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Reserve retirement plan is not retroactive

A more generous reserve retirement formula approved yesterday by congressional negotiators to reward National Guard and reserve members for being called to active duty will not apply to the 600,000 who have been mobilized since the 2001 terrorist attacks.

The plan included in the compromise 2008 defense authorization bill would allow National Guard and reserve members, who now must wait until age 60 to receive a military retirement check, to receive their retired pay earlier if they have extended mobilization. For every 90 days of continuous mobilization in support of a contingency operation, they could receive retired pay 90 days earlier.

Lawmakers adopted the plan, over Pentagon objections, as a way to recognize the greater demands on reservists and their families, particularly those who have had extended and multiple deployments.

However, the specific sacrifices that led lawmakers to act are not going to be rewarded by the bill. The new formula applies only to service after the date the bill becomes law, which probably will fall between Christmas and New Year’s Day. It won’t cover any previous mobilization.

Virginia Army National Guard Maj. Patrick Swan, a member of the 29th Infantry Division, initially was happy to learn the provision had passed, calculating that after 26 years of service he would now be eligible to receive military retired pay at age 58. But once he was told his previous deployments wouldn’t count, Swan complained about Congress giving “empty handouts, again.”

“I don’t see how they can pass this and not include mobilizations since 9/11,” Swan said, predicting that lawmakers will be hearing from military organization and Guard and reserve members. They will, he said, “certainly get an earful.”

The Reserve Officers Association, a group that encouraged Congress to overhaul the reserve retirement system, expressed “disappoint” in the decision to not make the change retroactive.

“National Guard and Reserve members throughout the country have anxiously awaited news concerning changes to their retirement compensation,” ROA said in a statement. Those who have already deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan “will be ineligible for this new benefit, unless they accept future orders for another tour in support of a contingency operation.”

Retired Navy Capt. Marshall Hanson, ROA’s legislative director, said the reserve retirement change is “a step in the right direction” but “it doesn’t go far enough.”

“The Reserve Officers Association is very disappointed that Congress has failed to recognize the contributions and sacrifices that have been made by the reserve components in fighting the global war on terrorism,” Hanson said.

ROA’s executive director, retired Marine Lt. Gen. Dennis McCarthy, said the compromise bill seems to ignore how important the reserves have been. “Mobilization of the reserve component has saved this country from having to use a draft,” he said.

Some reservists might consider the bill an insult and quit, warned ROA president Paul Groskreutz, a retired Air Force reserve colonel. “This early retirement plan will be a disincentive,” he said. “Many members who have served multiple tours will likely quit in frustration.”