Is the Era of Extra-Sized Military Pay Raises Ending?
Every witness before a Senate subcommittee hearing last week on military compensation all experts on service pay and benefits called directly or indirectly for Congress to end its 12-year run of voting for annual military pay raises that exceed wage growth in the private sector. No witness suggested that future raises each January shouldnt match annual wage gains for private sector workers as measured by the government Employment Cost Index (ECI). But with personnel costs soaring to sustain a quality all-volunteer force in its ninth year war, lawmakers like Sen. James Webb (D-Va.), chairman of the Senate armed services personnel subcommittee, are investigating ways to make military compensation overall more efficient. A common theme raised at this hearing was the need for more targeted pays, such as bonuses and incentive pays, versus continuing a string of beefier across-the-board raises, which were deemed inefficient and a catalyst for driving up basic pay and retirement costs. Webb o
