January 2011 Navy
By CAPT Ike Puzon, USN (Ret)
Below is a partial listing of AUSN Legislative Goals for CY 2011. There are numerous press reports about deficit and cuts in spending. Now is not the time to back away from military members, their families, retirees, and veterans. We do agree that efficiencies can be realized across the board in all Cabinet level offices and within the U.S. Federal Government. Defense is an issue that has to be funded if security of our nation is important. A list of all our legislative goals for CY 2011 and the 112th Congress will be listed at www.ausn.org. AUSN will work tirelessly to address the following goals.
Reconstitution of Navy Equipment
Support a defense budget of at least 5% of GDP to fund both people and weapons needs.
Navy Equipment – Surface and undersea platforms: At least $18 billion annually is needed for development and/or delivery of CVN, LPD-17, LCS, CG(X), LHA-R, and SSN-774. We support modernization of our Aegis fleet assets. Aircraft: We support funding for aircraft to sustain at least ten carrier air wings through multiyear procurement of F/A-18E/F, E-2C/D, P-8, C-130J, HH-60, and Joint Strike Fighter development.
* Navy is well behind the power curve on reconstitution of equipment and reaching the right level of ships and aircraft for a National Maritime Strategy! We need the right balance of equipment and people. Acquisition reform needs to be realized, but we are delaying reconstitution through the wrong pressures. Navy and Navy Reserve need equipment as much as any components due to being called on constantly in a worldwide operation and OIF/OEF!
NGREA – Reserve Components are 40+% of deployed forces in OIF/OEF, AFRICCOM and worldwide operations. To maintain an operational Reserve Component, and respond to U.S. Navy tasking, maintain training and readiness, we support C-40A, EF/A-18 (Growler), C-130J, and P-8A for Reserve Component assignment and utilization as well as full funding for Navy Expeditionary Forces equipment.
Health Care
Health Care Reform – Monitor health care reform and ensure that TRICARE and VA health care programs are not adversely impacted by unanticipated consequences during implementation.
Oppose TRICARE Enrollment Fee Increases – The Defense Department must sufficiently investigate and implement other options to make TRICARE more costefficient as alternatives to shifting costs to TRICARE beneficiaries.
Support Funding for Defense Health Programs – Ensure adequate funding for the Defense Health Program in order to meet readiness needs; fully fund TRICARE; and improve access and awareness of benefits for all beneficiaries, regardless of age, status or location, including Reservists participating in TRICARE Reserve Select and TRICARE Retired Reserve. Ensure adequate funding for Department of Defense (DoD) and Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) health care resource sharing in delivering seamless, costeffective, quality services to personnel.
Health Care Options for Retirees Under Age 65 – Expand health care alternatives including TRICARE Standard, TRICARE Prime Remote and the Federal Employee Health Benefit Program (FEHBP) as options for active duty, Reserve Component retirees, and military retirees under age 65 who do not have access to military treatment facilities.
Allow Military Retirees to Pay for Healthcare with Pretax Dollars – Secure authorization for military retirees to pay health insurance premiums on a pretax basis and to allow for a tax deduction for TRICARE supplemental insurance premiums.
Personnel and Protect Personnel Programs
Manpower/End-strength Active Duty Personnel End Strengths & Reserve Component – Track manpower levels to ensure there is an adequate number of personnel available to meet the demands of operational requirements, including current OIF/OEF and contingency operations. Sustain adequate recruiting and retention resources to enable the uniformed services to achieve required optimum-quality personnel strengths.
* Navy and Navy Reserve have taken a host of personnel and end-strength cuts based solely on balancing the Navy TOA and Budget. This has to stop! We need people more than ever; the Navy and Navy Reserve mission has not declined; and ships with less manpower have not been realized. Cutting manpower to save money is not prudent during war time or expanded contingency operations.
Pay – Secure additional annual pay increases that are at least one-half percent (0.5%) above the Employment Cost Index (ECI) along with targeted increases for mid-career and senior enlisted personnel to help close the pay gap between active duty and private sector pay.
Commissaries & MWR Programs – Oppose privatization and ensure adequate funding for the Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) to preserve the value of the current benefit for all patrons, protect the exchange benefit and ensure adequate funding for MWR programs.
PCS – Track the Permanent Change of Station (PCS) process; ensure adequate funding of the Transition and Relocation Assistance Programs, and authorization of increased PCS mileage rates and higher household goods weight limits for senior enlisted personnel.
Out-of-Pocket Expenses – For Reservists – allow full tax-deductibility of nonreimbursable expenses related to military training and weekend drill.
Sea Services Recruiters – Work to ensure that recruiters have unrestricted access to secondary schools, colleges and universities on the same basis as private sector employers.
Veterans’ Issues
Veteran’s Benefits – Advocate for benefit enhancements for Sea Service veterans at the Department of Veterans Affairs with special attention for VA health care to ensure access and care for all beneficiaries.
Agent Orange Disability Claims – Seek to reverse the VA’s policy that prevents “blue water” military retirees and veterans from claiming disability benefits for diseases associated with exposure to Agent Orange.
Improve VA Claim Processing – Work to eliminate backlog of claims at the Department of Veterans Affairs and support reform of the antiquated Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) paper claims system.
Education Benefits – Ensure full and timely implementation of the Post-9/11 GI Bill and work to improve other education benefit programs for veterans and survivors of disabled or deceased veterans who died of a service-connected disability, were killed on active duty or while on drill status.
Reserve Retirees’ Veteran Status – Seek full veteran status for Reservists with 20 years or more of service who do not otherwise qualify for full veteran’s benefits under current law.
Disability Retirement Reform – Reform the DoD disability retirement system to require inclusion of all unfitting conditions and DoD acceptance of the VA ratings for those conditions. Ensure any restructure of the DoD and VA disability and compensation systems does not inadvertently reduce compensation levels for disabled service members. Oppose distinguishing between disabilities incurred in combat vice noncombat when determining benefits eligibility for retirement.
Safeguard Retiree Benefits
Protect Military Retired Pay – Fight efforts to reduce military retired or retainer pay and ensure equitable cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) for all military retirees commensurate with their service and sacrifices, and oppose efforts to civilianize the military retirement system.
Reserve Retirement Age – Support extension of authority for early retirement (90 days active duty for three months reduction) for all Reservists who have served since 9/11/01, and the elimination of fiscal year-specific rules that penalize mobilized reserve members.
Concurrent Receipt – Support legislation authorizing the immediate concurrent receipt of full military retired pay and veterans’ disability compensation for all disabled retirees.
SBP/DIC Offset – Support legislation to repeal the Survivors Benefit Plan/Dependency Indemnity Compensation (SBP/DIC) offset for surviving spouses of personnel who die of service-connected causes.
Paid-Up SBP at Age 67 for ADD & Seek RSBP – Work to change the minimum age for paid-up SBP from 70 to 67; and that those who served 20 years only be required to pay SBP premiums for 30 years and for reserve members to pay into the RSBP for 30 years.
These goals are competing for a shrinking dollar. The debt commissions and several boards have proposed cuts in personnel and retirement benefits. If we do the cuts first, and not realize the overall inefficiencies in the federal government, then our National Security is at risk. The national debt has been listed as the number one security threat; however, spending for Defense is at the lowest it has been since WWII when measured against the GDP. Therefore, we should not make the military members, their families, retirees, and veterans take the only cut in spending first. Discretionary spending needs to be cut first.
The President’s Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, commonly referred to as the Debt Commission, held three days of closed-door meetings recently. These deliberations followed the two co-chairs’ release of their initial recommendations that include:
> Three-year Federal pay freeze; reducing the Federal workforce by 10%; limiting future COLA adjustments; higher TRICARE fees; raising the retirement age; consolidating commissaries and exchanges; requiring non-disabled vets to pay more for VA care; and eliminating DoD’s CONUS dependent schools.
According to press reports, the Commission decided to vote on the cochairs recommendations as a whole and not consider each recommendation separately. The recommendations are only proposals that can be modified or ignored by the Commission. Recommendations must be approved by 14 of the 18 Commission members before they can move forward. If approved, any action must then be accepted by the Administration or introduced as legislation.
I encourage the reader to use our “Contact Congress” function at www.ausn.org to let Congress know – we can take cuts – through efficiencies first – however, other departments of the U.S. government need to take cuts also. Comments always welcomed – ike.puzon@ausn.org.