Hagel becomes angel of death for troops’ compensation
Chuck Hagel, the out-going Secretary of Defense is touring the country to say goodbye to the troops and to tell them that they’re going to get screwed in their wallets soon, according to the Military Times;
“We cannot sustain the current trajectory that we are on with the current system we have,” Hagel said. “We have opportunity here to make some shifts, some reforms, early on over a period of time, which assures that no one gets hurt on this. And the longer we defer it and not make these decisions on how do we come to grips with these realities, the more difficult it’s going to be and in particular the more costly it’s going to be, I think, for the men and women in uniform.
“We’ve got to address this. And we have to be honest about it. And we have to deal with it,” Hagel said.
Scaling back troops’ pay and benefits will be a careful balancing act, he said, because the military will need to offer a compensation package that is generous enough to continue to draw an educated and high-quality force.
Hagel is talking about the recommendations of the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission which are due out next month to advise the Congress on how to change the compensation of the troops, you know, for risking their lives and spending years away from their families in service to their country.
Remember the last two Secretaries of Defense went around on their way out of office discouraging and demoralizing the troops, too. It’s kind of a tradition now, I guess.
There’s no word that the heads of other agencies, like the EPA, the Education Department or the Department of Commerce are visiting their employees with the same warning.
Category: Big Pentagon
Hagel and McCain.
The biggest enemies to our military right now. We don’t even need Russia, China, or Islamists anymore.
Beyond pathetic!
Imagine substituting any of a number of welfare agencies names/acronyms in place of the military. Then imagine the screams, threats, and rioting. Who are the adults, again?
Aa has been pointed out here before, we always run out of money for the military, but never run out of money for the welfare agencies. Why is that??
Hagel, “Hey you guys think you feel fucked now, well listen up troops!”
“Scaling back troops’ pay and benefits will be a careful balancing act, he said, because the military will need to offer a compensation package that is generous enough to continue to draw an educated and high-quality force.”
“If you weren’t paying attention troops, that means there’s a big BOHICA coming and it’s got all your names on it. I’d love to stay and chat more but I got a 230 Tee Time at the local pro course. Keep up the good work men…I mean you men and women, out there. And don’t forget…(what is it they say, he whispers? His Captain aide tells him) Oh yea and…Ooh Rah!”
Well I hope they issue broken glass and peanut butter for lubrication before fucking service members out of their pay and benefits.
Who is this “We”? Last I checked none of the civilian bureaucrats in DoD are payed on the military pay scale…
The Won’s thinking, I need more money. I just declared free college for everyone. I know I will cut welfare and unemployment giveawaydon’t worry about the fraud)NO they will not vote us back into office. We will cut the Fed Workers pay, Hmm no they a union(need their money). Cannot cut congress’s overgeneralous pay and retirement package.Nope would get a chance to vote on it. Let’see, who does not have s union and a small voter base, OH YEAH the military. nuff said Joe
“…NO they will not vote us back into office…”
That should read, “…NO they will riot and burn the country down around our freakin’ ears….”
There. Fixed it for ya! 😉
Ok, I haven’t seen the names for who is on this committee. I assume that if Obama named them, they’re all 60’s radicals or communists who think we are what’s wrong with the world. In which case, I will be calling my representative to tell them that any changes made to retirement needs to be grandfathered in for those who have at least 10 years in or have already retired. Don’t tell me for 16 years that I get this after doing 20, and then change it.
Does anyone have any idea how much Chuck will pull down in government retirement pay and benefits after his stints in Congress and as SecDef? Is he keeping it despite his own personal wealth?
Chuck needs to think back to his squad leader time and remember the two caveats of Army leadership: don’t tell your soldiers to do something that you won’t, and never screw with a troop’s pay.
Asshole. Good riddance.
Like it or not at least the man has enough integrity to tell the truth about the future. He’s had to deal with this stuff in the past as well:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Hagel
“In 1982, however, he resigned his post over a disagreement with VA Administrator Robert P. Nimmo, who was intent on cutting funding for VA programs.”
Maybe I’m unrealistic, but how many of us ever took a position thinking we could make positive change only to run up against a brick wall?
If you have ever worked with Government Civilians, you know they have this thing called a “Union”. Just try and get rid of an underperformer or change their benefits in any way.
As someone who’s been rolling the dice since ’75 I’ve seen a lot of change – good and bad. Compare what some of us made as PFC’s back then to today’s pay scales and other benefits. I don’t think pay cuts and changes in medical benefits are the answer, but something has to be done.
Take away the DFAC’s and go back to Unit mess halls serving one choice each meal? Quit changing the damn uniform for every branch of service? Don’t retain SM’s who can’t deploy or meet standards? Cut back on all the crap issued no one uses?
I halfway joke about my last deployment compared to my first. In the beginning I had one duffle bag I could throw over my shoulder. This last one I came out of CRC at Benning with four – three of which I could barely lift. That was in addition to my own gear.
Sorry for digressing. As much as we want to vilify Mr. Hagel, I think as “one of us” he really tried to do the right thing and ended up getting thrown under the bus. You have to admire the fact he hasn’t blamed anyone else or pointed fingers for failing.
I shall now look for some overhead cover…
My best friend is in the Corps. She’s an E3, with a husband, living in a 2-bedroom off-post apartment. Even with all of her pay and benefits, and her husband working a part-time job, she had to get foodstamps to make ends meet. And now they want to cut pay even more?
Soon, she might have to get a job as a music tutor after she’s off duty so they can pay for rent and utilities.
The troops got a 1% pay raise this year. How exactly are you going to cut any more?
Now imagine telling the moocher class they only get a 1% increase in food stamps, Obamaphones, welfare, Section 8, EIC, etc.
Yeah, I think we see what would happen there.
How about the tsunami of handouts illegal aliens get as soon as they cross the Border and yell “GIMME, GIMME, GIMME!”?
B. Hussein 0bama & Company ARE NOT even going to think about cutting any of the handouts like welfare, 0bamaphones, etcetera because that not only would upset the people they’ve enslaved and made dependent on the Government, they would lose millions of votes they’ve bought with our tax dollars!
Fuck him. I feel bad for the soldiers that have to sit through these bullshit dog and pony shows. Nothing like standing in formation listening to a blowhard pontificate. Oh, by the way Chuck Obvious, how about the GOs join us in the suffering. Fuck you and the rest of the idiots in the Five Sided Puzzle Palace.
Chucky Chuck and the DoD funky bunch laying the wood to the troops once again. Thanks for trying to put the big blue and gold weenie to those on the deck plates.
And a triple fuck you to you too Hagel.
Now piss off.
“Meanwhile, costs on the F-35 continue to rise….”
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