The Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) issued a statement strongly objecting to the proposal to again cap military pay below private sector pay growth.
The statement points to a recent letter in which President Obama asks Congress for a 1% pay cap for uniformed service members and federal civilian employees. The proposed pay cap is .8% lower than that of private sector growth, marking the second year in a row of capping military pay.
Take a first glimpse at the proposed 2015 active duty pay charts.
In the statement, MOAA president Vice Adm. Norb Ryan wrote, “We understand that the Pentagon is forced to confront sequestration, but a second year of military pay caps is not the answer to the Nation’s budget troubles.”
“Pay raises for the military, just like those of average Americans, are important for retention. It’s a fundamental principle of sustaining the all-volunteer force,” Ryan stated.
Congress has closed the gap between private sector and military pay over the last 14 years. It put military pay raises into law in 2003 and tied those raises to private sector pay growth while keeping military personnel costs to one-third of the DOD budget, the same as it’s been for the past 30 years.
