Military Officer - March 2007 - (Page 36)

washingtonscene 2008 COLA Might Be Smaller ■ The consumer price index, which is the measure of inflation that determines annual costof-living (COLA) adjustments for military retired pay and other federal annuities, was -1.0 percent for the first quarter of FY 2007. That may portend a smaller COLA for next year, but it’s far too early for any reasonable predictions. the Navy and Air Force. These services are scheduled to shed tens of thousands of people over the next year in order to free up funds to pay for weapons systems. MOAA strongly believes that the nation must be willing to fully fund its legitimate military requirements for both people and weapons without making one the bill-payer for the other. Reserve Call-Up Rules Change More will be subject to multiple deployments. I n addition to proposed Army and Marine Corps manpower increases, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced new Jan. 1 policies for activating National Guard and Reserve units to support ongoing operations in Iraq. Departing from a policy instituted after Sept. 11, 2001, the Pentagon now will call up Army Guard and Reserve units involuntarily for no more than 12 months at a time, versus the previous 24month maximum. Under the new rules: ■ reserve component ground forces will be managed on a unit basis instead of an individual basis; ■ units will be involuntarily mobilized for a maximum of one year at any single time; ■ for planning purposes, the call-up cycle will remain one year mobilized followed by ﬁve years demobilized, though requirements might see some units being deployed on a shorter cycle; and ■ new cash incentives are being developed to compensate active and reserve component individuals who must mobilize or deploy early or extend beyond the established rotation policy goal. In practical terms, what do these changes mean for reservists? MOAA’s take is that although call-ups now will be limited to a year at a time, the cumulative 24-month cap on involuntary activations is lifted. In other words, an Army Guard soldier who served an 18-month tour in Iraq as a result of his or her unit’s activation between 2003 and 2004 could be back on active duty this year or in 2008 for another 12-month stint, totaling a cumulative 30 months on active duty. Under the old policy, the individual servicemember would be mobilized for a second tour only if he or she volunteered. But that policy ended up forcing commanders to patch together individual replacements to cross-ﬁll vacancies in units targeted for activation. Gates noted that Army Guard and Reserve call-ups ranged from 16 months to 24 months consecutively served under the old rules. Marine reserve units normally pull seven-month tours, though it wasn’t clear as this article went to press whether reserve component Marines now will be asked to deploy for a year. MOAA has long maintained that the entire force — active duty and reserve — remains overstressed and under-resourced. Even though the new Army Guard and Reserve tour lengths will be shorter, there’s little doubt that some Guard and Reserve units will be reactivated sooner than they expected under the old policy. Moreover, enormous equipment shortages in the total force make state-based training for deployments problematic at best. Further, DoD so far has been reluctant to endorse much-needed Guard and Reserve beneﬁt upgrades to help offset the enormously increased sacriﬁces our citizen-warriors and their families now are being asked to bear. While we’ve made some progress on meeting their health care needs, substantive improvements still remain in the areas of reserve retirement, Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB) education ﬁxes, employer tax incentives, and better family support. 36 MILITARY OFFICER MARCH 2007

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From the Editor From the President Your Views MOAA Directory Rapid Fire Washington Scene Financial Forum Ask the Doctor Chapter Activities Forward, March 10 Top Cities Tell Us About It Fly the Plan Cover Story: The War Poster One Percent Pages of History Information Exchange Advertising Index MOAA Member Services Member Books Sounding Taps MOAA Calendar Encore

Military Officer - March 2007

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