“Belive it or not, some people here on FR don’t get that.”
What you don’t get is that the “well managed and in the black” set aside money was “invested” in “Non-Negotiable Government Bonds” - in other words it was spent, while they pretended to “invest” it.
They are the same sort of bonds the Social Security “Trust” fund was invested in.
They are bonds whose sole existence is to launder government “trust” funds so that they can be spent in the here and now.
The end result is that ALL government benefits - including Social Security, Military Retirements, etc. must be funded with CURRENT YEAR FUNDS. When current year funds are insufficient, we borrow the difference. When we can’t borrow any more (and who knows when that day arrives) they get a big haircut or they stop.
It’s the reality of being broke. “Pre-funded” is tantamount to putting money in a 401k and then borrowing it all back and spending it.
Sure, you have a retirement plan, but there is no real money in it.
Unlike Social Security, this was money that could have been spent on then current pay or equipment back in 1984?
So, they set aside money for military retirement in the Defense Budget, but all they did was issue paper. That would make the Defense budget look bigger than it really was. I don’t recall Pat Schroeder saying anything about that back then when she was ranting about the Defense Budget.