Military Officer - January 2008 - (Page 44) washingtonscene tions. The 1948-vintage reserve retirement system (retired pay eligibility at age 60) assumed short, infrequent service by servicemembers pursuing full-time civilian careers with a full civilian retirement. Today’s “operational reserve” requires reservists to serve one of every five years on active duty, with many activated even more frequently. Regardless of statutory protections, periodic long-term absences from the civilian workplace can only limit these servicemembers’ upward mobility and employability, as well as their personal financial security. MOAA supports reducing the reserve retirement age to 55 and eliminating the annual cap on training points. Guard and Reserve employment issues Strengthen financial, legal, and reemployment protections for mobilized Guard and Reserve forces. In addition to strains on servicemembers, repeated deployment of Selected Reserve personnel places significant strains on their employers. MOAA also supports tax incentives for employers to hire Guard and Reserve personnel and to help sustain their business operations during periods of mobilization. Travel card billing Fix the billing system for official travel credit cards that now holds individual servicemembers responsible for paying these bills, even when the finance center fails to make timely payments or the servicemember is deployed on contingency operations. The current system makes members pay interest penalties and incur credit damage because of circumstances imposed by the government. Expense account bills in the private sector go to the employer, not the employee. Travel card bills should go to the servicemember’s unit or the finance center, and servicemembers should be held harmless for any late payments. Pay-raise comparability Continue recent progress toward restoring military pay comparability with the private sector. For most of the 1980s and ’90s, the executive and legislative branches capped military pay raises below those of the private sector. As a result, the pay gap grew as large as 13.5 percent, causing a retention and readiness crisis. Subsequently, executive and legislative branch leaders worked to improve military pay, but a 3.4-percent gap remains as of this year. MOAA lauds the substantial progress made so far in this important area, but the remaining pay gap needs to be erased. PCS reimbursements Continue pursuing adjustment of permanent change-of-station (PCS) reimbursements to offset expenses servicemembers incur in conjunction with government-ordered relocations. The FY 2007 Defense Authorization Act provided a great step forward by providing servicemembers fullreplacement value for damaged property. However, PCS reimbursements still fall far short of the average cost of military moves. More needs to be done to restore the principle that it’s the government’s responsibility, not the servicemember’s, to pay the cost of military-directed moves, such as the provision outlined in the House-passed version of the 2008 defense bill that would allow the shipment of two privately owned Family support Protect and enhance funding for family support; morale, welfare, and recreation; and exchange, commissary, and other critical support services and programs. Ensure necessary family support and quality-of-life services and infrastructure remain in place at both closing and gaining installations throughout the entire rebasing and base realignment and closure process. Place priority on programs for Guard, Reserve, and other families who do not live near military facilities. 44 MILITARY OFFICER JANUARY 2008
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