The House and Senate conferees have reached some compromises on key personnel provisions in the fiscal 2016 defense authorization bill. For starters, the potential lifetime value of the new retirement plan, which many current members will be allowed to opt into, suffered a significant cut. Conferees agreed to Senate language that lowers maximum government matching of member contributions to the Thrift Savings Plan feature to four percent of basic pay rather than five percent called for by the Military Compensation and Retirement Reform Commission. For a full rundown of other personnel initiatives that slow growth in pay and allowances, see this Military Advantage blog post.