Military Officer - October 2008 - (Page 38) washingtonscene SBP Relief is On The Way I Two significant survivor benefit upgrades take effect Oct. 1, with payment changes reflected in the Nov. 1 checks. I Retirees who have attained age 70 and paid into the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) program for 30 years will stop paying SBP premiums. I Survivors of retirees whose VA survivor benefits are deducted from SBP will see a new $50 monthly special survivor indemnity allowance. Alva, USMC-Ret. (a veteran severely wounded in Iraq); and Capt. Joan Darrah, USN-Ret. Testifying in support of retaining the current law were Sgt. Maj. Brian Jones, USA-Ret., and Elaine Donnelly, President of the Center for Military Readiness. Much of the testimony involved assertions and rebuttals on the possible effects of potential repeal on unit cohesion, privacy, civil rights, and recruitment. Donnelly’s assertions that repeal would promote the spread of AIDS in the military and risk assaults by lesbian servicemembers sparked heated responses by the other witnesses and legislators of both parties. Unfortunately, the strong verbal exchanges tended to overshadow a more deliberate discussion of the issues. Hill sources advise that, whichever candidate wins the presidency, possible repeal of the Don’t ask, Don’t Tell law almost certainly will be a topic of discussion next year. In anticipation of that, MOAA’s board of directors recently decided to complete a review by the end of this year concerning what position, if any, MOAA should take on the issue. See pages 70 and 71 for more details on the arguments aired by proponents and opponents during the hearing. New GI Bill: It’s TRICARE For Life all over again. L 38 MILITARY OFFICER obbying for military people is a rewarding business, especially when we can claim victory on a topic we’ve been slogging away at for years. But sometimes all those years of plugging away at the details can have a kind of numbing effect — as if articulating the rationale and the need for action so often and for so long has dulled the reality of the initiative. After beating your head against the same wall, year after year, in hopes of maybe creating a head-size hole, it’s a bit of a shock when the whole wall suddenly crumbles to dust at your feet. We’ve experienced this feeling before — in 2001, when in the span of a few months, years of resistance wilted away, and Congress rushed to pass TRICARE For Life (TFL) and TRICARE senior pharmacy benefits for older military retirees. Suddenly, a million beneficiaries who had been barred from any military health coverage were handed the best Medicare supplemental coverage in the country. It took a little while for the magnitude of that change to sink in. We’re in that same mode now, after having new GI Bill legislation that was signed into law in July. A new generation of wartime veterans now is going to have the same opportunity for higher education that their parents and grandparents did in the late 1940s and ’50s. They’re not going to have to wonder how they can scrape together money for college. Depending on how DoD implements its new authority, many who agree to serve longer military careers will be able to pass that education opportunity on to their spouses or children. For more than a million Iraq- and Afghanistan-era servicemembers and their families, this is a TFL-style revelation. It literally will change their lives and their children’s lives. In the long run, it will change the country, just as the post-World War II GI Bill did. It will generate a bettereducated America just when we need it, raising family incomes and boosting national productivity. In an era when many parents and teachers have become reluctant to recommend military service to their children and students, it creates a new and powerful incentive that will help build and sustain a strong volunteer force for the future. OCTOBER 2008
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