Posted on Mar 27, 2014
Will Pay and Benefit Cuts discussed in Congress Affect Retention/Recruitment
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I read another interesting article where the DoD Comptroller, Robert Hale was discussing how Pentagon planners have proposed a 1% basic pay raise, 5% cut in housing allowance, a reduction of the Commissary budget by 2/3 (66% cut), and an overhaul of Tricare fees. Mr. Hale states that it is not a cut in compensation, but rather "slowing the growth" of these accounts.
I guess if you are a Comptroller/Budget Analyst you either think of it as a debit or credit -- but I don't understand how this can be seen as not cutting into the benefits of our Service Members.
I guess if you are a Comptroller/Budget Analyst you either think of it as a debit or credit -- but I don't understand how this can be seen as not cutting into the benefits of our Service Members.
I wonder if this is just a discussion among those like myself who like to follow budget and Force Management discussions or is this something that the troopers are discussing among themselves.
Does this discussion (if any) affect your willingness to reenlist/make a career out of your respective service?
How will this affect retention and recruiting?
Does this discussion (if any) affect your willingness to reenlist/make a career out of your respective service?
How will this affect retention and recruiting?
Here is a link to the Article -- http://www.militarytimes.com/article/20140326/BENEFITS02/303260043/
Congress
Retention
Recruiting
Budget
Posted 10 y ago
Responses: 2
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Sir, when I was a recruiter, we were told to keep recruiting because we were recruiting our losses. At a point in time in one month, we discharged 200 as a state and maybe recruited 100 for that particular month. In other cases, it was opposite. I do think it will have an affect on bigger states and possibly the retention side as well. Some soldiers aren't wanting to stay in because of decrease in benefits they were thought to be receiving throughout. Personally, I am going to make a career of it still. I've made it this far with what we have, and going to stick to my service mentality. It might be tough now, but who knows what the road ahead has. 10 years from now, we could be back on better slope upward instead of heading downward.
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Well, I've got my 20 year letter, so I've already made the career decision... I'll be in until I hit my MRD and don't get an extension.
That said, were I on Active Duty and an O1-O3 or on the enlisted side, I would have to really think about it. Compensation isn't the only thing, but it's not nothing. I would be continually assessing how much I loved my MOS, the Army, and what I could earn in the civilian economy.
It is similar to my civilian job. I haven't had a raise in about 3 years. However, nobody told inflation to stop happening. My pay hasn't been cut, but it's LESS than it was in terms of purchasing power.
Quite frankly, I consider the focus on cutting or "slowing the growth of" military compensation, while the rest of the budget is so bloated, to be insulting. I'd have a different opinion if I saw other serious drives for efficiencies.
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