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"As the Defense Department maps out plans to absorb long-term budget cuts, military compensation and troop levels are among the primary targets, the Pentagon’s top financial officer said.
“I think we will go after military compensation aggressively,” Comptroller Robert Hale said during public remarks at a Sept. 5 meeting of the Reserve Forces Policy Board.
Hale said annual military pay raises likely will fall below the rise in inflation next year, and that may be the first of many similar reductions.
Congress is battling over whether to give troops a raise to match the official Employment Cost Index — a measure of private-sector wage growth — of 1.8 percent, or to limit the pay bump to 1 percent. Hale and other top Pentagon officials are advocating for the lower pay raise as a way to slow the long-term growth of personnel costs.
“I think we will prevail in that,” Hale said
That would be the first time military pay would fall below the ECI since 1998. For much of the 2000s, Congress approved hefty raises well above the ECI in an effort to close a purported “gap” between military and private-sector pay that peaked at about 13.5 percent in the 1990s.
But those days are over. DoD argues that any pay gap has long since disappeared when the total military compensation package — including hefty, and tax-free, housing and food allowances — is taken into consideration. "
.....
"For many months, Pentagon officials refused to plan for sequestration cuts, hoping that Congress would reach a broad budget agreement that would allow defense spending to rise by raising taxes and cutting Social Security and Medicare benefits.
But Hale said he sees no deal on the horizon. “Everyone agrees that it is highly desirable. It’s also highly unlikely. I’d say it requires a political miracle. In fact, at this point I’d say it probably requires consecutive political miracles,” Hale said.
“Perhaps a bit more likely is a mini-budget deal,” Hale said, describing a hypothetical agreement that would lift some, but not all, of the defense spending caps.
“How likely is a mini deal?” Hale asked rhetorically. “I would say we’re still talking a political miracle.” "
"As the Defense Department maps out plans to absorb long-term budget cuts, military compensation and troop levels are among the primary targets, the Pentagon’s top financial officer said.
“I think we will go after military compensation aggressively,” Comptroller Robert Hale said during public remarks at a Sept. 5 meeting of the Reserve Forces Policy Board.
Hale said annual military pay raises likely will fall below the rise in inflation next year, and that may be the first of many similar reductions.
Congress is battling over whether to give troops a raise to match the official Employment Cost Index — a measure of private-sector wage growth — of 1.8 percent, or to limit the pay bump to 1 percent. Hale and other top Pentagon officials are advocating for the lower pay raise as a way to slow the long-term growth of personnel costs.
“I think we will prevail in that,” Hale said
That would be the first time military pay would fall below the ECI since 1998. For much of the 2000s, Congress approved hefty raises well above the ECI in an effort to close a purported “gap” between military and private-sector pay that peaked at about 13.5 percent in the 1990s.
But those days are over. DoD argues that any pay gap has long since disappeared when the total military compensation package — including hefty, and tax-free, housing and food allowances — is taken into consideration. "
.....
"For many months, Pentagon officials refused to plan for sequestration cuts, hoping that Congress would reach a broad budget agreement that would allow defense spending to rise by raising taxes and cutting Social Security and Medicare benefits.
But Hale said he sees no deal on the horizon. “Everyone agrees that it is highly desirable. It’s also highly unlikely. I’d say it requires a political miracle. In fact, at this point I’d say it probably requires consecutive political miracles,” Hale said.
“Perhaps a bit more likely is a mini-budget deal,” Hale said, describing a hypothetical agreement that would lift some, but not all, of the defense spending caps.
“How likely is a mini deal?” Hale asked rhetorically. “I would say we’re still talking a political miracle.” "
