An open letter to President Obama
Dear Mr. President:
During your State of the Union speech in January of this year, I listened carefully and with satisfaction to your comments regarding our armed forces. You rightfully lauded their heroism, professionalism and sacrifices as you elaborated upon their key role in our country's national security and importance to our entire foreign policy. I rejoiced when you said, " . . . let us speak with one voice in reaffirming that our nation is united in its support of our troops and their families. Let us serve them as well as they've served us - by giving them the equipment they need, by providing them with the care and benefits that they have earned, and by enlisting our veterans in the great task of rebuilding our own nation." I would like to discuss the part about, " . . . providing them the care and benefits that they have earned." I do not believe your administration really understands the use of the word "earned" as it pertains to our service members. I'm talking about the young mother or father who heads off for a 13-month overseas deployment leaving their young family behind. I am talking about the brave men and women who accept the risks of defending our country - risks that may include death, disfigurement, crippling injuries, and the cumulative and unpredictable effects the stress of these risks may bring to them and their families.
Some of our service members elect to serve for 20 or more years, providing the leadership and expertise our services so dearly need. These folks have earned their benefits through decades of the kind of sacrifices mentioned above. I must also point out that they are all volunteers - the 1 percent of us who protect the remaining 99 percent who choose to not take such risks or make such a commitment. So, you can imagine my surprise when I learned that your administration plans to cut an estimated $27 billion in military retirement and healthcare over the next 10 years. The details are not yet clear, but envision an annual enrollment fee for Tricare for Life - the healthcare program for military retirees; hikes in pharmacy co-pay; and a commission to recommend "modernizing" the military retirement system. This latter item seems to be based on the objective comparison of the costs of military retirement and medical care with those of civilian employers, concluding that the military benefits are too costly. This approach ignores what military retirees have paid, in advance, through decades of dangerous, arduous service, hardships and separation from loved ones for these benefits. Yet, your administration's calculus seems to be unable or unwilling to place a dollar value on their sacrifices and therefore chooses to ignore it.Why should the 99 percent of non-serving Americans care? After all, as your speech detailed we have a lot of other things to worry about. Let me list a couple of things that come to mind.
* It's simply not fair. The proposals that contend they will address the "measurable disparity" between fees private sector workers pay and what retired military personnel pay show a shocking insensitivity to the extraordinary demands and sacrifices of career service members and families.* The last time the military retirement system was "modernized" was in the 1980s and it had to be changed back because enlistment and retention dropped sharply.
* If we wish to continue to have an all-volunteer military, we must be prepared as a nation to pay for it, even though a period of 10 years of warfare was not considered when the current volunteer system was established in the 1970s.Mr. President, we acknowledge that benefit cuts must be made. Military retirees are also recipients of Social Security and Medicare benefits. We will willingly share the burden of cuts in those programs along with our fellow citizens. Military retirement and medical benefits should be spared from capricious cuts that fail to adequately value their unique service.
"We must never forget that the things we've struggled for, and fought for, live in the hearts of people everywhere. And we must always remember that the Americans who have borne the greatest burden in this struggle are the men and women who serve our country." (President Barack Obama, Jan. 25, 2011). Well said, Mr. President.
Sincerely, RALPH E. SHRIGLEY
Ralph E. Shrigley, LTC, USA (Ret.), is President, Spokane Chapter of the Military Officers Association of America. He is a resident of Spirit Lake.