You can keep your draft

(x-posted from Da Tech Guy)

No, not the NFL draft...that one where we take people and put them in the military.  Well, most people anyway...

Dennis Laich seems to think bringing back the draft is a great idea, as he is quoted  saying so here in this Military Times article.  He argues that it will be cheaper (due to making pay cheaper), close the civil-military gap, and bring in talent from Ivy League and other places.  I'm in the military and live it every day, and I personally think the draft (and the current Selective Service) should go away completely.

Your BAH is going away

Yup, you heard me.  The National Defense Authorization passed.  You can read it here:

http://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20161128/CRPT-114HRPT-S2943.pdf

Everyone seems focused on the 2.1% pay increase.  I caught this note in the executive summary:

REPORTS ON A NEW SINGLE-SALARY PAY SYSTEM FOR MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES (SEC 604) - Not later than March 1, 2017, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representative a report that sets forth a plan to implement a new pay system. The new pay structure described shall assume the repeal of the basic allowance for housing and basic allowance subsistence for members of the Armed Forces in favor of a single-salary pay system.

Did you contribute to rating elimination?

The elimination of Navy ratings caught me, like most others, by surprise. I had heard that there was a move to add letters to the end of NECs to capture the level of expertise, which would help bring better fit to our billets, which I thought was an excellent idea. The fact that this wasn't brought up makes me think that it was really a decision held at the highest levels. The lack of guidance we are getting from those at PERS is telling, because I honestly believe they are as surprised as we are.

One reason that was brought up for the change was that Navy personnel struggle to integrate into civilian jobs when they leave the service. I'm surprised to hear this. The Navy, probably more than any other service, makes a pretty concerted effort to set you up for success outside the Navy. Let's look at what we do right:

Commissaries to Enhance Their Method of Calculating Savings

This interesting piece hit my box yesterday.

The Defense Commissary Agency is forming a new approach to calculating savings, aligning it more closely with private sector practice.  This better reflects what patrons experience daily with the products they routinely buy in the geographic regions in which they routinely shop, agency officials said.

"We hear from our military families that they sometimes find lower prices on selected items outside the gate," said Joseph H. Jeu, DeCA's director and CEO. "For the first time through this new approach, we will compare our prices with local grocers on a more frequent basis to better inform our customers of potential cost savings over stores in their nearby community."

"Our approach to calculating savings will not impact the prices our customers pay or the dollar benefit that they receive," he added. "There will be no change to their out-of-pocket expense."

Through this improved process, DeCA will calculate and monitor patron savings more frequently than the current practice. Prices will be compared with actual prices at local competitors surrounding each commissary, as well, using a market basket of products that reflect what patrons normally purchase.

Personally, when Sailors tell me they "routinely beat the commissary," what I find is that they purchase a lot of processed stuff (it's hard to call it food) from the center aisles. The minute you start buying meat, vegetables, fruit and dairy, the commissary suddenly becomes an outright bargain. It is good to see DeCA taking price seriously though, since more than a few people want to cut that benefit.

Blended Retirement System Webinar

From a recent email:

OSD will present an overview of the new Blended Retirement System and host a question and answer session on the new Blended Retirement System on Tuesday, 16 Aug @ 1300 EDT. Details are contained in the attached flyer. Please forward the attached to your Centers and encourage them to pass the information along to Sailors and Family Members.
As reminder, the new blended retirement system will take effect 1 January 2018. Training for leadership is posted on Joint Knowledge Online: http://jko.jten.mil/courses/brs/leader_training/Launch_Course.

You should attend, and you should ask hard questions. Let's be straight, as I said here and here:

The bad plan might get even worse!

Notice that it's all single dollars...compounding interest takes time. Image from http://401kcalculator.org

A while back I blogged about new changes to the military retirement system.  While I proved that you could in fact beat the old retirement system, you would have to maximize the investment in the early years, but it could be done.  The assumptions were many, but at least it was possible.  I didn't like it in the end because the overall risk was shifted to the military member, in what I felt was a way to save money for the DoD.

Now it seems we're trying to place even more burden on military members.  Military Times just revealed that inside the DoD budget request are requested changes to the new retirement system...and they aren't good.

A very masters Christmas

 

Your thesis has been accepted.

Those words in my inbox were magic.  Finally, my thesis, after the hundreds of revisions, had been accepted by the thesis processing office at Naval  Postgraduate School.  It'll be a few months until my degree arrives at my permanent address and gets on my record.  But I won't actually have to do  anything during that time...which is good, considering I'm due to PCS in less than a month!

It's even more satisfying because I'm not at Naval Postgraduate School in sunny Monterey.  I'm sitting in a sunnier Honolulu, Hawaii location.  I've only set foot on the campus twice, both times on TDY travel.  I'm a distance student at NPS, and about as pure a distance student as you can get.  My masters degree saga is a cautionary tale about the  benefits, challenges and drawbacks of distance education.

Thank you Delta!

Delta A330-330, from Wikipedia

I left for a week of TDY, having arranged for a conference on the island the first week of October.  I came back discovering that the conference had to shifted a week...which coincidentally interfered with my leave plans.

Which I had already bought tickets for. With miles. Ugh.

So I called Delta. Flights changed, free of charge. No significant questions asked (I had to give them my bosses name and phone number). Delta, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for not charging me change fees when you were 100% able to do so.

A few years ago, I had to change planes with SATO, and got charged 300 dollars, despite the fact I had asked for better tickets that would have been cheaper the first time (I had the idiot that runs travel at Pensacola at the time to thank for that), despite the change being required to fit PCS orders.

Delta > SATO, that's what I learned today.

A bad plan for many reasons

 I've held fire on the new DoD retirement plan, waiting for some details rather than analyze the rumors and half-truths.  We now have some definition.  The new plan would have:

- Members contribute to TSP with DoD matching.
- Mid-career you'll get a bonus.
- If you stay to 20 years, you get a reduced per month amount (40% vs. 50% base pay).

While it has some advantages, some are touting it as more fair.  From everything I see, it's worse in almost all respects.

Concerned about the Hawaii COLA decrease?

I got this in the work email...worth a read if you're not a fan of the COLA decrease.  Since there isn't much your chain of command can do about COLA, you're not jumping them by writing to Congressman Gabbard. BUT, if you are worried, please also see your Command Financial Specialist and get a budget made so that you aren't getting into financial trouble when the decrease happens.

On May 13, USPACOM's Quality of Life department determined that Oahu is experiencing an "economic decline" and subsequently decided to decrease US Service-members' Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) by 8 points.  This translates to a 24% pay cut or $4K-$5K annual reduction for officers and a $3K-$4K annual reduction for enlisted personnel.  The COLA reduction begins on the July 1 pay period.
The office of Congressman Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) is currently welcoming public correspondence on the matter.  Congressman Gabbard has been a United States Representative for Hawaii's second congressional district since 2013 and currently serves on the U.S. House Committee on Armed Services.

GI Bill Instruction and transferring benefits

 GI Bill instruction updated, located here:
https://doni.documentservices.dla.mil/Directives/01000%20Military%20Personnel%20Support/01-700%20Morale,%20Community%20and%20Religious%20Services/1780.4.pdf

No huge surprises, but it does go into detail on transfer of benefits:

Commissary Coupon App for Android

The rewards card is now even easier to use, thanks to an Android app that makes clipping coupons easy. From: http://www.commissaries.com/press_room/press_release/2014/DeCA_15_14.cfm

Using the rewards card is simple:

• Get a rewards card at a commissary.
• Register the card at http://www.commissaries.com/rewards/index.cfm.
• "Clip" or download coupons to your account (they are automatically loaded to your card).
• Print a list of your coupons and bring it and your card with you on your next shopping trip.
• Present your card at checkout so the cashier can scan it for coupons that match your purchased items.
• Digital coupons are automatically erased from the account as they are redeemed or if they expire.

Is living on base so bad?

Forest City Housing in Hawaii, from Pintrest

With all the debate raging about military retirement, one issue that gets overlooked is the reduction in BAH allotment.  Many servicemembers talk about "making money on BAH" but is that truly the case?  And would that be true if BAH is cut to 99% or 95% of costs?

I decided to do a comparison of costs here in Hawaii.  I happen to live on base in public/private housing administered by Forest City.  I have a friend that lives in Ewa Beach (a popular place for military to live) who swears he's making 600 dollars a month on BAH.  To see how true that was, I busted out some Excel skills and started looking at costs.

Before you start graduate education

Read the instruction!

https://doni.documentservices.dla.mil/Directives/01000%20Military%20Personnel%20Support/01-500%20Military%20Training%20and%20Education%20Services/1520.23C.pdf

You might owe time afterwards...check the tables at the end of the instruction (or look below):

We're STILL in a continuing resolution

I forgot to post this earlier...in case you're wondering why funds are short, we're still in a CR until December 11th.

We begin fiscal year (FY) 2015 under a continuing resolution (CR) that funds the government until Dec. 11.  A CR is short term legislation passed by Congress and signed by the President that ensures our government has the resources necessary to continue normal government operations without disruption.

We anticipate no near term impacts to Navy funding for personnel.  Same goes for operations and maintenance, research and development and infrastructure associated with this CR. However, until an appropriations bill is passed, uncertainty still exists. Having an approved appropriations bill would provide greater certainty and enable us to better fund the priorities of maintaining warfighting capability, procurement of new hardware, fleet readiness and Sailor training.

http://navylive.dodlive.mil/2014/09/30/what-a-continuing-resolution-means-for-sailors-and-families/

Are you a veteran from Ohio?

...then you're eligible for money.

Yup, not a scam. Go here: https://veteransbonus.ohio.gov/odvs_web/

A person who served or is serving, greater than 90 days, on active duty service in the US Armed Forces, excluding dates for training, during at least one of the compensable time periods and meets requirements may be eligible for the Ohio Veterans Bonus.

1. Served or currently serving in the US Armed Forces during compensable periods:
   1. Afghanistan Oct 7, 2001 through a date to be determined by President of the United States.
   2. Iraq Mar 19, 2003 through Dec 31, 2011 (DEADLINE to apply Dec 31, 2014).
2. The person was separated from the United States armed forces under honorable conditions, is still serving in active duty or after serving on active duty remains in any reserve component of the United States armed forces or in the Ohio National Guard.
3. The person was an Ohio resident at the start of active duty service.
4. The person is currently an Ohio resident.
5. The person has not received a bonus or compensation of a similar nature from another state.
   

Missing the point on PCS expenses

Credit Cards, from Wikimedia

Recently an article came out announcing that Government Travel Cards would be authorized for use on PCS expenses.  On the outside, this looks fantastic: military members now won't have to pay out of pocket when they move every 2-3 years.

"We want to make sure that people still have it within their budget to continue to travel," he said, "but we've got to travel smarter, more efficiently and try to return money back to the Department of Defense."

Return money to the DoD?  Ohhhh, that's right...

Requiring PCSing service members to use the card also comes with a big reward for the government, since the Defense Department receives cash rebates for money spent on the card, officials said. For example, a 5 percent increase in usage across the Defense Department generates an 11 percent rebate.

Well, I have no problem giving DoD money.  PCS travel isn't about making money, it should be about getting from point A to point B relatively quickly and with all your stuff.  The travel card should make that easier, right?

WRONG.

"When the credit card bill came due we had to pay it out of our pocket. Here it is close to three months after our PCS and we still haven't received a dime in reimbursement from the Air Force for our expenses," wrote Air Force spouse Jami Moore on the Military OneSource Facebook page, which recently advertised the change.

"The GTC card doesn't make a difference when a service member is forced to pay out of pocket for a move if they aren't reimbursed right away. Luckily we have savings, but others may be forced into a situation where they either have to buy food and risk getting paperwork for not paying their GTC card or pay their GTC card and not eat. And if you can't pay it, it goes on the service member's credit report."

Bingo.

New Hardship Duty Pay is out!

Dollar bill from Wikipedia.org

The military services already have the authority to do this, and it used to exist, but after September 11th it went away. Look's like the Navy is bringing it back!

From Navy.mil:

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- To compensate Sailors and Marines for extended deployments driven by normal peacetime requirements, Hardship Duty Pay - Tempo (HDP-T) will be paid to Sailors and Marines, active duty and reserve, deployed beyond 220 consecutive days, effective Sept. 17, 2014.

Navy Tuition Assistance Changes

 

 VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (Feb. 20, 2014) Sailors working on a college degree should ensure their school's accreditation type supports their educational and professional goals. Navy Tuition Assistance pays for one associate through master's degree and only pays if a degree at a particular level wasn't already earned using personal funds. Education professionals at Navy College Offices and the Virtual Education Center serve as an impartial resource to assist Sailors in making wise choices about their education. (U.S. Navy photo illustration by Chief Mass Communication Specialist Jayme Pastoric/Released)

Full article below. BLUF:

- Commanding Officers can waive the one-year on station requirement
- Must get a C (undergraduate) or B (graduate) in your class or you owe money
- TA no longer covers non-tuition fees

From http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=82888

Free childcare search

Just in time for the holiday weekend...DoD gives you a free one-year membership to Sittercity to allow you to quickly find a sitter for your kids, even if you just moved. Go here:

https://www.sittercity.com/dod