Free Republic

Troops will see smaller pay raises and housing and health care benefits next year under a defense budget agreement unveiled Tuesday in Congress. Lawmakers agreed to White House and Pentagon requests to reduce personnel and equipment costs by capping pay raises at 1 percent, slowing housing allowance increases, and ratcheting up Tricare prescription copays. The Air Force will not be able to retire the A-10 Thunderbolt but was given authority to reduce its flying time. The compromise breaks a months-long impasse on Capitol Hill over the benefits. Now, the bill must be fast-tracked and passed in the House and Senate...

Snip: Is Obama declaring war on U.S. military? Obama has made no secret of his plans for deep military cuts that would downsize the Pentagon. In 2010, he cut $487 billion from the defense budget. In 2011, he signed into law a budget process intended to cut an additional $492 billion over 10 years. The New York Times recently reported: “On the list are not only base closings but also an additional reduction in deployed nuclear weapons and stockpiles and a restructuring of the military medical insurance program that costs more than America spends on all of its diplomacy and...

Rising medical costs and the expansion of health benefits for retirees, Guardsmen and Reservists, and their families, are putting a strain on the military health care system, Defense Department health and personnel officials told members of Congress April 21. "Rising health care costs are not unique to the military health system; it's a national concern, and we are struggling with it," Dr. William Winkenwerder Jr., assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, said in testimony before the personnel subcommittee of the Senate Armed Services Committee. David S. C. Chu, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, also testified at the...

Tens of thousands of “part-time” soldiers will gain access to full-time military health care by the end of next month. “It was a long time coming,” said Ed Simmons, state adjutant quartermaster for the Veterans of Foreign Wars of South Carolina. “We’re making headway.” The benefits boost is thanks to a bill Congress passed last year extending the military’s health care system, TRICARE, to members of the National Guard and Reserves before and after an active duty tour. All soldiers are covered by TRICARE when they are on active duty, but for most in the Guard and Reserves, TRICARE is...

Only caught part of an Imus interview with Senator Rick Santorum on this morning's show. Santorum was telling Imus Congress had doubled the death benefit from $6,000 to $12,000. Imus told him that was, in effect, a disgraceful joke. Santorum tried to bolster Congress' alleged support for GIs by listing other survivor benefits, each of which Imus appropriately and accurately mocked. Santorum, seemingly defensive, then pledged to "try" to do more in next year's military appropriation bill. Might be helpful, if you agree with Imus, to fire off an email to your Congress people.

Sorry for the personal post, but I have a question that hopefully some active duty or recent military can help me with. My wife has a very liberal friend who has a son currently in the Army stationed in North Korea. At every opportunity she complains of how the Army is mistreating her son, requiring him to pay for his own food, uniforms and even ammunition. I was active duty Air Force in Desert Storm (stateside the whole time) and while I vaguely remember buying my own uniforms and meals, I also remember getting a uniform allowance and food expenses...

Love him or loath him, he nailed this one right on the head............. By Rush Limbaugh: I think the vast differences in compensation between victims of the September 11 casualty and those who die serving the country in Uniform are profound. No one is really talking about it either, because you just don't criticize anything having to do with September 11. Well, I just can't let the numbers pass by because it says something really disturbing about the entitlement mentality of this country. If you lost a family member in the September 11 attack, you're going to get an average...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Responding to criticism from relatives of those killed in the Sept. 11 attacks over the U.S. government's compensation program, the fund's overseer announced Thursday changes to increase the average award by more than $200,000 and to make it easier to be eligible. Unveiling final rules for the multibillion dollar compensation fund, lawyer Kenneth Feinberg said relatives of the victims now would receive $100,000, up from $50,000 in the original rules, for quot;non-economicquot; damages. Feinberg estimated all the changes would increase the average award to more than $1.85 million to the relatives of each victim from $1.65 million...