Military Update
Defense bills focus on pay raises, allowance gains
Military Update focuses on issues affecting pay, benefits and lifestyle of active and retired servicepeople. Its author, Tom Philpott, is a Virginia-based syndicated columnist and freelance writer. He has covered military issues for almost 25 years, including six years as editor of Navy Times. For 17 years he worked as a writer and senior editor for Army Times Publishing Co. Philpott, 49, enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard in 1973 and served as an information officer from 1974-77.
By Tom Philpott
As Congress nears final action on the 2002 defense authorization bill, military people are assured that they will receive the Jan. 1 targeted pay raise proposed by the Bush administration and some travel pay improvements initiated by lawmakers.
Still to be determined are specific gains in travel reimbursements, and in housing allowances. Also unclear are whether careerists in critical skills will be allowed to transfer unused education benefits to family members, and whether federal business travelers, including military people, can begin using for personal travel the bonus flyer miles earned on government trips.
The raise
On Tuesday, the full House passed its version of the National Defense Authorization Act for 2002. Senate passage is expected early this month. A House-Senate conference committee then will iron out differences in the bills.
January pay raises for active duty members and reservists will follow the "targeting" scheme proposed by the Bush Defense Department. All officers will receive at least a 5 percent raise and some will be as high as 6.5 percent. Enlisted members will get at least a 6 percent increase but the size of the raise climbs through enlisted pay grades to reach 9.5 percent for E-9s. Most warrant officers will get raises of 8 or 8.5 percent.
Housing allowances
The House adopted the administration's call to raise Basic Allowance for Housing in January to see the typical military renter's out-of-pocket costs fall from 15 percent of housing costs to 11.3 percent. The Senate wants higher BAH rates, to reduce out-of-pocket costs to 7.5 percent by next year.
Travel pay
Both House and Senate bills would improve travel reimbursements, but the House plan is far more comprehensive. Travel provisions found in both bills, and therefore likely to become law, would:
• Pay a dislocation allowance to members moving to their first duty assignment. The dollar amount depends on pay grade and family status. An unmarried recruit (E-1) would get $594, to help defray travel expenses.
• Pay full dislocation allowance to one member of dual service couples (military member married to member) when they move into government housing. Neither member now can receive dislocation allowance if they have no other dependents. Maximum dislocation allowance, for flag officers with dependents, is $2,978.
• Pay of partial dislocation allowance of $500 to any service member ordered out of quarters for renovation or repairs.
The House would go further, in both 2002 and 2003, to raise travel reimbursements. House provisions to take effect in January, if the Senate agrees, would:
• Raise the temporary lodging expense allowance from $110 a day to $180. The temporary lodging expense allowance covers temporary housing costs on either end of a military move, but the rate hasn't changed in almost 20 years.
• Authorize the temporary lodging expense allowance for newly commissioned officers moving to first duty assignments. (Enlisted recruits began receiving TLE for their first duty moves earlier this year.)
• Increase pet quarantine reimbursements for overseas assignments, from $275 to $675. Military families assigned to Hawai'i and United Kingdom can be hit hard by quarantine costs.
The House seeks even more ambitious travel reforms in 2003. These would:
• Shift the military to the same "flat rate" per diem system used by federal civilians when reassigned. The military per diem would jump from $50 to $85. Per diem tied to dependents also would climb proportionately.
• Pay the temporary lodging expense allowance to members in pay grades E-4 (with less than two years' service) and below while on travel or in a leave status between duty stations.
• Raise weight allowances for household goods shipments of enlisted in grades E-4 and below. The new ceilings would match those set for E-5s.
GI Bill transfers
The Senate bill would allow members in critical skills, designated by the service secretary, to transfer up to 18 months of unused Montgomery GI Bill benefits to family members. Sen. Max Cleland, D-Ga., is pushing for this compromise language, but a fight in the conference committee is expected.
Frequent fliers
Gaining momentum is a provision in the Senate bill, from Sen. John Warner, R-Va., to allow all executive branch employees, including military members, to use for personal travel the bonus miles awarded by airlines during government business trips. If this becomes law, it would negate a U.S. Comptroller General decision that for 20 years has barred government workers from using frequent flier miles.
Currently, bonus miles earned through government travel can only be used for government travel. Use for personal trips is breaking the law. Many employees still use them, "they just don't get caught," said a federal travel official who supports the change. "This would get them out of that fraud and abuse problem."
The House this summer passed a bill, HR 2456, to allow "federal employees" to use airline bonus miles earned through business trips. Excluded, however, are military personnel and Foreign Service officers. Warner wants these travelers to benefit, too. But language in the Senate defense bill would not lift the ban on bonus miles for anyone in the legislative and judicial branches.
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