Military Officer - March 2009 - (Page 34) washingtonscene 2009. If he serves no further active duty service, he would receive nine months’ early retirement credit and begin receiving retired pay three months after his 59th birthday. I Major Smith, USAR, was activated Aug. 1, 2008, for 120 days, leaving active service Nov. 30, 2009. Because he served 60 days in FY 2008 and 60 days in FY 2009, he will receive no retirement age credit for FY 2008 and will have to serve at least 30 more days in FY 2009 to get any retirement age credit for that year. Only certain kinds of service qualify, including the following: I “contingency operation” service or retiree recall; I call-up of the Reserve components for war or national emergency declared by Congress or the president; I augmentation of the active force under the president’s authority for operational or emergency missions (e.g., terrorist attack); I call of the National Guard into federal service to repel an invasion, suppress a rebellion, or execute the laws of the U.S.; I voluntary active duty service, including active duty for training under 10 U.S. code 12301(d), whether performing training or operational support duties; and I full-time National Guard duty performed under 32 U.S. code 115 or 502 under a governor’s authority and authorized by the president or the secretary of Defense for a national emergency (e.g., hurricane recovery). MOAA is grateful for this initial step to acknowledge the heavy sacrifice imposed on reserve components, but we have to do better to ensure credit is applied fairly and consistently. Congress must at least provide full credit for all active duty service since Sept. 11, 2001. Under current law, servicemembers who served multiple combat tours between 2001 and 2008 receive no retirement age credit, and that’s simply wrong. MOAA will be working with Sen. Saxby Chambliss MARCH 2009 Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) (R-Ga.), Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), and other Hill leaders to make that legislative change. We also must eliminate the inequity inherent in the current fiscal year calculation. It’s patently unfair to give three months’ retirement age credit for a 90-day tour served from January through March but not give any credit for a 120-day tour served from August through November (60 days each in separate fiscal years). And DoD must insist that service regulations apply the new rules fairly and consistently for all. Today, different services — and even different units in the same service — often cite different authorities for the same duty. To ensure all receive equal credit for the same duty, active duty orders must consistently reference the proper statutory call-up authorities. Purple Heart History I In anticipation of the No Purple Heart for PTSD PTSD termed secondary effect. invasion of Japan during World War II, the government had 500,000 Purple Heart medals produced. The lack of an invasion created a surplus of Purple Heart medals. Today, 125,000 Purple Hearts still remain from the original World War II batch. A fter months of discussion, DoD has decided servicemembers suffering from PTSD will not be awarded the Purple Heart. Officials left the door open for a reevaluation in the future if needed. The review was prompted by a question to Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates at a press conference in May. Gates’ initial response was that the issue was “clearly something that needs to be looked at.” But Gates has concurred with the findings of the subsequent review. The logic for the decision was that PTSD is a “secondary effect caused by witnessing or experiencing a traumatic event” as opposed to a physical wounded intended by an enemy. One factor in the review was that PTSD is specifically listed in the federal code 34 MILITARY OFFICER
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