The Military Pay Conflict in Washington

Military Pay Dispute in DC

Issue Brief by Alex Hecht

Over the past few months the White House, Pentagon and Senate have squared off against the House and several Voluntary Service Organizations in a disagreement over military pay. The House budget for FY 2014 provides for a 1.8% increase in military pay while the president’s budget calls for a 1.0% increase, and the Pentagon appears to support the President’s budget.

Details

Since the passage of the National Defense Authorization act for FY 2004, annual increases in military pay have been chained to the Employment Cost Index (ECI), the Bureau of Labor Statistics measure of civilian (private and public) compensation. Specifically, monthly military base pay for all branches and ranks is to be raised by a percentage equal to the percent change in the ECI over the preceding fiscal year.

The ECI-peg is intended to ensure parity between growth in military and civilian compensation and to prevent military pay raises from falling below the rise of inflation. However, the President has the authority to break with this practice in his budget proposals during times of “national emergency or serious economic conditions affecting the general welfare.” (Public Law 108–136, Sec. 602)

Obama invoked this authority in a letter to congress defending the 1% military pay increase called for in his FY 2014 budget. The President’s 1% pay raise is 0.8 percentage points lower than the increase in the ECI over FY 2013, and one percentage point below the current rate of inflation.[1] In his letter to Congress, Obama cited budget constraints and the need for fiscal sustainability in justification of the 1% pay raise (Letter from The President, August 30).

The Defense spending bill introduced in the Senate is in line with Obama’s request. However, the House has passed a Defense spending bill that sticks to the ECI-peg and calls for a 1.8% increase in military pay.

On July 22, two days before the spending bill passed the House floor, OMB published a statement recommending that the Obama veto the House bill, citing (among other objections) the 1.8% pay raise. OMB claims that the pay increase in the House bill would need to be offset in future years by “deeper reductions to troop levels, readiness and modernization accounts,” presumably compromising the national defense. OMB also points to the 4.2 percent increase in Basic Allowance for Housing and 3.4 percent increase in Basic Allowance for Subsistence called for in the President’s budget, suggesting that the reduced pay raise is sufficiently offset by increases in these forms of military compensation. (OMB Statement of Administration Policy, p. 2)

Crucially, the Pentagon is backing Obama on this issue, and may have initially pushed Obama to limit pay raises. OMB claims that the 1.0% increase is “consistent with the views of the uniformed military leadership,” and according to the Military Times, DOD Comptroller Robert Hale said at a Reserve Forces Policy Board meeting last week (Sep. 5) that “I think we will go after military compensation aggressively” over the next few years.

MOAA has come out against the 1% pay raise. Col. Mike Hayden, USAF (Ret), MOAA Director of Government Relations, has two main arguments against the President’s budget:

1.      It sends us down a slippery slope, and “[h]istory has shown that once Congress starts accepting proposals to cap military pay below private-sector growth, pay caps continue until they have weakened retention and readiness.”

2.      Although it sounds low, a 0.8% difference in pay raise in a single year will have a big impact on career service-members’ lifetime earnings. Hayden estimates that, including retired pay, a Major with 10 years of service would lose $28,000 in lifetime earnings if the Obama proposal were implemented.

Analysis

A few points:

·         Given the constraints on Defense spending imposed by the 2011 Budget Control Act, OMB is correct to say that a higher military pay raise will have to be balanced by reductions elsewhere in the Defense budget over the next several years.

·         When comparing with the ECI, it would make more sense to look at the increase in total military compensation, not just basic pay, since basic pay represents less than a third of total compensation (according to the 11th Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation (QRMC), p. 17).

·         More importantly, pegging growth in military pay to growth in the ECI does not guarantee real parity between military and civilian pay. The 11^th QRMC actually makes detailed comparisons between earnings of service members and civilians with similar levels of educational attainment, and finds that “[a]verage RMC [cash allowances plus tax advantages resulting from exemption from income tax] was $50,747, which was about $21,800 more than the median earnings for civilians from the combined comparison groups, or about the 90th percentile of equivalent civilian wages” (p. 26). In other words, DOD’s main internal compensation review reports that service members are paid much more than their civilian counterparts.

·         On the other hand, there are two reasons why we might not be concerned with parity between military and civilian wages: (1) service-members should be paid more because of the sacrifices they are making for the sake of the country; and (2) civilian earnings may be too low by some objective standard, and so we ought to aim higher in the public sector where we can control wages democratically.

      Alex Hecht is a graduate of Stanford University. He is a staff analyst with a New York City-based foundation serving veterans and previously served as a staff analyst with the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice in Newark, NJ.

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[1] The CPI increased by 2.0% from July 2012 to July 2013, according to the BLS.

US ARMY | Sept. 17–The Deadliest Day

Antietam Battlefield - Worst Day's Casualties in U.S. Military History.

Historical Note by John Tepper Marlin

Today in 1862, after 12 hours of combat, with 22,717 dead, wounded, and missing on both sides combined, the Battle of Antietam ended the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia's first invasion into the North.

The Army of the Potomac, under the command of George McClellan, mounted a series of powerful assaults against Robert E. Lee’s forces near Sharpsburg, Maryland, that day.

The morning assault and strong Confederate counterattacks swept back and forth through Miller’s Cornfield and the West Woods. Later, towards the center of the battlefield, Union assaults against the Sunken Road pierced the Confederate center after a terrible struggle.

Late in the day, the third and final major assault by the Union army pushed over a bullet-strewn stone bridge at Antietam Creek. Just as the Federal forces began to collapse the Confederate right, the arrival of A.P. Hill’s division from Harpers Ferry helped to drive the Army of the Potomac back once more. The day was essentially a standoff, a draw.

The fact that the Confederate army retreated first, however, provided an outcome with the aura of “victory” that President Lincoln needed before issuing the Emancipation Proclamation. It was the first major battle in the American Civil War to take place on Union soil. It still remains the bloodiest single-day battle in American history.

September 17 – Birthday of the U.S. Constitution

The Constitution of the United States, signed today, 1787.

The Warrior Family Foundation takes note of Constitution Day, commemorating the birthday in 1787 of the U.S. Constitution, which was born largely out of military disarray and created the written document that has been admired throughout the world since then.

It creates the system whereby the President and Commander-in-Chief of U.S. military forces is elected along with a House and Senate. The Commander-in-Chief's budget must be initiated by the House and senior appointments and treaties must be approved by the Senate.

In 1787 The war with Britain had officially ended four years before, in 1783. But the new American government was not functioning. The United States was vulnerable to another British invasion. Yes, the Second Continental Congress had created the Articles of Confederation to outline the rights of the federal government.

But Americans were reluctant to get rid of a tyrant in London only to succumb to a new one in America. As a result:
- Not one state was paying all of its federal taxes.
- The Federal Government had no way to force collection.
- Pirates were attacking American ships with impunity.
- Troops were deserting and states felt defenseless.

Congress technically had the authority to wage war, regulate currency, and conduct foreign policy, but it had no way to force the states to supply money or troops. So James Madison and other leaders convened the Constitutional Convention to get the states to create a unified central government. In May 1787, the 55 delegates spent four months in a hot summer in Philadelphia, fighting off bloodthirsty bugs. The average age of the delegates was just 42, but overall they were highly educated. The delegates included:
• Benjamin Franklin, who at 81 had to be carried around Philadelphia in a sedan chair because he could no longer walk.
• Alexander Hamilton, who was lax in attendance but afterward emerged as the principal author of the Federalist Papers, famous essays arguing why the Constitution should be ratified.
• James Madison, who showed up every single day, took detailed notes on all the proceedings, and argued tirelessly for a strong central government. Madison was small, 5'6" and 120 pounds, but he became known as the best informed person at the convention and became known as "the Father of the Constitution."
• Governor Morris, a charming man with a peg leg, who did more than flirt with other mens' wives, gave 173 speeches and wrote the Constitution's Preamble.
• George Washington, who was immediately elected president of the Convention and rarely spoke throughout the convention.

The resulting document was not just a revision of the Articles of Confederation. It became a new document, a Constitution of the United States. The delegates eventually came to an agreement on the essential purposes of government, a system of checks and balances, the division of powers between federal and state governments, rules for interstate trade, war-making powers and representation according to population.

(John Tepper Marlin, Ph.D., is Chief Economist of the Warrior Family Foundation. His summary of the Convention is abbreviated and adapted from Garrison Keillor's comments on the day in The Writer's Almanac.)

House Minority Leader Pelosi Calls for Bipartisanship in Meeting Challenge of Sequester

In East Hampton, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi
praises Bishop's stand against cuts in Federal programs
for Veterans. At the home of Liz Robbins. Photo by JTMarlin.

On Sunday at a brunch in East Hampton, the House shadow speaker (and former Speaker in prior Congresses) Nancy Pelosi praised Rep. Tim Bishop for his work on behalf of Veterans and their families. Bishop is a member of the Congressional caucus on veterans.

She noted that the Sequester was forcing cuts on the Defense budget and this was squeezing programs for Veterans.

She called for a new Bipartisan initiative to tackle the budget issues forced on the Congress by the Sequester, which requires that domestic and military programs share equally in the mandatory deficit-reducing cuts. She noted that the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have created one million new Veterans.

L to R: Sarah Anker, Suffolk County legislator; Diego
Ferrer, Veterans for Bishop; John Tepper Marlin. 

Attending the brunch for Bishop was Diego Ferrer of Veterans for Bishop, who spoke on behalf of his members in appreciation for Bishop's constituent services for Veterans.

Diego has about 200 Veterans in his database and is organizing them by tour of duty and location of service. We promised to stay in touch this summer.

VETS 5 | Soldier Ride The Hamptons

Left: Tony Ganga, "Boss", Past Commander of the Sons of
the American Legion, Post #419, East Hampton, NY. Right:
JTMarlin.

The Wounded Warrior Project's Ride and Walk event was on Saturday, July 20, 2014. It started at Ocean View Farm, 551 Montauk Highway, Amagansett, NY 11930, which is also the address of the ride and the Amagansett walk. There was also a walk in Sag Harbor.

The Hamptons ride and walk is dedicated to Marine Lance Corporal Jordan C. Haerter, killed in action April 22, 2008 in Ramadi, Iraq at 19. He and 21-year-old Corporal Jonathan T. Yale are credited with saving the lives of more than 33 Marines and Iraqi police and were posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for Extraordinary Heroism, the second-highest military award. Jordan Haerter was born July 30, 1988 in Southampton, New York to JoAnn Lyles and Christian Haerter. He became a U.S Marine on December 1, 2006 and became a member of the 1st Battalion, 9thMarines, known proudly as the “Walking Dead.”

Left: JT Marlin. Right: Nick Kraus, who organized the "Rock
the Farm" event.

The schedule of events on July 20 was  as follows:
7 am - Registration ($50 cyclists, 30-60 miles, $25 young cyclists or walkers or BBQ only). Sign up at www.soldierride.org/TheHamptons.
8:30 am - Kickoff celebration followed at 9 am by the departure of the cyclists. The walkers leave after the cyclists.
12-4 pm - As cyclists and walkers return, community BBQ and picnic at Ocean View Farm.
6 pm - Rock the Farm - separate event (tickets at www.rockthehamptons.org).The Soldiers Ride Hamptons of the Wounded Warriors Project continued its successful fund-raising program based on 30-mile and 60-mile bicycle rides, two walking options, and a picnic following the ride.

Luckily, the weather was perfect. Rain would have made the parking lot muddy.

In all, I was told that the total number of riders and walkers showing up at the Ocean View Farm in Amagansett between the car wash and Vicki's on Montauk Highway was 1,050. If they each paid $25, that would be about $25,000.

I wondered how such a huge undertaking could be run by volunteers so I went backstage. Tony Ganga (with "Boss" printed on the back of his shirt, just in case there was any question) was a key player in keeping the volunteers working effectively. He was in charge of the set up from 7 to 11 am, the breakfast-picnic until 4 pm, and then the breakdown of the tents and tables and chairs until 5 pm. He had 11 volunteers signed up to work with him and his two lieutenants in the morning. His two deputies were Jill Helm, Past President of the Ladies Auxiliary of Post #419, and Clint Bennett, past member. In the afternoon they had nine volunteers.. Special committees were formed for registration, parking and music.

Start of ride in Amagansett. The long ride was east to Montauk.
The short ride was to East Hampton and Sag Harbor.

Many of the same people continued to volunteer for the evening "Rock the Farm" event. Tony was again on the set up and maintenance. The registration and parking committees had the same leadership but the number of volunteer was larger, since the entry fee was $130. With 600 tickets sold, that means about $78,000. A good event for a good cause.

The sixth annual ride, on July 20, offered bicyclists the option of riding to East Hampton and Sag Harbor and back, 30 miles, or of riding to the Montauk Lighthouse and back, 60 miles.

Soldier Ride (Superseded)

Superseded by
http://warriors-families.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-successful-volunteer-run-soldier.html

This post is kept up to preserve links

VETS 4 | Suffolk County Offers Weekly Service to Vets

This is Mark and he is dressed up as an American
 militiaman, circa 1754-1763, during the French
 and Indian War. This reenactment was June 30,
2013, at the Sulgrave Manor in England.
Photo by JT Marlin.

As we Americans celebrate Independence Day, it is worth reflecting on what made Independence possible, namely the voluntary services of American militiamen in the French and Indian War, which drove out the French and their Indian allies from the colonies and made it possible for the colonies to declare their independence from Britain.

In England last week I stumbled upon a reenactment of the French and Indian War at the Sulgrave Manor, near Bambury, in Northamptonshire, which is generous of these Brits. After all, it was the costly debts incurred during the French and Indian War that drove George III foolishly to seek to pay them off by taxing on the colonies.

We should remember our debt to these militiamen (and to the British soldiers who fought next to us for a time). But these soldiers are long gone. We can do something more practical to remember our debt to more recent veterans.

The recent Gulf Wars have killed fewer Americans but have generated more injuries among the survivors, including mental trauma.

Suffolk County, New York, has a very practical way of showing respect to veterans. It supports a one-day-a-week counselor for Vets in each community.The county assigns a trained Veterans Service Officer who shows up at a local town hall office from 10 am to 4 pm to answer questions.

The town must provide the space and must also pay $8,000 a year towards the cost of the VSO. Southampton Town has approved the expenditure. The VSO will provide the following services:

• Facilitate access to counseling and other services to which the Veteran is entitled.
• Advise the families of Veterans of the services available to them - the spouses of Veterans, their dependents, and their survivors.
• Determine qualification for benefits.
• Help prepare applications for benefits.
• Track applications.
• Answer any other questions about Veteran educational, loan and other programs.

These VSO services could be leveraged by local Veterans organizations to provide assistance to Veterans who are too disabled to visit the VSO's office. Two Post Commanders - Martin Knab of Post 388 in Sag Harbor and Rich Steiber of Post 924 in Hampton Bays - welcomed the program. 

Thanks to Emily Toy of the Independent for her story on this subject.