon officials who have suggested slashing spending for military benefit packages would help solve the nation’s budget problems. To the Commission, the issue is more complicated than that. The report, which catalogs military benefits, clocks in at 358 pages. It notes that benefits have remained “largely unchanged” since 1973, when the modern All-Volunteer force began. “Consequently, compensation programs may no longer be structured in ways that cost-effectively align with the interests and motivations of today’s current and potential Service members,” the report said.
When making final recommendations to the president and Congress, the Commission said it will keep in mind changes in American society and culture that influence service members today. These can include increased levels of education, exponential growth in technology, an increasingly mobile workforce and more. Commission Chairman Alphonso Maldon Jr., said in a press release that input from stakeholders, combined with a thorough understanding of the benefits currently available, will help inform the modernization debate moving forward. The Commission’s primary goal, he said, is to “ensure the uniformed services can maintain the most professional All-Volunteer Force, during both peacetime and wartime.” It’s worth noting that any final recommendations made by the commission are not permitted to negatively impact the retirement eligibility date or the amount of retirement pay for any currently serving members of the military, or anyone who has retired before such recommendations are enacted.
The final report is due to Congress and the president on Feb. 1, 2015. Legislators will be able to take the recommendations into account as they craft defense authorization and spending bills for fiscal 2016.
To see the full interim report or submit a comment to the Commission as they formulate recommendations, visit the Commission’s website at www.mcrmc.gov. Below are some highlights on how the National Guard has been used in the last couple of decades:
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The Commission found several trends in the Force’s composition with potential implications for the design of the compensation system, particularly with a backdrop of an unprecedented 13 years of war, including:
- a sustained increase in the overall education of Service members, creating a far more professional and technologically fluent force;
- a steady rise in the number of women in the uniformed services, growing as an overall percentage of Service members in all branches;
- an increase in the number of Service members who are married and/or have dependents; and
- a marked rise in the operational use of Reserve and National Guard Service members, especially due to declining active-duty force structure and the requirements of 13 years of war.
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Operational use of the National Guard and Reserves evolved substantially during the past 35 years. Originally conceived as a strategic reserve for the country in the event of major conflict, the Reserve Component mobilized repeatedly during times of conflict, including sustained mobilization during the last 13 years of war (see Figure 4). Numerous Guardsman, Reservists, and subject matter experts explained to the Commission how current compensation programs do not adequately address these operational requirements, specifically noting inflexibilities in health care benefits during Guard and Reserve mobilization and demobilization. Modernizing pay and benefit programs will provide an opportunity to address such inefficiencies for the betterment of Service members and their families, especially if Reserve Component operational requirements continue to grow as the active-duty force gets smaller.
