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LTC Stephen B.
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It would take Congress changing Title 37 and owning the results. DoD has no authority nor ability to do this on their own. Impacts to the national Guard and Reserve will probably be an afterthought as with most things at the DoD level, but the NGB team has been more forceful of late in keeping the visibility of the RC equities.

The cost of changing all the pay systems to reflect a new construct would eat any savings expected in the first several years.

- Consolidation of bonus pays started in 2006 and may finish this year, maybe next.
- Reserve Component Duty Status Reform is next in the hopper and expected to take until 2025 or later depending on the extent of changes.
- The new Blended Retirement System is being fast-tracked, and still taking a couple years to get all the pieces in place.
- All the changes to various sections of law, the 2nd and 3rd order effects, etc. have to be carefully plotted, examined and thought out to prevent a total disaster. And even after that, the Service systems and DFAS need to be able to synch to prevent hardship to service members and families. Expect this to be in effect no sooner than the 2030's, if at all.

Interesting times....
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LTC Stephen F.
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Edited >1 y ago
Thanks for letting us know SSgt Robert Marx that once again the US Congress is considering a single civilian-like salary system. To be honest I think that would be a gross mistake since it would hit the junior enlisted ranks the hardest.
The current traditional basic pay and tax-free allowances system is lower cost to the taxpayer. Typically the government would bump up the basic pay to the equivalent of the basic pay plus the BHA and food allowance the first year. After that the rate would be marginally increased or stay flat which would hurt the lower ranks. Hopefully BAH COLA would be still applicable. However expect BAH COLA to be taxed as well.
I am certainly in favor of rightsizing variable housing allowances based on duty station to actual costs with a marginal plus up.
Disclaimer: When I was mobilized to the Pentagon post 9-11-2001 I was paid my VHA based on the lowest cost facility in the region Vint Hill Farms which was further from my house that the Pentagon where I was assigned. Typically the finance department made a mistake and paid me at a single LTC living in Alexandria instead of a married LTC living in Loudoun county. The difference was marginal. However when I discovered in in November 2002, the government took back all my VHA for the year just in time for Christmas. Because they could only pay back $9,999.99 per month it took until March 2003 until they paid what was owed to me and the system was correct.
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SSgt Robert Marx
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It is incredible to me concerning the ineptnance of the current pay system; consequently, the government desires to change its entire pay structure for the armed services so as to magnify the pay problems. My disclaimer is that my Air National Guard unit for nearly 10 years has an excellent customer service office that never made a mistake regarding my pay the entire time I was there.
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