Posted on Nov 7, 2013
When they start taking benifits away from soldiers who already retired doe this sit well with Active Soldiers?
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Most active duty soldiers don't care about the
retirees or the benefits, until it is too late and they become one themselves.
One Benefit that I have used a lot is the army.mil e-mail account. It is
a huge benefit because it's not a stupid gmail or aol account and it's
federally recognized so it can be used to verify and activate other accounts that most civilian
e-mails can't.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
retirees or the benefits, until it is too late and they become one themselves.
One Benefit that I have used a lot is the army.mil e-mail account. It is
a huge benefit because it's not a stupid gmail or aol account and it's
federally recognized so it can be used to verify and activate other accounts that most civilian
e-mails can't.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
Army
Benefits
Retirement
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 9
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Personally, I look forward to retiring so that I never have to deal with AKO ever again. They can keep my .mil email address, its 1 GB storage, and its inability to synch with my iPhone.
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SFC (Join to see)
I don't think it does at all, now they have to think hard about the choices they make while serving so that the future is easier for them.
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SFC Charles S.
Sir,
Yes, it's hard to use and not much storage. However once you have left the service and need to authenticate to join a service or an account, that .mil domain really comes in handy. It's like a token key to validate your military service. Non-Service members can't get one.
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Taking away benefits from retirees does affect the view of active duty. While I was in I followed what benefits were for retiree, and what they would be if I stayed in until retirement. Sadly after doing some calculations I felt that what I would receive for doing my 20 wasn't worth it. The average person regardless of occupation and education typically doesn't plan nor save enough for retirement which is part of many problems we face.<br>
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SFC Charles S.
Cpl. Spoken like a true short timer. You got out… ok, fine… but to say that taking away benefits from retirees doesn't affect active duty... I say that the reduction in benefits is probably why you chose to get out instead of retire. The benefits had been reduced enough already which made you opt out of serving 20 because your reward for doing so were not enough to warrant staying in.
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Cpl Ray Fernandez
SFC Staley I invite you to reread my post. My very first sentence states " Taking away benefits from retirees does affect the view of active duty." Then I followed up with my own personal experience. I think you may have misread or misinterpreted my response. My response was meant to show that what happens to retirees now affects how those who are on their first or second enlistment decide if they want to stay in to finish off their 20. I have friends who are considering leaving at 12 to 16 years of service right now because they don't believe they will receive a worthwhile pension. I can only talk about things from my point of view and from the period I served in.
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The AKO accounts are just the tip of the iceberg.<br><br><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 17px;">Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel warned Tuesday that troops and their families will be asked to sacrifice on pay and benefits to preserve readiness in an era of tighter budgets.</span><br><br><a href="http://www.military.com/daily-news/2013/11/05/hagel-says-cuts-to-pay-and-benefits-are-needed.html">http://www.military.com/daily-news/2013/11/05/hagel-says-cuts-to-pay-and-benefits-are-needed.html</a><div class="pta-link-card"><div class="pta-link-card-picture"><img src="http://images.military.com/media/news/people/csis-hagel-428x285-ts412.jpg"></div><div class="pta-link-card-content"><div class="pta-link-card-title"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.military.com/daily-news/2013/11/05/hagel-says-cuts-to-pay-and-benefits-are-needed.html"> Hagel Says Cuts to Pay and Benefits are Needed | Military.com</a></div><div class="pta-link-card-description">Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel warned Tuesday that troops and their families will be asked to sacrifice on pay and benefits to preserve readiness in an era of tighter budgets.
Hagel listed politic...</div></div><div style="clear:both"></div><div class="pta-box-hide"><i class="icon-remove"></i></div></div>
Hagel listed politic...</div></div><div style="clear:both"></div><div class="pta-box-hide"><i class="icon-remove"></i></div></div>
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SFC Charles S.
"This may be the most difficult" to achieve among his six priorities, Hagel said of proposals to trim pay increases, overhaul TRICARE and review retirement benefits while adapting to cuts in personnel.
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I think it's unfortunate that it's happening, but frankly, I've never really looked at the .mil email as a "benefit," per se. I think that you certainly have a different perspective than I do, and I'm interested to see how other retirees as well as dependents react to this change.
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SFC Charles S.
Sergeant Cornelius, yes, this is what i'm talking about. While Soldiers are in the service and active. You don't really think about those things that might not be available once you have left active duty. Most active duty soldiers don't like or care for or possibly even use their army.mil account. however, me on the outside and being that I have used it for many things, the small benefit of having a .mil domain e-mail is very much worth the effort to keep.
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I dont have AKO or my dot mil addy anymore. This was cut out this year. I had a lot of email contacts on my AKO account. I wish they would have kept us retirees on AKO. Now what?
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MAJ Joseph Parker
SSG Angelo: We lost our .mil addresses (me too!) for various reasons. I understand a replacement system is in the works that would provide the security required to protect the overall integrity of the operational system already in place. How long it will take is anybody's guess, but I'm sure it will be accomplished with all the speed and alacrity we have come to expect from the government.
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You know when I initially posted this question... The Budget Bill had not even been discussed yet... This action by the Army to cut the AKO accounts was a foretelling of the real cuts that ended up coming later. Now after the Budget bill has passed and we are staring at defense spending cuts and Reduced Retirement, Do you still think that our benefits are safe?
When the Military starts to lose anything it is only the first of a long stream of things to be taken away unless you get with your representation in Washington DC and protest through political channels what they are doing.
Our votes do count and there are enough of us to actually make a difference. We just need to let them know this.
Join me in writing your political representation in Washington D.C. to fight the Military Cost of Living Attack Click the link below to Find a letter that can be e-mailed to your Congress and Senate representatives automatically based on your address.
http://capwiz.com/vfw/issues/alert/?alertid=63034211
When the Military starts to lose anything it is only the first of a long stream of things to be taken away unless you get with your representation in Washington DC and protest through political channels what they are doing.
Our votes do count and there are enough of us to actually make a difference. We just need to let them know this.
Join me in writing your political representation in Washington D.C. to fight the Military Cost of Living Attack Click the link below to Find a letter that can be e-mailed to your Congress and Senate representatives automatically based on your address.
http://capwiz.com/vfw/issues/alert/?alertid=63034211
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SFC (r) Stanley, When you refer to benefits, are you asking about health benefits? By the way, I care a lot and I try to educate my soldiers on the situations that are happening now and what it will hurt in the future.
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SFC Charles S.
Initially, not it was not specific to health benefits...not I believe it may come down to health benefits going away. Especially for retired soldiers.
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SFC Staley: Having been retired for 20 years and being an AKO subscriber, I can tell you with great authority that a *.mil address is of use but definitely not a "huge" benefit. Your "huge" benefits will be: (1) Tricare, the value of which will easily exceed the value of your retirement pay as you age and start to feel military life catch up. (2) Your retirement pay. (3) Commissary - and PX sometimes. (4) VA Disability if you get any. (5) GI Bill (or whatever you have now) and VA home loans. (6) MWR and other privileges. (7) Networking in the veteran community for jobs. It's okay that active duty personnel don't dwell on retirees and their benefits that much. Active duty service members have missions to accomplish! HOWEVER, you will soon find that many retirees dwell quite a bit on active duty benefits and knowledge. That is part of OUR mission! Hopefully you are already gleaning a great deal of knowledge and job networking information right here on RP from us older combatants. RP is the brainchild of a couple of vets. Active duty can't fight battles with Congress; but retirees, veterans and their organizations can and they are quite powerful. In short: if DA wants to strip away an email address to save a few bucks, fine. If anybody tries to fool around with retirement, Tricare, VA, Commissary (and they always do every few years); then we have your six! And SFC Staley: please make it to retirement with as many of your people as possible, intact. Thank you!
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SFC Charles S.
Sir, I do appreciate and thank
you for your service. I can see that you
feel that you are helping me out with your response here. In actuality you
seem to be lecturing me as if I were some no time in grade private that has no
knowledge of military benefits, or how the ARMY operates. I don’t think you looked at my profile before
you commented; I've been retired for 12 years and am fully aware of what those benefits
are and how useful they have been to me. I'm a 60% disabled combat
veteran. I've used my G.I. Bill to earn four degrees including my MBA. I have been using Tricare for at least 15
years. I am a very active Life member of the VFW, the 82nd
Airborne Association and the Disabled American Veterans. What I don't need are impromptu lectures about
how it is ok for them to take away my military e-mail just because you don’t
think it’s a major benefit. What I do need
are promises that are kept by the government which promised them. If the
Army promised something to its retirees it is my belief that it should keep their
promise. I feel the intent of my post was to make active duty soldiers
aware of the government’s propensity to renege on promises made, not to take
away from their accomplishment of their mission. I am aware that Active duty soldiers can't lobby
congress, but they need to be aware of what could be taken away from them and
not just sit back and permit it to happen without at least making their
preferences known.
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MAJ Joseph Parker
Humble apologies, SFC Staley. I should have checked your RP profile before responding. I also appreciate your well-performed service. No condescension was meant on my part, I assure you! You are also correct, senior military leadership at the pentagon is under incredible pressure to cut military (and retiree) pay, benefits, discipline, and tradition in favor of a "new" way of protecting the nation. But we do not need to get political in this forum. Given the nature and goals of our national leadership, there is almost nothing active duty personnel can do about it. I posted the "thumbs up" on your sharp response to me not because I agree with all your reasoning or the somewhat testy response (it's okay - I deserve it), but because you said something very important: You want a government that keeps it promises to you, the retiree (service member / veteran), and you want active duty to be aware of what can be taken away from them. On that we differ not!
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SSG Mike Angelo
Major Joe, am a State Delegate since 2007 and have advocated in my State military retiree and all other veterans status benefits and the like. Last Convention, a few weeks ago, the Grassroot issues in my Congressional District voted down taxation of military retirees. In other words, its bad out here; more taxation and more cuts.
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MAJ Joseph Parker
SSG Angelo: Thank you for your service, military and civil. Many states do tax military retired pay, which is highly unfair since nearly every retired military person receiving disability has had their retirement pay reduced in order to compensate the US Government for giving them the disability pay! The solution is to elect more representatives with military experience and more representatives sympathetic to veterans' issues.
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