Military Officer - August 2008 - (Page 54)

“But I will tell you we will do whatever is necessary to meet the threat. We’re not going to break, and we’re not going to falter.” What do you lack? Seventy percent of Guard and Reserve members are married. So you have to provide incentives that will keep families supporting their citizen-soldiers. You’ve got to make beneﬁts attractive to the spouse and family members, so they are willing to put up with the sacriﬁce of periodic separations. A second partner is the civilian employer. We need to make sure some incentives recognize their sacriﬁce and mitigate the ill effects of pulling employees away for a year every couple of years. We have never made a serious legislative effort in that regard, and we’re going to have to. Those are two legs of a three-legged stool. If either fails, I’m not sure citizen-soldiers [will] stay in our organization. What new benefits should guardmembers see? Better retirement? Congress has taken steps to recognize the Guard and Reserve are performing missions no one envisioned for them less than 10 years ago. So Congress has allowed for retirement to be paid a little earlier than age 60, based on how long a member is deployed. It’s almost one day for one day. That’s fair. Another initiative worthy of consideration is transferability of [Montgomery] GI Bill beneﬁts. Many soldiers have completed their college education, yet they have earned a GI Bill beneﬁt. It would be good if [the soldiers] could transfer those unused beneﬁts to [their] spouses or children. That keeps the family on the team. 54 MILITARY OFFICER AUGUST 2008 Also, if you want an operational force you have to keep it healthy. We’ve got to look at how we do that. Better medical beneﬁts are a readiness issue, not a welfare program. To not provide that is like having a high-priced luxury car, and you don’t want to pay to change the oil once in a while. Is the new premium-paid TRICARE Reserve benefit for drilling Guard and Reserve members a big deal? It’s a very big deal. But is it enough? I don’t know. I can tell you this: It wouldn’t have happened without Congress being the driving force. For that, 460,000 citizen-soldiers and their families are appreciative. I view it as a readiness imperative. You have to have medical coverage if [you] have medical readiness. And without medical readiness, I can’t deploy a soldier. TRICARE Reserve applies to Guard and Reserve families, too. It does, and it should. When you send a young man or woman to war, the last thing they need to worry about is whether their family has coverage at home. If we are going to take citizensoldiers away from their families and employers, interrupt their education, and put them in harm’s way, they need to go with peace of mind that their families are taken care of. Active duty soldiers’ families are. We’re putting Guard soldiers in the same conditions with the same wartime hardships and dangers. Their families need to be treated no less well. The Punaro commission rightfully puts the spotlight on these issues and provides a road map for how we might truly operationalize reserve components. There are those who think we don’t need to do this, PHOTO: STEVE BARRETT

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Military Officer - August 2008

Military Officer - August 2008 Contents MOAA Online From the Editor From the President Your Views MOAA Directory Rapid Fire Washington Scene Chapters in Action Financial Forum Ask the Doctor MOAA Member Services Cover Story: A Stronger Voice Virtual Combat Mental Floss Steady as She Goes Pages of History Faces of MOAA Member Books Information Exchange Advertising Index MOAA Calendar Sounding Taps MOAA Scholarship Donors Encore

Military Officer - August 2008

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