Budget analyst: Recent funding approach masks true costs of war

By Katherine McIntire Peters
December 15, 2008

The Bush administration's novel approach to budgeting for and financing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has made it very difficult to discern the true costs of the conflicts, a new report by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments concludes.

Historically, the United States has covered the costs of war through the annual appropriations process. Supplemental appropriations were used to cover only initial, unanticipated phases of major conflicts. But the Bush administration relied exclusively on supplemental appropriations to cover the costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan until 2008 -- seven years after U.S. troops invaded Afghanistan and five years after they entered Iraq.

http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1208/121508kp1.htm

Officials Set Military Housing Allowance Rates for 2009

By Army Staff Sgt. Michael J. Carden
December 15, 2008

Housing allowances for military members will go up an average of 6.9 percent in 2009, Defense Department officials announced today.

The increase comes to an average of about $95 per month across the board for the 950,000 servicemembers expected to draw basic allowance for housing, or BAH, in 2009, but some servicemembers will not see any increase at all, and others will see less than that the average increase, Susan A. Brumbaugh director of the Defense Department’s BAH program, said in a Pentagon Channel interview.

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=52340

Murtha targets military bonuses for fiscal 2010 cuts

By Chris Strohm CongressDaily
December 11, 2008

Faced with immense pressure to trim its budget, the Pentagon should cut enlistment bonuses to military personnel, end its reliance on emergency supplemental spending and get serious about reforming its acquisition processes, a top congressional appropriator said Wednesday.

"What I'm saying is, there's going to be less defense spending," House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman John Murtha, D-Pa., said in a speech at the Center for American Progress on defense priorities.

http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=41610&dcn=todaysnews

Limited pensions possible for Filipino vets

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Oct 22, 2008 10:56:00 EDT

The Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee chairman sees room for a possible compromise that would pay pensions to some World War II Filipino veterans who served under U.S. command.

Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, the Senate veterans’ committee chairman, has been pushing along with his House counterpart, Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., to provide pensions to about 19,000 veterans who served with the U.S. military as Filipino Scouts and in other roles.

http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/10/military_filipinoveterans_pensioncompromise_102108w/

Bush signs defense bill with 3.9% pay raise

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Oct 15, 2008 9:40:24 EDT

The 2009 Defense Authorization Act, which includes a host of improvements in military pay and benefits, capped by a 3.9 percent raise, was signed into law by President Bush on Tuesday.
The pay raise, which takes effect on Jan. 1, marks the eighth consecutive year in which pay for service members will exceed the average increase in private-sector wage growth.

There is more to the defense bill than pay and benefits increases, however. It also includes $531.4 billion in budget authority for peacetime defense programs, including weapons research and purchases, operations and training, military construction and health care programs and other personnel costs.

Also in the bill is permission for the Pentagon to spend $68.6 billion for ongoing military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan — enough for about six months at the current pace of expenses.

http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/10/military_defenseauthorization_signed_101408w/

To read the FY09 NDAA online: Go to http://thomas.loc.gov. Search for bill S.3001. Select version 5, Enrolled Bill.

Bush signs funding bill in final hours of the fiscal year

CongressDaily
October 1, 2008

President Bush on Tuesday evening signed into law a more than $600 billion continuing resolution package that funds the federal government through March 6. It includes three fiscal 2009 appropriations bills and $22.9 billion for disaster relief.
***
The bill funds most programs at fiscal 2008 levels but includes the fiscal 2009 Defense, Military Construction-VA and Homeland Security spending bills. Of the $22.9 billion in disaster relief funding, $7.9 billion goes into the Federal Emergency Management Agency's disaster relief fund.

http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0908/100108cdam2.htm

Administration threatens veto of Senate defense measure

By Megan Scully
September 9, 2008

The White House Tuesday threatened to veto the fiscal 2009 defense authorization bill if it includes language in the Senate's version of the measure that would prohibit the use of private security contractors for any "inherently governmental" security functions in combat zones.

In its Statement of Administration Policy, the White House also said it would veto the bill, which the Senate is expected to begin debating Tuesday, if it forbids contractors from interrogating detainees.

"Such a provision would unduly limit the United States' ability to obtain intelligence needed to protect Americans from attack." The House bill includes similar language on the use of contractors in war zones.

http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0908/090908cdam1.htm

New GI Bill Provides Increased Educational Benefits

By Army Staff Sgt. Michael J. Carden
July 28, 2008

The latest GI Bill considerably improves the opportunity for today’s servicemembers to obtain their education, a senior Defense Department official said.

President Bush signed the Post-9/11 Veterans Education Assistance Act of 2008 on June 30. The new law mirrors the tenets of the original GI Bill, which gave returning World War II veterans the opportunity to go to any school they wanted while receiving a living stipend, Bob Clark, the Pentagon’s assistant director of accessions policy, said.

“The original GI Bill was said to be one of the most significant social impacts of the 20th century,” Clark said. “We believe the new bill is going to have a similar impact.”

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=50620

Vet care spending is at record leve

By Gregg Zoroya - USA Today
July 23, 2008

The federal government is spending more money on veterans than at any time in modern history, surpassing the tidal wave of spending following World War II and the demilitarizing of millions of troops.

Expenditures hit $82 billion in 2007 because of the rising cost of health care, the expense of caring for an aging population of mostly Vietnam veterans and a new crop of severely wounded troops from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

That exceeds the $80 billion in inflation-adjusted dollars spent in 1947 after most of the 16.1 million Americans serving in World War II left the service, according to a Congressional Research Service report submitted to Congress last month.

http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/07/gns_va_budget_072308/

Democratic leaders weigh defense bill as vehicle for continuing resolution

By Christian Bourge, CongressDaily
July 21, 2008

House Democratic leaders are considering using the stalled fiscal 2009 Defense appropriations bill as a vehicle for a continuing resolution to fund the federal government into the next administration, according to senior Democratic sources.

"It is a real possibility," said one Democratic leadership aide.

Democratic staffers stressed that a final decision has yet to be made, but they noted President Bush would not be able to veto the defense measure, making it an attractive vehicle.

http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=40514&dcn=todaysnews

Forward Observer: Our Pricey Military

By George C. Wilson, CongressDaily
June 2, 2008

Skyrocketing health and weapons costs are eating up so much of the defense budget that the next president will find himself or herself commanding a military that cannot do much in the world outside of Iraq and Afghanistan. This is the message from the very top of the defense establishment.

Besides that, mid-level officers fresh from combat in Iraq tell me that this war has demonstrated that today's small, high-paid, all-volunteer force just does not have the staying power to wage long wars. They contend that the Pentagon's quick fix of sending the same troops and officers back to Iraq again and again for lack of enough trained warriors amounts to shooting the all-volunteer force in the foot.

President Richard Nixon suspended draft calls in 1973 in response to the anti-Vietnam War protests. The five-year war in Iraq is the first time the all-volunteer force and National Guard have had to fight that long a conflict.

http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=40141&dcn=e_tma

Gates: Draft not solution to personnel costs

By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday May 21, 2008 19:03:07 EDT

The expense of maintaining the all-volunteer military is "worth the cost," Defense Secretary Robert Gates told Congress Tuesday, adding that he does not favor a return to the draft.
But the admiral who chairs the Joint Chiefs added that the continuous increase in personnel costs "does not bode well for a military of this size."

One way to reduce the Pentagon’s rising personnel costs without affecting current troops, Gates told Senate appropriators, would be for Congress to approve a "modest" increase in Tricare health care fees for working-age military retirees.

http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/05/military_appropriations_052008w/

SAC(D) Hearing Testimony - May 20, 2008
Link below has further links to prepared testimony of SecDef and CJCS at Defense Subcommittee hearing.
http://appropriations.senate.gov/hearings.cfm?s=def

Defense to review 'unnecessary duplication' among services

By Otto Kreisher CongressDaily
May 9, 2008

The Pentagon will study six potentially controversial issues in addition to the broad but emotionally charged topic of "unnecessary duplication" of efforts, which was required in a congressionally mandated study of the roles and missions of the military services, a senior defense official said Thursday.

http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=39981&dcn=todaysnews

See also Defense News Transcript background briefing on Roles and Missions review at

http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=4226

Pay disparities hamper efforts to deploy civilians to war zones

By Brittany R. Ballenstedt bballenstedt@govexec.com
May 1, 2008

Federal agencies are not providing adequate or equitable compensation to workers who volunteer for deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a new report by a House subcommittee.

The report, issued by the House Armed Services Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, found that there are both real and perceived differences in compensation and other incentives between federal employees deploying to war zones from different agencies and with different job classifications.

http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0508/050108b1.htm

Deployed civilians face hurdles in getting medical treatment

By Anne Flaherty, Associated Press
April 30, 2008

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Civilians deployed to war zones often encounter problems receiving medical treatment and are hesitant to seek help for emotional stress caused by their deployment, a new congressional report finds.

Federal policies on the treatment of nonmilitary personnel - particularly medical screening before and after an individual deploys - are not clearly articulated or widely understood, prompting cases in which some civilians have had trouble receiving benefits or filing claims, the bipartisan report by the House Armed Services oversight and investigations subcommittee says.

http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0408/043008ap2.htm

Nation faces billions in long-term care costs for wounded troops

By Bob Brewin

The United States must prepare to provide lifetime care for troops severely wounded in combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Navy's top doctor warned this week. And an independent study released on Thursday concluded that the country also faces a steep mental health care bill for dealing with combat stress.

In the study, the RAND Corp. estimated the costs of dealing with stress issues and psychological illnesses of combat troops at $6.2 billon for just the first two years after those troops return home. That includes direct medical care costs, the price of lost productivity and suicides. The study is the first nongovernmental assessment of the psychological needs of veterans who have served in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Meanwhile, Lt. Gen. Eric Schoomaker, the Army's surgeon general, told reporters at the Pentagon on Thursday that treatment of troops with amputations or severe burns could dramatically improve during the next few years through research efforts led by the new Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine. The institute, backed by more than $250 million in funding, will grow new cells from a wounded individual to repair burned flesh or replace digits lost in combat, akin to "a salamander growing a new tail," Schoomaker said.

Full story: http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=39812&dcn=e_gvet

Improve pay for best performers, study urges

By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Mar 12, 2008 15:25:32 EDT

The Pentagon should overhaul its pay system to attract and reward the best performers and broaden bonuses for those in critical skills, a far-reaching review of military pay released today concludes.

The changes would help address the need to recruit the "best and the brightest" despite wartime demands on the force, a shrinking pool of military-eligible recruits and competition from the private sector.

The 10th Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation said these convergent factors demand that the military be given more pay flexibility — what the report’s authors call "competitive compensation."

http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/03/military_10thqrmc_pay_031208w/

Read The 10th Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation (5.6 MB PDF)

See also
A briefing on the report from the Office of the Secretary of Defense (Microsoft PowerPoint presentation)

DoD Press release at http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=11747

Have recruit incentives reached their limit?

By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Mar 11, 2008 5:53:02 EDT

The military is spending a ton of money on recruiting enough troops to maintain the overall force as well as grow the Army and Marines. Yet it’s doing so in a field that is increasingly difficult to plow — fewer eligible recruits, fewer parents willing to back a military career and a falling propensity to serve.

And some think throwing more money at the problem can go only so far.

http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/03/military_recruiting_030808w/

Navy Times Editorial: Retire this bad idea

The Commission on the National Guard and Reserve, chartered by Congress to study and propose changes to every aspect of the reserve components, released its final report Jan. 31.

The most eye-popping proposal in the 432-page report has little to do with the Guard and reserve; it’s a call to blow up the military retirement system as we know it.

Instead of starting retired pay for active-duty members at 20 years of service, the commission proposes to start dispensing retirement benefits for as little as 10 years of service. But checks wouldn’t start until age 62. Those who served 20 years would have to wait until age 60; those who stick it out for 30 years would begin cashing in at age 57.

The plan would allow early payments — but at reduced annuity levels.

Delaying retired pay would help the Pentagon rein in its soaring manpower costs, now well north of $100 billion a year. But with current troops grandfathered under the old system, significant savings would be years away.

And left unsaid is the potentially disastrous effect of such a change. The last time the military tried to cut retirement benefits, it wasn’t until the mid-’90s, 10 years after its enactment, that problems with the Redux retirement system surfaced. By then, dissatisfied troops quit in droves, and Congress had to offer troops a choice: a $30,000 bribe to stick with Redux or switch to the older, more generous system.

The commission far overstepped its bounds with this idea.

http://www.navytimes.com/community/opinion/navy_editorial_retirement_030308/

Congressional Budget Office: Military dependence on supplementals climbing

By Megan Scully, CongressDaily

The military's reliance on war-related supplemental spending bills to buy new equipment has increased dramatically since the launch of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, becoming a major driver behind the growth of emergency spending packages, the Congressional Budget Office reported Monday.

Its analysis of funding trends, requested by Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D., found that procurement funding in supplemental appropriations bills rose from $10 billion in fiscal 2003 to $51 billion in fiscal 2007.

For this fiscal year, the Pentagon has requested $72 billion in emergency spending for new equipment, $26 billion of which has been appropriated. The remaining amount constitutes a large chunk of the additional $102.5 billion supplemental appropriations package Congress expects to take up in the next few months.

Full story: http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=39270&dcn=e_ndw