[House Document 113-60]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
113th Congress, 1st Session - - - - - - - - - - - - - House Document 113-60
PRINCIPLES FOR MODERNIZING THE MILITARY COMPENSATION AND RETIREMENT
SYSTEMS
__________
MESSAGE
from
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
transmitting
THE PRINCIPLES FOR MODERNIZING THE MILITARY COMPENSATION AND RETIREMENT
SYSTEMS AS REQUIRED BY PUBLIC LAW 112-239 SECTION 675(c)
September 12, 2013.--Message and accompanying papers referred to the
Committee on Armed Services and ordered to be printed
To the Congress of the United States:
Pursuant to section 674(c) of the National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013, Public Law 112-239,
January 2, 2013, I hereby transmit principles for modernizing
the military compensation and retirement systems requested by
the Act.
Barack Obama.
The White House, September 12, 2013.
Principles for Modernizing the Military Compensation and Retirement
Systems
Sections 671-680 of the National Defense Authorization Act
for Fiscal Year 2013 establish the Military Compensation and
Retirement Modernization Commission. Section 674(c) requires
the President to provide the Commission and the Congress with
principles to guide the Commission's review and
recommendations.
For over a decade, our men and women in uniform have
participated in one of the most extraordinary chapters of
service in the history of our Nation. They have served multiple
tours of duty in distant, different, and difficult places. They
come from all walks of life and all stations; Active, Reserve,
and National Guard; serving together to protect our people,
while giving others a chance to lead a better life. We owe each
and every one of them and their families a tremendous debt of
gratitude for their sacrifice, service, and patriotism.
Our Nation requires a strong military for our security and
for the defense of American values and principles abroad. While
we have successfully transitioned from a conscripted force to
an All-Volunteer Force, sustaining this force requires
responsive and prudent management, especially given the fiscal
challenges we face as a Nation.
In conducting the Commission's review and in developing
recommendations, you should ensure that the Commission examines
all areas outlined in section 671(b)(1) and considers the full
breadth of the military compensation and retirement systems, to
include healthcare programs, programs supporting military
families, as well as programs of the Federal Government that
may influence decisions of current and future members of the
military to join and remain in the service of our Nation. The
Commission's review should also consider and examine: our
Nation's ability to sustain an All-Volunteer Force; the
retention of our most experienced and qualified service members
and the alignment of compensation and management to achieve
this end; our current promotion system and associated force
shaping tools; and our responsibilities to the American
taxpayers. The review should provide recommendations for
sustaining the long-term viability of the All-Volunteer Force
in a fiscally responsible manner.
The Commission's recommendations and analysis for reforming
and modernizing the military's compensation and retirement
systems should be based upon the priorities outlined in
sections 671(b)(2) and 674, and upon the longstanding
principles of military compensation developed by the 5th
Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation, as outlined below.
The Commission's recommendations for change must grandfather
any currently serving military members and current retirees in
the current military retirement systems, but may allow
currently serving members and current retirees the choice to
change to your proposed retirement system. The Commission's
recommendations should also be guided by the following
principles:
1. Manpower and Compensation Interrelationship. Military
compensation and retirement systems are an integral part of the
military's overall human resource management system and are key
tools for recruiting, managing, and retaining the best military
personnel. The military compensation and retirement systems
should consider differences between service in the Armed Forces
and service in other uniformed services. They should also
consider differences between regular and reserve military
service and facilitate, as appropriate, the use of reserve
service to support regular military forces.
2. Efficiency. The military compensation and retirement
systems must attract, retain, and motivate a sufficient
quantity of military personnel and those of the highest quality
to sustain the All-Volunteer Force. While the military
compensation and retirement systems should provide a reasonable
standard of living, they should be fiscally sustainable and
impose the least burden possible on the American taxpayer,
consistent with maintaining a high-quality, All-Volunteer
Force.
3. Equity. Military members, whether in the active or
reserve components, must be allowed to compete equally for pay
and promotion according to their own abilities and should
receive equal pay for substantially equal work under the same
general working conditions.
a. To the extent possible, compensation should be
comparable with pay in the American economy.
b. Compensation should be competitive externally with
private sector pay. It should also be competitive
internally, to incentivize acquiring skills and
accepting challenging assignments, to recognize
hardships and danger, and to facilitate the
distribution and separation of military members at
appropriate times.
4. Effectiveness. The military compensation and retirement
systems must be effective in times of peace, war, and other
levels of conflict. These systems must be robust and assist in
expanding and contracting the force as appropriate, to include
the seamless use of reservists and retirees.
5. Flexibility. The military compensation and retirement
systems must be flexible to adjust to changing conditions in
the American economy, to changes in the labor markets, and to
changes in military force structure requirements. These systems
should be capable of rapid and equitable adjustments. They
should facilitate the mobility required to employ the force in
time of war and in peacetime support the need of force managers
to professionally develop future military leaders.
6. Motivation. The military compensation and retirement
systems should encourage meritorious performance and the desire
to seek and perform in positions of greater responsibility.
7. Fiscal Sustainability. The military compensation and
retirement systems should be fiscally sustainable in order to
ensure long-term certainty for service members and retirees.
8. Force Management. The military compensation and
retirement systems must actively retain the most experienced
and qualified service members and align compensation and
benefits to achieve this end. Along with the review of
compensation the interrelationship of the military's current
promotion system should be reviewed, as well as associated
force shaping tools.
Together, these principles form a useful foundation to
guide the Commission's review and development of
recommendations to modernize the military compensation and
retirement systems.