The Department of Defense has announced that they will begin full replacement value for items lost, damaged, or stolen during PCS moves. The program will be phased in starting October 1, 2007, and will eventually cover all personal goods shipments to and from international destinations, within the continental US, and non-temporary storage.

This is a great change. The last time the military paid to move my goods, I had several hundred dollars worth of my belongings either damaged or stolen. Of course this wasn’t the military’s fault as they use commercial movers. But the claims process was a hassle.

The new process requires the military member to file a claim directly with the shipping provider. Previously, military members made a claim with their respective service’s claim office. This is a great improvement over the previous payment system, which involved multiple forms and used a complicated system of depreciation to determine replacement values.

It’s good to see the military doing more to benefit its members and families. For more information, contact your traffic and management office.

The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007 lifted the cap for military retirement pay. Previously, retirement pay was limited to 75% of the base pay for 30 years of service. Anyone who served more than 30 years did not receive any additional retirement compensation. This changed for military members who retired after January 1, 2007 with over 30 years of service.

Military members who retire under the Final Pay or High 36 retirement system are eligible to retire when they reach 20 years of service. If they retire at that point, they will receive 50% of their base pay. For each additional year they serve, they will receive an additional 2.5% of their base pay. Previously, the limit was capped at 75% of the base pay, which is achieved when the member serves 30 years. There is no longer a limit, and people who serve more than 40 years can actually receive a pension in excess of their retirement base pay. However, there are limitations on who can serve in the military that long – it is generally only the highest ranks who are allowed to remain in service that long. This is because their knowledge and experience is considered so valuable.

Let’s take a look at some examples:

Under the old system, if you served 34 years, your retirement pay would have been capped at 75%. Under the new system, you would receive 85% of your base pay (4 years at 2.5% per year equals an additional 10% of your base pay).

If you served 42 years under the old system your retirement pay would have also been capped at 75%. Under the new retirement system, you would actually receive 105% of your base retirement pay (12 years at 2.5% per year equals an additional 30% of your base pay).

Disability pay is excluded: Military members who are retired due to a disability are excluded from this new pay system as the law caps disabled retirement pay at 75%.

The military retirement system can be very complex and I recommend meeting with your base personnel office if you have specific questions about your retirement plan and how it will be computed.

The Problem: There has been a lot of talk recently about the quality of care that wounded veteran’s are receiving upon their return from the war front. There are also many veterans who feel they are either not getting the care they deserve, or are not getting a military disability rating they feel they qualify for. The disability rating is very important because it affects the amount of monthly compensation the veteran receives – VA Disability Compensation Table.

The problem is so bad that is a group of war-injured veterans filed a class action lawsuit against the US Government for denying them disability pay and mental health treatment.

The suit claims that numerous VA practices violate the constitutional and statutory rights of veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) by denying veterans adequate procedural safeguards in the VA benefits process, access to the judicial process, mandated medical care, and VA benefits as a result of their PTSD.

This lawsuit is the first of its kind, and is a reflection of how badly the VA needs additional resources to help cope with the strains put onto the veteran’s health care system. According to the article, there is currently a backlog of over 600,000 disability claims awaiting approval. There are many factors leading to these problems including the fact that the Department of Defense (DoD) and the VA both work toward setting disability ratings. The process can take several months and in some cases well over a year. In the mean time, many troops do not receive any care at all.

For more information, you can read the full complaint.

Possible Solution? Now, for some good news about VA-DoD Reforms. The President’s Commission on Care for America’s Returning Wounded Warriors recently released a report with recommendations to make “fundamental changes” including overhauling the veterans disability system for the first time in more than 50 years. The changes would place all responsibility for determining and awarding disability to the VA.

The bottom line for these efforts:

Disabled service members would see the current confusing, parallel systems of ratings and compensation replaced by a single, simple and more generous system.

If the changes put forth in the recommendations by The President’s Commission on Care for America’s Returning Wounded Warriors take place, disabled veterans would still qualify for VA health care, but any service member found unfit for duty from combat-related injuries also would be eligible for lifetime TRICARE coverage.

The Commission makes many positive recommendations, and hopefully the majority of them will go through. Our nation’s best deserve it. Read the full report here: Serve, Support, Simplify. Report of the President’s Commission on Care for America’s Returning Wounded Warriors July 2007.