Employment Cost Index
October 30th, 2009
Today, the latest Employment Cost Index (ECI) percentages were released. What makes today’s release important is that it is the figure used to determine the military pay proposal for the 2011 defense budget. As you may be aware, last years figure was 2.9% – the figure used by President Obama for his proposal to congress (congress subsequently added .5% (to 3.4%) which was signed into law 28 October). This years figure is 1.5% – the question will be, will congress again add an additional .5% or will congress, in the coming election year, state the military pay and allowances are now in balance with the private sector? Time will tell. I do find election years much more entertaining 
Now, look over to the sidebar, and take a look at the thermometer widget for Valour-IT (Team Navy), click on it and give what you can. Veteran’s Day is just around the corner, your gift will go to veterans in need. If you require more motivation than it being a righteous cause, (Read the rest of the story…)
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FY10 SRB Levels Announced
August 27th, 2009
As expected, the Navy Selective Re-enlistment Bonus program (SRB) seems to be making a comeback for 2010. NAVADMIN 250/09 states without surprise, “Contingent upon receipt of congressional defense appropriations for FY10 or enactment of a continuing resolution authority, levels listed in para 4 below are effective as of 01 October 2009 and pre-certification requests will be accepted 35-120 days prior to the desired reenlistment date.” Congress needs to ensure they get the 2010 Defense Budget in front of the President for signature prior to the beginning of FY-2010. So far the defense budget has hit only a few snags but should be ready in plenty of time making a continuing resolution unnecessary (my fingers are crossed ).
Read the NAVADMIN in it’s entirety; (Read the rest of the story…)
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DFAS Retired Pay Newsletter
August 8th, 2009
Today I received a newsletter from DFAS which discusses various issues about military retired pay. I have been retired for about 2 1/2 years and this is the first letter I can remember getting…
One section of it did catch my eye, retiree recall. The Army is ending their current program but basically how it works is if you retire before you have 30 years of active service you can be recalled up until your 30 year point. In the Navy we transfer to the Fleet Reserve until we are officially retired at our 30 year point. My example is I transferred to the Fleet Reserve December 31, 2006 with 26 years of creditable active service but (Read the rest of the story…)
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Navy SRB Suspended Until FY 2010
June 11th, 2009
The good news is the Navy is retaining a very high quality workforce, the bad news is bonuses for reenlisting in FY-2009 have been suspended.
From the NAVADMIN, “Temporarily suspending the SRB program and the acceptance of any new requests for the remainder of this fiscal year. These changes are effective immediately. Those requests which have been received by pers-811 through OPINS prior to 1600 central daylight time, 10 June 2009, will still be processed IAW refs a, b and c.”
Read the NAVADMIN here; (Read the rest of the story…)
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Question for Congressman Filner
May 22nd, 2009
I read “Memorial Day: Putting Our Troops and Veterans First” by Congressman Bob Filner. In it he describes a number of initiatives congress has completed which those of us who are/have served appreciate very much. I thank him and his colleagues for their actions.
One issue I do have with the article, (Read the rest of the story…)
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2010 Defense Budget Released
May 7th, 2009
Today, President Obama released his proposal for the 2010 defense budget. The budget proposal is usually released by a president during the month of February which allows enough time for debate in congress and signature into law by the beginning of the next fiscal year. With this late release I am concerned we may see another year that military members will have a delay in pay much like that of 2008 where pay had to be retroactively paid back.
DoD Releases Fiscal 2010 Budget Proposal
President Barack Obama today sent to Congress a proposed defense budget of $663.8 billion for fiscal 2010. The budget request for the Department of Defense (DoD) includes $533.8 billion in discretionary budget authority to fund base defense programs and $130 billion to support overseas contingency operations, primarily in Iraq and Afghanistan….
Support for the Troops and Their Families
The fiscal 2010 base budget proposal includes $177.5 billion (Read the rest of the story…)
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The Military Pay Gap
April 3rd, 2009
Considering the military pay gap is, by reports, 2.9% and a increase of 2.9% (President Obama’s proposal) or the 3.4% increase (based on the House and Senate’s proposal) combined with the economy declining it stands to reason the gap may be proclaimed as closed by the next election season.
The problem is I think the way the gap is figured is not a fair measure (Read the rest of the story…)
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Been a Busy Pay Day
March 31st, 2009
Today has been a busy do for those of us that try and keep up with all the pay issues that come up.
Today was a big day in the United Kingdom as their government announced it accepted the recommendation of the Armed Forces’ Pay Review Body of 2.8% basic military salary increase for officers and all other ranks. The pay raise will take effect April 1, 2009.
Here in the United States, our Senate Armed Services Committee (Read the rest of the story…)
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Navy Stabilizes Force
March 19th, 2009
First comment is, Add the American Forces Press Service with the Navy Times that should capitalize Sailor!
Prologue: When retention and recruiting do well it has been the manpower gurus natural response to pull billets from recruiting duty, reducing the workforce by as much as 25% or more. Then when times get tough the knee jerks the other way and those same manpower gurus pump the force, seemingly over night, back to the numbers we see today. Often times the increase in the size of the force is too late. One example is 1997 and there are many others.
Hopefully we have learned our lessons of the past.
Onward.
At the end of the current Navy force reduction, manning of ratings (Read the rest of the story…)
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NEW Lower SRB Levels
March 12th, 2009
The $90,000 cap for Selective Reenlistment Bonus (SRB) and new lower multiples will become effective 1 May 2009. All SRB award levels NOT listed below are reduced or remain at zero.
The drop in levels, I would think, are not budget related as much as manning levels in the rates that experienced a drop. The SRB has always been a retention tool, retention good in a rating – little to no bonus. Retention and recruiting are at levels we have not seen in years.
The NAVADMIN; (Read the rest of the story…)
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