What will active duty cost of living increase look like for FY 2017, and what is the discussion on PTSD and TBI?

Higher Pay Raise Proposed: Draft legislation released this week by the House Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee calls for a 2.1 percent military pay raise in 2017––a half percent higher than what the Administration requested. If enacted, it would be the largest percentage increase since 2010 (which was then 3.4 percent). Military pay increases are supposed to match increases in private sector wages, as measured by the Employment Cost Index (ECI), but the Administration can request more or less than the ECI, with Congress having final approval. Congress erased a double-digit pay gap of the 1990s by directing military pay raises from 2000-2006 to be a half percent above private sector wage increases, and raises from 2007 forward to match the ECI, although more could be authorized. The 1.7 percent increase in FY2013 was the last time military pay matched the ECI. The draft legislation is just a first step in a very long process before the FY2017 National Defense Authorization Act is signed into law.
Senate Armed Services Subcommittee Hearing on PTSD, TBI: The Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel held a hearing on Wednesday regarding the research, diagnosis and treatment of PTSD and TBI. During the hearing concerns for MST, suicide and other comorbidities of psychological health were also discussed. Senator Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY) raised gender-specific questions asking, “…I’d like to know if PTSD presents itself differently in male survivors versus female survivors and how treatment for PTSD meets the unique needs of male survivors of sexual assault.” Doctors from VA agreed research is heading in the right direction for PTSD and TBI, but with nearly 25 percent of veterans transitioning from DOD to VA receiving mental health care during their last year of service, there is still much work that needs to be done. In the future VA foresees research innovations for diagnosis and treatment progressing with more neuroimaging and the finding of biomarkers. To read witness testimony or view the hearing, click here: http://www.armed-services.senate.gov/hearings/16-04-20-current-state-of-research-diagnosis-and-treatment-for-post-traumatic-stress-disorder-and-traumatic-brain-injury. For more information on PTSD/TBI research, visit: http://www.dcoe.mil/About_DCoE.aspx.