1.4% Pay Raise Proposed for 2011
2/02/10 – President Obama proposed a 1.4% military pay raise in the FY2011 budget released this week. The Administration seems to feel that this is a good raise given that one in 10 workers in America can't find a job at all. The 1.4 percent, "frankly, I think to a lot of Americans, sounds pretty good," Peter Orszag, director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), said to reporters. He noted that the raise is lower than recent raises because inflation and private-sector wage and salary growth are also lower. 

Uniform Change in Pentagon?
1/10/10 - Secretary of Defense Robert Gates quietly changed the uniform regs for his military aides and staff - no more wearing of fatigues, BDUs or flight suits in the Pentagon. Will this "trickle down" to other Pentagon staffs and offices? Join our discussion of this issue on Facebook.

New Coast Guard Commandant and MCPOCG Named
1/10 – President Obama has nominated VADM Robert J. Papp, Jr., USCG, as the next Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard. If confirmed by the Senate, he will succeed ADM Thad Allen at the end of May. BMCM Michael P.Leavitt, USCG, has been selected as the next Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard (MCPOCG). He will relieve MCPOCG Charles “Skip” Bowen during a Change of Watch Ceremony on 21 May 2010 at Coast Guard Training Center Cape May, NJ. NAUS congratulates both Admiral Papp and Master Chief Leavitt on their selection to lead our nation’s Coast Guard.

Afghanistan Troop Surge Ordered by President
12/2/09 - President Obama announced that 30,000 more servicemembers will deploy to Afghanistan, bringing the total to nearly 200,000 by summer, and that he plans to begin withdrawing forces in July 2011. In a nationally televised speech from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, NY, excerpts of which can be viewed below, the President said that Islamic extremism in the region remains an enduring threat to the security of Americans.

New Voting Rules Enacted to Ensure Military Vote is Counted
10/28/09 - Included in the 2010 NDAA signed into law by President Obama is the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act. The act reduces barriers to absentee voting for military personnel and other overseas voters. Read Alliance for Military and Overseas Voting Rights News Release here.

Stop-loss Retroactive Bonus Pay Starts
11/09 - The Defense Department has begun paying retroactive compensation to servicemembers who were prevented from leaving the military under the stop-loss policy since 9/11. The new payments apply to about 185,000 members who were not allowed to retire or be discharged on time because of an involuntary extension of active service. The Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, has said the Pentagon will phase out its use of stop-loss by early 2011. Under the new payment policy, mandated by Congress, each eligible servicemember or veteran will receive $500 (in addition to regular pay) for every month served under stop-loss. Families of troops who died while on stop-loss are also eligible for the additional compensation. There are still about 5,200 servicemembers serving under stop-loss (already receiving the extra $500 pay each month).

According to Pentagon figures, of the 185,000 members affected by stop-loss since 2001, the Army had the majority, 136,000 soldiers, who were required to serve an average of 7 extra months. The Air Force had 39,000, followed by the Marine Corps, with 9,600. The Navy had the fewest cases of stop-loss, 250, but the involuntary extension of duty for sailors averaged 15 months.

For more information or to apply for the compensation, the Services have set up special websites or email addresses:
Army: https://www.stoplosspay.army.mil or RetroStopLossPay@conus.army.mil
Navy: NXAG_N132C@navy.mil
Marine Corps: https://www.manpower.usmc.mil/stoploss or stoploss@usmc.mil
Air Force: www.afpc.randolph.af.mil/stoploss/

Earn 10% Interest - Guaranteed!
The Savings Deposit Program (SDP) sounds just like a scam, but it's not. Servicemembers deployed in combat zones can deposit up to $10,000 of unalloted pay per deployment into an account that pays 10% annual interest, accrued quarterly. The interest earned on these accounts is taxable, stops accruing 90 days after the member returns from deployment, and generally cannot be withdrawn until the end of the deployment either. See more information on the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) website here.

Military Leave Carry-over Policy
Military leave policy now allows members to carry over 75 days rather than the previous 60 days into the next fiscal year. The policy, in place until Dec. 31, 2010, is intended to reduce the amount of lost leave caused by the current high operating tempo.

3.4% Pay Raise for 2010
1/10 - President Obama signed both the FY2010 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), in October, and the Defense Appopriations Act (in December) which authorized and funded a 3.4% pay raise for 2010. See the 2010 pay chart here.

President Renews Call to Repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
1/27/10 - In his State of the Union address, President Obama renewed his call to repeal the so-called "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law and allow openly homosexual/ bisexual persons to serve in uniform. While the President had indicated willingness to consider a change in the law, last year he said more analysis was necessary before any change. SecDef Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, ADM Mullen, will testify on this issue before Congress on Feb 2. Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-CA), Chair of the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee, introduced the Military Readiness Enhancement Act, HR 1283, in March 2009 which would repeal the 1993 law.

War-zone Pay Now Pro-rated
12/09 – The 2010 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) changed how special war zone pay is calculated and disbursed. Instead of servicemembers receiving full monthly payments for even one day’s service in a combat or other danger zone, the Services now pro-rate these pays based on actual days of qualifying service each month. The special compensations include hostile fire pay, imminent danger pay, hazardous duty pay, assignment pay, and skill incentive pay, as well as associated tax breaks. The change was enacted to curb abuses, with allegations of servicemembers manipulating the system - even arranging mission schedules for personal benefit - reaching the ears of several lawmakers according to a Capitol Hill source. (More on the 2010 NDAA.)

2010 BAH Rates Now Available
2010 BAH rates are online here.

Mandatory Swine Flu Vaccinations
10/09 – Servicemembers began getting required swine flu (H1N1) shots near the end of the first week of October, according to Gen Gene Renuart, USAF, head of U.S. Northern Command. Active duty members deploying to war zones and serving in other critical billets were at the front of the vaccination line. The Pentagon bought 2.7 million doses of vaccine, and 1.4 million of those were for active duty military personnel. Activated National Guard members are also required to receive the vaccine, as are civilian Defense Department employees who are in critical jobs.

The Services already screen all personnel before they deploy overseas and when they arrive at their destination. Any H1N1 infected members are isolated and administered antiviral drugs. Access to the H1N1 vaccine among military dependents is the same as in civilian communities, with priority given to healthcare workers and the most vulnerable groups, including pregnant women and children.

Military Spouses Get Federal Jobs Preference
Certain military spouses are eligible for non-competitive appointment/hiring by the Federal government. Beginning September 11th, 2009, spouses of servicemembers relocating for a new assignment, spouses of 100% disabled servicemembers injured on active duty, and unremarried widows/widowers of members killed on active duty, were able to be hired under these new preference rules. The new hiring preference authority is optional for Federal agencies, and it is unclear how many agencies will use it. With nearly half of the 400,000-500,000 active duty servicemembers transferred each year being married, the benefit has potential to help many military spouses.

Aspirin Banned for Deployed Troops
Defense Department officials are directing service-members and government civilians deployed in overseas war zones to refrain from taking aspirin unless under a doctor's orders. Aspirin use could contribute to excessive bleeding in the event of wounding or injury. Troops slated for deployment to combat zones should cease taking aspirin at least 10 days before departure. Servicemembers and civilians can use over-the-counter, non-aspirin-based medications, such as Tylenol or Motrin, for treatment of colds, fever, muscle aches and other maladies. Army & Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) operations in contingency locations have removed all products containing aspirin from their shelves.

Military Homeowners Aid in Economic Stimulus Bill
Military personnel forced to sell their homes during the current real estate crisis may benefit from a new program included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, more commonly referred to as the economic stimulus package, signed into law by President Obama in Feb. The Homeowners Assistance Fund, authorizes the Pentagon to spend up to $555 million to buy the title to a service member's property or reimburse him or her for losses after a sale or foreclosure. It is intended for wounded warriors who need to move for medical reasons, surviving spouses of those killed in action, and servicemembers short-toured or receiving unexpected PCS orders. The program is also available to widows of Defense Department civilian employees killed in the line of duty. It is modeled on an existing DoD program for civilians affected by base closures under BRAC.

Social Networking Rules Eased
9/30/09 - The Defense Department, which had seen some Services ban the use of social networking sites, will allow troops and their families to use the popular online communication tools such as Facebook and Twitter on its unclassified networks, according to a new policy memo. The memo backs the use of social networking sites for both official and unofficial purposes and envisions these tools as providing an information advantage for the U.S. A draft of the memo says “This new policy recognizes that emerging Internet-based capabilities offer both opportunities and risks that need to be balanced in ways that provide an information advantage for our people and mission partners.”

The Marine Corps banned access to social networking and media sites from its networks last summer, and the U.S. Strategic Command warned the Services it was considering a blanket ban on access to such so-called “Web 2.0” sites due to network security concerns. In June, the Army ordered all U.S. posts to provide access to Facebook – just the opposite of the Marine Corps’ order. There are commander’s blogs from the battlefield, and the Secretary of Defense himself boasts of 4,000 followers on Twitter.
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