Navy SRB Guidance as of 24APR2012
April 24th, 2012
Below is the latest Selective Re-enlistment Bonus (SRB) guidance update for FY-12. Released April 24, 2012 via NAVADMIN 143/12.
(Read the rest of the article…)
Read Comments (0)
Here Comes the Gap Again…
February 23rd, 2012
♫Here comes the gap again, falling on our heads like a memory, falling on our heads like a new emotion…♬
Okay, bad play on the Eurythmics original, but anyway…
When the budget proposal for FY-2013 was released, Department of Defense (DoD) officials laid out a five year plan for military pay. For 2013 and 2014, the current law that dictates the use of the Employment cost Index will be utilized. DoD’s plan for 2015 through 2017 is to ask congress for a special provision that would provide for raises less than currently expected for those years based on the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates of the cost of employment for the private sector. The CBO’s estimates are a reported 3.3% for 2015 and 3.5% for each year after.
DoD’s plan is to ask for just 0.5%, 1.0% and (Read the rest of the article…)
Read Comments (0)
Budget Proposal for FY-13 Release
February 13th, 2012
13 Feb 2012, President Obama released his “Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2013.” I have taken the liberty to extract the portion within the Defense budget overview that related to our members and families. For 2013, the information for families is limited as compared to past (Read the rest of the article…)
Read Comments (0)
Fix the Retirement System
January 27th, 2012
In a couple of weeks, President Obama will be releasing his budget proposal for fiscal year 2013. The proposal is expected to announce a plan to cap the amount of raises to basic pay starting in 2015; also, as reported here on October 28, 2011, you can expect the 2013 pay raise to be based on the provision in Title 37 of the US Code – just as the recently realized 2012 pay raise.
Do we need to make adjustments to how those in the military are compensated? Maybe so, but let us do it with our eyes wide open, and let us not rewrite history in an attempt to justify any changes.
First, let’s go back to the why.
From 1982 to 2000, military pay raises were capped and did not track at all with the amount of increases in pay that our civilian counterparts enjoyed. During that period, the gap in military to civilian pay grew to as large as 13.5 percent.
Starting early in the new millennium, congress decided to close the gap by adding one-half of one percent to proposed pay increases. The practice of adding the half-percent continued until the 2011 raise which was strictly based on ECI alone. It was also during this time that studies were released which indicated (Read the rest of the article…)
Read Comments (0)
Navy SRB Guidance as of 06JAN2012
January 6th, 2012
Below is the latest Selective Re-enlistment Bonus (SRB) guidance update for FY-12. Released January 6, 2012 via NAVADMIN 013/12.
(Read the rest of the article…)
Read Comments (0)
Pay Raise Forgotten?
November 28th, 2011
For the first time in over a decade, the bill that is being considered in the Senate for the fiscal year defense authorization makes no reference to a military pay raise.
The House’s version of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (NDAA) sent over to the Senate, HR1540, clearly has it listed in SEC. 601(b), “Increase in Basic Pay- Effective on January 1, 2012, the rates of monthly basic pay for members of the uniformed services are increased by 1.6 percent.” But the NDAA version the Senate is currently debating, S1867, has the 1.6% pay raise omitted, erased – gone.
What gives!?
Don’t worry, the United States Code, Title 37, Chapter 19 § 1009 to be exact, has it covered. The Title states, (Read the rest of the article…)
Read Comments (0)
Private Sector W&S at 1.7%
October 28th, 2011
Today, the United States Employment Cost Index (ECI) was released; whereas this is a normal quarterly event, this quarter’s result is the one of most importance to the members of our military. It is the quarterly release that presidents have used to make a proposal for the military pay increases for over a decade in order to ensure our military member’s compensation keeps pace with that of the private sector. Specifically, the private industry worker’s wage and salary series of the ECI. This year’s increase is a reported, 1.7% for the 12 month period ending September 2011.
Expect President Obama to announce a military pay raise of 1.7% sometime in February 2012 as part of his budget proposal for FY-2013.
Well, that is the way in normally works, (Read the rest of the article…)
Read Comments (0)
Yet Another Commission?
October 15th, 2011
Congress has a difficult task – cut spending to get our financial house in order, introduce programs and decrease regulation in the support of job creation, all while keeping an eye on the 2012 elections. Everybody in congress seems to have varying opinions about how they should move forward, except when it comes to defense spending, but both sides of the isle know defense will feel the axe – just how much and what programs.
The only thing that seems sure in the defense bill is the pay raise for 2012. No proposals have been put forward that would change the 1.6 percent that was submitted by President Obama back in February, as a matter of fact, congressional leaders have voiced their support for it when they returned from their most recent recess.
Whereas Tricare changes won’t affect those currently on active duty, Retirees might not be so lucky. (Read the rest of the article…)
Read Comments (0)
Navy SRB Guidance as of 22AUG2011
August 22nd, 2011
Below is the latest Selective Re-enlistment Bonus (SRB) guidance for the remaining portion of FY-11 and start of FY-12. Released August 22, 2011 via NAVADMIN 253/11.
(Read the rest of the article…)
Read Comments (0)
Military Retirement Under Fire
August 3rd, 2011
In 1986, the Department of Defense implemented the REDUX retirement plan for all those who joined the military after 01 August of that year. REDUX retirement provides a 2% per year for the first 20 years of service (Final Pay and High Three retirements provide 2.5%) which means if you decide to retire at 20 years of active service, you get 40% of your base pay in a monthly check for the rest of your life with a yearly adjustment (based on the CPI, same indicator used for Social Security adjustments) for cost of living. But with the REDUX retirement system, you get an increase to 3.5% for each additional year passed 20 and can get to 100% for 40 years. When REDUX was first implemented, those under the program did not have the option of choosing the High Three program like they can today.
I was a recruiter in New Jersey in 1986 when the REDUX plan was being implemented. Most applicants were oblivious to the change, as a matter of fact, most applicants didn’t know there was a retirement program of any sort, let along the details of it, but some did and the change mattered to them.
Recruiting in the mid-1980′s was about as tough as it could be. The parents of the applicants we sought were draft eligible during the Vietnam War – the last thing most wanted was to see their child join the military, but when the REDUX change was announced, Veterans were dragging (Read the rest of the article…)
Read Comments (0)
Next Page »
