Military Officer - October 2006 - (Page 10) fromthepresident Apples vs. Oranges It’s not appropriate to compare military entitlements — earned through a career of personal sacrifice — with social insurance programs that apply to the wider public. I am increasingly concerned about a trend that sees career military benefits lumped into proposals aimed at curtailing spending on federal entitlement programs (such as Social Security and Medicare). Entitlements are programs that, by law, are not subject to annual appropriations. Their budgets are adjusted automatically each year for changes in population and inflation. Servicemember entitlements include military retired pay, Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) annuities, TRICARE For Life (TFL), and veterans’ disability benefits. MOAA agrees Americans should be concerned about the increasing costs of Social Security and Medicare as baby boomers become eligible for those programs. But there’s a big difference between social insurance programs that apply equally to all Americans and military retirement benefits, which are earned by a career of service and sacrifice for the nation. (For example, unlike Social Security and Medicare, there’s no demographic surge in the population eligible for military benefits). This year, Social Security will assist 49 million people at an annual cost of $539 billion. Medicare serves 43 million people at a $336-billion cost. Military retired pay, SBP, and TFL combined cost $49 billion and cover about 4 million people. That’s a modestly greater cost per capita than Social Security and Medicare, but nowhere near proportional to the overwhelming share of national sacrifice borne by career servicemembers and their families and survivors. 10 MILITARY OFFICER OCTOBER 2006 MOAA believes strongly that the government has a unique obligation to those it sends into harm’s way to protect America. If the government doesn’t fulfill this obligation, the nation can hardly expect future generations to embrace a military career. We anticipate military entitlements will be attacked by government leaders, who want to count only the budget lines and disregard service to the country. DoD leaders already claim that military people cost too much — even while asking those in uniform to bear ever-greater sacrifices. Next year will be particularly challenging: With rising deficits, stiff competition for funding, and no imminent election to worry about, administration and congressional budget-cutters will look for every opportunity to whack spending. Your health benefits will be a tempting target. Count on MOAA to provide the latest news about proposed changes and to enlist your help to educate government leaders about the importance of the reciprocal commitment between career servicemembers and the nation they serve. — Vice Adm. Norb Ryan Jr., USN-Ret. PHOTO: STEVE BARRETT
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