Cohen Seeks Higher Paychecks For Military Proposal Before Congress Aims To Stem Early Retirement

Defense Secretary William Cohen is moving to fatten the paychecks of 1.4 million service members to stem the tide of early retirements that has left the military “frayed at the edges.”

If approved by Congress, where Armed Services Committee members already were hailing the $30 billion proposal, active-duty servicemen and women would get a pay hike of 4.4 percent beginning Jan. 1, 2000.

There would be additional annual increases of 3.9 percent during the following five years.

The proposal also would eliminate a “major source of dissatisfaction” in the ranks by boosting retirement benefits to 50 percent from 40 percent of base pay after 20 years of service, Cohen said last week.

The military has operated on a dual retirement benefits plan, with those who joined before 1986 getting 50 percent of base pay at retirement, while those who entered later receiving 40 percent.

Cohen’s plan also would offer an additional raise of up to 5.5 percent for senior noncommissioned officers and mid-career officers who have been leaving the military in droves as overseas missions have increased despite the end of the Cold War.

“If you take one of our great staff sergeants that has eight years of service, you’ll find that one of his subordinates … makes as much or more than he does,” said Army Gen. Henry Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Under the new pay scale, the monthly salary of a private, the lowest military rank, would go to $1,002 from $959 beginning in 2000. A new sergeant would get $1,327, a major with eight years of service would get $3,966, and a one-star general or admiral would get $5,458.

The pay hikes are part of a concerted Pentagon effort to boost military spending by $112 billion during the next six years to improve readiness and retention rates.

The Air Force and especially the Navy have been losing their best pilots in recent years, while senior officers have bailed out to take more lucrative civilian jobs, plentiful in the booming economy.

Annual quitting rates have gone up during the past five years for all the services, to 35.8 percent from 31.7 percent, while recruitments have fallen off. For the first time in 25 years, the Navy this year failed to meet its recruitment goal, falling 12 percent short of its target of 55,300 enlistees.