Prez proposes 3.1% military raise

WASHINGTON – Members of the armed forces would see a 3.1 percent pay raise in January 2020, and add about 30,000 more ACDU/reserve personnel to the rolls, under President Trump’s FY 2020 DoD budget proposal. For junior enlisted troops, a 3.1 percent pay raise would amount to about $815 more annually. For O-4s with 12-years service, it’s more than $2,800 extra. Trump told Military Times that the 3.1 percent would be the “largest increase in a decade." Pentagon records indicate personnel got a 3.9 percent in 2009, and 3.4 percent in 2010. The size of each year’s raise is linked to private sector wages, as measured by the Employment Cost Index. The proposed $750B defense budget is dependent upon congressional support for $164B in overseas contingency operations (OCO). The Obama administration requested $167B at the height of the surge in Afghanistan, and $194B in 2008. That request, however, is likely to be challenged by House Democrats who object to increased military funding while domestic (non-defense) programs face a 5% cut. (Source: Military Times 03/11/19) Office of Management and Budget Acting Director Russell Vought defended the OCO numbers telling reporters that the administration sees OCO as a legitimate vehicle to fund national defense priorities. Congress in past budgets have agreed to add more for defense only if it matched increases to non-defense (domestic) programs. Trump wants to “break that paradigm,” Vought told Space News.