Military Officer - September 2007 - (Page 42)

washingtonscene attention to congressional actions indicating Congress believes action is needed on retirees forced into retirement by combat wounds. The House version of the FY 2008 Defense Authorization Bill would extend eligibility for Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC) to chapter 61 retirees with at least 15 years of service and combat-related disability ratings of 60-percent or higher. The Senate defense bill would open CRSC eligibility to all combat-disabled retirees, regardless of their length of service. Shortly before this article went to press, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced his intent to offer amendments to the Senate defense bill that would expand concurrent receipt eligibility to otherwise-eligible retirees with 10-percent to 40-percent disabilities and authorize full concurrent receipt to those rated “unemployable” by the VA, retroactive to Jan. 1, 2005. While MOAA honors those individuals’ wartime service, we think there are much greater inequities that should be addressed ﬁrst. If approved, compensation for relatively brief Merchant Marine service in World War II would exceed that of many wounded, disabled, and career military World War II combat veterans and their survivors: ■ A 20-year veteran who retired as an E5 in 1955 receives $900 a month in retired pay. ■ The military pays a “forgotten widows” annuity of only $212 a month to widows of World War II veterans who served 20-30 years and died before 1974. ■ The VA pays only $901 a month to veterans with a 60-percent, servicecaused disability. ■ The House of Representatives, in the FY 2008 Defense Authorization Bill, acknowledged the inequity of current law that deducts more than $1,000 a month from SBP payments to survivors of servicemembers who died of service-connected causes, but indicated it could afford only a $40 monthly payment to such widows as a ﬁrst step toward reversing that penalty. MOAA strongly believes Congress has a fundamental responsibility to establish relative priorities and ensure there is better proportionality between compensation and service and sacriﬁce rendered. Put First Things First Merchant Marine plan just doesn’t add up. M OAA sent a letter July 19 to the House of Representatives expressing concern about the relative funding priorities in legislation recently approved by the Veterans’ Affairs Committee. Among other things, H.R. 760 would signiﬁcantly increase U.S. veterans’ beneﬁts for Filipino veterans, including nonU.S. citizens living in the Philippines, who fought with Allied Forces in World War II. H.R. 23 would authorize a $1,000 monthly annuity to anyone who served time with the Merchant Marine during World War II, or to such a person’s survivor if the person has since died. No End to Compromise? Security failure exposes TRICARE data. O n July 20, the defense contractor SAIC announced what it termed a “security failure” in the handling of TRICARE customer data. The company alerted MOAA and other beneﬁciary groups that “uniformed servicemembers, family members, and others 42 MILITARY OFFICER SEPTEMBER 2007

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Military Officer - September 2007

Military Officer - September 2007 Contents From the Editor From the President Your Views MOAA Directory Rapid Fire Washington Scene Financial Forum Ask the Doctor Chapter Activities Plan for Your Future At Home in a High-Rise Lone Star Living Common Ground Insert: Community Source Cover Story: Waging War on Disease More Than Beaches MOAA Scholarship Donors Pages of History Faces of MOAA Information Exchange Advertising Index MOAA Calendar Sounding Taps MOAA Member Services Encore

Military Officer - September 2007

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