White House 'Strongly Opposes' Proposed 19.5% Pay Hike for Junior Enlisted Troops

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Im not sure I understand what the issue is....they are doing a military wide compensation review and want that completed BEFORE signing a 19.5% pay hike correct?

"While Tuesday's statement from the White House suggested Congress should wait until the administration's review is done to make any significant changes to military pay, the senior enlisted leaders for all the military services earlier this year urged lawmakers to act immediately to boost service members' pay.

Additionally, a House Armed Services Committee staffer told reporters last month that a 15% raise for junior enlisted service members is among the options the administration's review is considering.

The White House's statement Tuesday cited cost as a concern with the House's plan. A Congressional Budget Office analysis released Monday estimated the increase in pay for junior enlisted troops would cost $24.4 billion from 2025 to 2029.

The administration also argued that service members have already received significant raises in recent years, citing the 5.2% troops got this year and the 4.6% increase last year.

"If the president's FY 2025 request is enacted, service members will have received a 15% basic pay increase in just three years," the statement said, though it would actually add up to 14.3%."

Senior military leaders recommend this. They know lower enlisted troops are struggling.
Bipartisan leadership in the House Armed Services committee recommends this. They have examined the issues.

Lower enlisted troops can’t afford housing. How do you think that’s not problem?

Then housing allowance should be adjusted. Let the formal review be completed and then push this forward. This is all delayed from previous administrations.

Ill also add that the bill the House Committee is trying to push through REMOVES MARIJUANA TESTING FOR RECRUITMENT AND ENLISTED!!!!!

Do you have a citation that this was delayed by previous administrations?

https://www.navycs.com/charts/ https://www.military.com/daily-news/2022/12/07/2023-military-pay-raise-will-be-largest-20-years.html
You can see year by year. President, year, increase. It usually matches fed increases.

Obama recession, no one got raises. Clinton balancing the budget- no one got raises. But Bush and Trump both pro-military and the raises were eh.

And you are uneducated if you think that the base pay is all they get. https://www.navycs.com/military-pay.html And most of the allowances are untaxed. So when you talk about 2000 BAH you need to increase it to what it would be for taxed rate because its untaxed.

Dude I retired after 27 years. I am shocked Biden talks about his son and Dr. Jill talks about military families needing support and lower enlisted are struggling to pay their rent.

They arent struggling to pay their rent. They are struggling because the bases are in HCOL and the government doesnt properly adjust for COL. The government also wont regulate housing and who is purchasing housing. The Ft Carson example was talking about people wanting to buy homes because of VA loans and equity but buying a home isnt a guarantee and shouldnt be what we are increasing pay towards. They have 26000 personnel but only 3100 housing units. Why was base personnel expanded without housing expanded? The base command is now advocating for reduction in builder liability so that they can get more condos built......they are all over the place. And then commenting about how some of the families have to have dual incomes to survive........ermmm yes so do most families. I didnt realize that being an enlisted meant you got a SAHP. Are we subsidizing that now?

Id love to see the numbers on how much base housing costs the military to run versus BAH

Correct that this quote was about PURCHASING a home, which should not be an expected entitlement. The vast majority of high-school educated Americans, who are in their early 20s, with a spouse (who often does not work) and a child or two - is not looking at purchasing a home.

In addition, the other skeleton in the closet is when DoD decided to start "privatizing" military housing. That means that corporate greed set in. Countless stories of privatized military housing which was/is substandard, lack of maintenance, yet the contracts keep getting renewed.

When DoD "owned" all the housing, it also had problems but at least they could be managed internally. If there was a problem with your housing unit, and it wasn't getting fixed, you could go to your commander and get some resolution. Good luck trying that with a contractor raking in millions without having to lift a finger.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This will increase inflation

So does forgiving student loans, but for some reason that is super popular with Democrats.

I’m for military pay raises but most folks here counter everything Dems suggest as raising inflation. So which is it? Do we care about inflation? Or do we only care about inflation if Dems suggest a program to improve the lives of others? Do we only want to improve the lives of conservatives?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Im not sure I understand what the issue is....they are doing a military wide compensation review and want that completed BEFORE signing a 19.5% pay hike correct?

"While Tuesday's statement from the White House suggested Congress should wait until the administration's review is done to make any significant changes to military pay, the senior enlisted leaders for all the military services earlier this year urged lawmakers to act immediately to boost service members' pay.

Additionally, a House Armed Services Committee staffer told reporters last month that a 15% raise for junior enlisted service members is among the options the administration's review is considering.

The White House's statement Tuesday cited cost as a concern with the House's plan. A Congressional Budget Office analysis released Monday estimated the increase in pay for junior enlisted troops would cost $24.4 billion from 2025 to 2029.

The administration also argued that service members have already received significant raises in recent years, citing the 5.2% troops got this year and the 4.6% increase last year.

"If the president's FY 2025 request is enacted, service members will have received a 15% basic pay increase in just three years," the statement said, though it would actually add up to 14.3%."

Senior military leaders recommend this. They know lower enlisted troops are struggling.
Bipartisan leadership in the House Armed Services committee recommends this. They have examined the issues.

Lower enlisted troops can’t afford housing. How do you think that’s not problem?

Then housing allowance should be adjusted. Let the formal review be completed and then push this forward. This is all delayed from previous administrations.

Ill also add that the bill the House Committee is trying to push through REMOVES MARIJUANA TESTING FOR RECRUITMENT AND ENLISTED!!!!!

Do you have a citation that this was delayed by previous administrations?

https://www.navycs.com/charts/ https://www.military.com/daily-news/2022/12/07/2023-military-pay-raise-will-be-largest-20-years.html
You can see year by year. President, year, increase. It usually matches fed increases.

Obama recession, no one got raises. Clinton balancing the budget- no one got raises. But Bush and Trump both pro-military and the raises were eh.

And you are uneducated if you think that the base pay is all they get. https://www.navycs.com/military-pay.html And most of the allowances are untaxed. So when you talk about 2000 BAH you need to increase it to what it would be for taxed rate because its untaxed.

Dude I retired after 27 years. I am shocked Biden talks about his son and Dr. Jill talks about military families needing support and lower enlisted are struggling to pay their rent.

They arent struggling to pay their rent. They are struggling because the bases are in HCOL and the government doesnt properly adjust for COL. The government also wont regulate housing and who is purchasing housing. The Ft Carson example was talking about people wanting to buy homes because of VA loans and equity but buying a home isnt a guarantee and shouldnt be what we are increasing pay towards. They have 26000 personnel but only 3100 housing units. Why was base personnel expanded without housing expanded? The base command is now advocating for reduction in builder liability so that they can get more condos built......they are all over the place. And then commenting about how some of the families have to have dual incomes to survive........ermmm yes so do most families. I didnt realize that being an enlisted meant you got a SAHP. Are we subsidizing that now?

Id love to see the numbers on how much base housing costs the military to run versus BAH

A lot of factors make it more difficult for the spouse of a military member to have a career, especially if they have young children. Frequent moves make it difficult to establish client bases and maintain state issued licenses/certifications. Also makes it more difficult to network. The fact that literally any time your spouse could deploy to an undisclosed location, for an undetermined amount of time, with less than 24 hours notice, means you have to be ready to be 100% responsible for all daycare pickups/drop offs and parenting.

They have special hiring programs for the spouses of military.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Im not sure I understand what the issue is....they are doing a military wide compensation review and want that completed BEFORE signing a 19.5% pay hike correct?

"While Tuesday's statement from the White House suggested Congress should wait until the administration's review is done to make any significant changes to military pay, the senior enlisted leaders for all the military services earlier this year urged lawmakers to act immediately to boost service members' pay.

Additionally, a House Armed Services Committee staffer told reporters last month that a 15% raise for junior enlisted service members is among the options the administration's review is considering.

The White House's statement Tuesday cited cost as a concern with the House's plan. A Congressional Budget Office analysis released Monday estimated the increase in pay for junior enlisted troops would cost $24.4 billion from 2025 to 2029.

The administration also argued that service members have already received significant raises in recent years, citing the 5.2% troops got this year and the 4.6% increase last year.

"If the president's FY 2025 request is enacted, service members will have received a 15% basic pay increase in just three years," the statement said, though it would actually add up to 14.3%."

Senior military leaders recommend this. They know lower enlisted troops are struggling.
Bipartisan leadership in the House Armed Services committee recommends this. They have examined the issues.

Lower enlisted troops can’t afford housing. How do you think that’s not problem?

Then housing allowance should be adjusted. Let the formal review be completed and then push this forward. This is all delayed from previous administrations.

Ill also add that the bill the House Committee is trying to push through REMOVES MARIJUANA TESTING FOR RECRUITMENT AND ENLISTED!!!!!

Do you have a citation that this was delayed by previous administrations?

https://www.navycs.com/charts/ https://www.military.com/daily-news/2022/12/07/2023-military-pay-raise-will-be-largest-20-years.html
You can see year by year. President, year, increase. It usually matches fed increases.

Obama recession, no one got raises. Clinton balancing the budget- no one got raises. But Bush and Trump both pro-military and the raises were eh.

And you are uneducated if you think that the base pay is all they get. https://www.navycs.com/military-pay.html And most of the allowances are untaxed. So when you talk about 2000 BAH you need to increase it to what it would be for taxed rate because its untaxed.

Dude I retired after 27 years. I am shocked Biden talks about his son and Dr. Jill talks about military families needing support and lower enlisted are struggling to pay their rent.

They arent struggling to pay their rent. They are struggling because the bases are in HCOL and the government doesnt properly adjust for COL. The government also wont regulate housing and who is purchasing housing. The Ft Carson example was talking about people wanting to buy homes because of VA loans and equity but buying a home isnt a guarantee and shouldnt be what we are increasing pay towards. They have 26000 personnel but only 3100 housing units. Why was base personnel expanded without housing expanded? The base command is now advocating for reduction in builder liability so that they can get more condos built......they are all over the place. And then commenting about how some of the families have to have dual incomes to survive........ermmm yes so do most families. I didnt realize that being an enlisted meant you got a SAHP. Are we subsidizing that now?

Id love to see the numbers on how much base housing costs the military to run versus BAH

A lot of factors make it more difficult for the spouse of a military member to have a career, especially if they have young children. Frequent moves make it difficult to establish client bases and maintain state issued licenses/certifications. Also makes it more difficult to network. The fact that literally any time your spouse could deploy to an undisclosed location, for an undetermined amount of time, with less than 24 hours notice, means you have to be ready to be 100% responsible for all daycare pickups/drop offs and parenting.

They have special hiring programs for the spouses of military.

In what kind of jobs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Suckers.

The GOP has consistently resisted military pay increases for decades and now, in an election year, they come up with a HUGE pay increase they know will be rejected. Y'all need to be a little more suspect when stuff like this comes out of the blue.

Do they deserve a pay increase? Absolutely. But 19.5% overnight? Pull my other leg.

+1. It’s going to cost $24.4 billion over 4 years. What is wrong with waiting till the review is complete and figuring out how we will pay for this? Where is your sense of fiscal responsibility?

This isn’t comparable to student loans. The loans that were forgiven to date met the requirements for the agreements signed by those participants. The only thing that administration did was work around the red tape that was preventing loans from being forgiven. In many cases, the participants had already repaid principal plus interest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Stop pissing so much money away on the military please. Everyone needs healthcare. But no, we gotta give some high school grad $100k per year now to go kill goat herders in Afghanistan.

They get free healthcare citizens can only dream of. They get free housing. Free food. Free utilities. They know what they sign up for. The military is not an occupation intended to turn soldiers into wealthy UMC.

this is true. Enlisted receive enough, free housing. There are too many active duty in the US, that's why the Defense budget is $800B annual or something like that. Going to bankrupt the US eventually. Which large war is the US actively involved in? (More than 500K military involved)? Silence.

[Anonymous]

Does the US need to spend more on the military:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_with_highest_military_expenditures

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We don’t need a large standing army. This is a great place to save money. We give them food and shelter to do their jobs. If we need more people due to a war we can start a draft.

Are you talking to us or the President and Congress? They are in charge of how large our military is. If our government is going to ask people to volunteer to join the military, those people should be adequately compensated.

Right now we can’t attract quality people to volunteer for Military Service. That’s a problem.

You are a moron. We don’t need to pay more. The military volunteers are paid adequately. They join the services to escape their podunk towns and have everything paid for by the tax payer.

If they don’t join whoopdeedoo. We can start a draft if we need more people.

Talk about a moron ^^. Perhaps instead of having a military full of committed soldiers who *volunteered,* we could institute the draft and draft your kids.
DP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We don’t need a large standing army. This is a great place to save money. We give them food and shelter to do their jobs. If we need more people due to a war we can start a draft.

Are you talking to us or the President and Congress? They are in charge of how large our military is. If our government is going to ask people to volunteer to join the military, those people should be adequately compensated.

Right now we can’t attract quality people to volunteer for Military Service. That’s a problem.

You are a moron. We don’t need to pay more. The military volunteers are paid adequately. They join the services to escape their podunk towns and have everything paid for by the tax payer.

If they don’t join whoopdeedoo. We can start a draft if we need more people.

Whenever someone says Trump called Service Members losers and suckers, I can’t understand why people get upset. People on dcum call our Military members that kind of stuff all the time.

DP. He didn't call them that. That's just what liberals think of our military and they project that onto him. Truly disgusting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Illegals deserve the money not Americans or American troops. Great job Joe !

+1
And foreign countries. Not the men and women who put their lives on the line to protect the U.S.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As the military is facing a "once in a generation recruitment crisis," the White House said it "strongly opposes" a proposed nearly 20% pay raise for junior enlisted troops.

"The number one priority for our military is getting that recruitment crisis under control and increasing pay is a good way to do that," said Veterans on Duty chairman Jeremy Hunt on "Fox & Friends" Thursday.

"The administration is strongly committed to taking care of our service members and their families, and appreciates the [House Armed Services Committee's] concern for the needs of the most junior enlisted members, but strongly opposes making a significant, permanent change to the basic pay schedule before the completion of the Fourteenth Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation," the White House said in a statement.


Hunt slammed this opposition, saying, "It's truly remarkable to me. … President Biden has approved over $100 billion in student loan forgiveness. But when it comes to our troops, America's most precious resource, he's complaining about an increase in military pay?"

https://www.foxnews.com/media/embarrassment-white-house-blasted-opposing-pay-hike-troops.amp

That’s actually a great point. Millions for student loan forgiveness; Military families paying oop for their housing costs.

No wonder recruitment is in the toilet.

+10000
What completely screwed up priorities this administration has.

This is where the billions that went to pay off college loans SHOULD have gone.

100%
Absolutely this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a no brainer. They cannot recruit people into these roles because the military requires fit people with no mental illnesses, no learning disabilities, no criminal records, no substantial drug use, no physical problems, etc. Then on top of that, they need some of them to be of high intelligence for roles like cyber, crypto, intelligence, etc. These types of youths are now vanishingly rare, and since our culture actually penalizes people who served as enlisted members, they have to feel like the military is truly the best option. I don't know how they can recruit people at this point.

+1
I have two college-educated kids/young adults who would love to work in military intelligence but the pay is abysmal, so they've found work elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Like any issue, IMO people need to do more research.

Using the calculator on military.com, an E3 with 3 years of service in the DC area with dependents is getting $71,328 annually, including their housing allowance.

If they live on base then the housing allowance goes away but they are essentially living for free in base housing. They (and their dependents) get practically free health/dental/vision care, spouse gets hiring priority for U.S. government jobs, and childcare is ridiculously low.

That's a pretty good deal for someone who (traditionally) is in their early 20s, married and may have a kid or two.

And often not high performers (either grade wise or with low level criminal violations).

What?

What’s so hard to understand? High performers don’t enlist in the military.

If they want to serve they go the officer route. Enlistment is for losers. They would be working at Walmart or flipping burgers if they didn’t have the military.

DP. And you think college-educated people are joining the military in droves? Maybe they would be if the pay was what it should be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Like any issue, IMO people need to do more research.

Using the calculator on military.com, an E3 with 3 years of service in the DC area with dependents is getting $71,328 annually, including their housing allowance.

If they live on base then the housing allowance goes away but they are essentially living for free in base housing. They (and their dependents) get practically free health/dental/vision care, spouse gets hiring priority for U.S. government jobs, and childcare is ridiculously low.

That's a pretty good deal for someone who (traditionally) is in their early 20s, married and may have a kid or two.

And often not high performers (either grade wise or with low level criminal violations).

What?

What’s so hard to understand? High performers don’t enlist in the military.

If they want to serve they go the officer route. Enlistment is for losers. They would be working at Walmart or flipping burgers if they didn’t have the military.

I can’t even take you seriously.

You can’t refute anything I’ve said.

Enlisted are the bottom of the barrel and are compensated more than enough.

It doesn’t matter if enlisted are not doctors or attorneys or scientists. They do a hard job and our country should pay them enough to rent a decent apartment or home.

I cannot believe you are talking about our Service Members this way. Democrats always are attacking Trump for being mean, crass, without manners, insulting people, disparaging immigrants and other countries.

You are are just as bad as he is.

Waaah cry more. They are misogynist magas who have no value in the modern battlefields.

DP. People like you don’t deserve the privilege of living in this country and the protection the military provides. You are repugnant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stop pissing so much money away on the military please. Everyone needs healthcare. But no, we gotta give some high school grad $100k per year now to go kill goat herders in Afghanistan.

They get free healthcare citizens can only dream of. They get free housing. Free food. Free utilities. They know what they sign up for. The military is not an occupation intended to turn soldiers into wealthy UMC.

They get nothing free, they earn it.

Seriously. The PP is beyond ignorant.