Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) Says Administration's Proposal is Assault on the Core of All Volunteer Force

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Military Officers Association of America

Sep 20, 2011, 04:26 ET

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept. 20, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) believes that the President's proposal on budget cuts is nothing less than an attack on the fundamental principles that have sustained the all-volunteer military force for the last four decades. It intends to use its influence and that of its 370,000 members to fight both the philosophy and the specifics of the plan.

MOAA's reaction position is based on the proposal's stated intent to "align government programs with those in the private sector" and to address the "measurable disparity between the fees most retired private sector workers pay...and what military personnel pay."

MOAA asserts that though it can't expect military compensation to escape scrutiny, any assessment of shared sacrifice must account for the extraordinarily steep premiums career military pay – up front and in-kind – to earn their compensation.

"Significant cuts to the crucial incentive packages that sustain a top-quality career force will undermine long-term retention and readiness," MOAA President and CEO, VAdm. Norb Ryan said. "This proposal not only affects the equities of military personnel and their families, it affects the ability to support long-term national security."

"The military career incentive package must be unique because military service conditions have no civilian comparison," Ryan continued. "Civilians don't risk spending every other year in Iraq or Afghanistan for years on end; don't suffer disrupted spousal careers and children's education every few years; can quit when they want and can disobey their boss without risking a federal conviction. Few Americans are willing to endure a single tour in uniform, let alone 20 or 30 years."

Specifically, MOAA opposes certain provisions of the $27 billion in military retirement and health care benefits cuts the administration envisions:

Establishing an annual enrollment fee for TRICARE For Life
Additional retail pharmacy co pay hikes that would charge beneficiaries a percentage of the drug cost rather than a flat-dollar co pay
Establishing a BRAC-style commission to recommend "modernizing" the military retirement system to bring it more in line with civilian plans and force an up-or-down congressional vote on the plan.

"Military pay and benefits are the elemental foundation of the all-volunteer force, which is what America says it wants," Ryan continued. "The last time the government cut back on military pay and benefits, less than 20 years ago, the results were disastrous. It simply didn't work then and it took years to rebuild what was lost," he concluded.

www.moaa.org.

SOURCE Military Officers Association of America