3.9% Pay Raise for 2009
10/15/08 - The President signed the FY2009 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which included a 3.9 percent military pay raise for 2009. This is a half-percent higher raise than the Administration's request earlier in the year. More on the 2009 NDAA.

New Leave Carry-over Policy
Active duty servicemembers expecting to lose leave on Sep 30 due to caps on carryover leave will be the first to benefit from a new temporary policy that will let them keep more, and in some cases, sell back, accrued leave. The new military leave policy, part of the 2008 National Defense Authorization Act, allows members to carry over 75 days rather than the previous 60 days into the next fiscal year. The new policy, in place until Dec 31, 2010, is expected to reduce the amount of lost leave caused by the current high operating tempo.

Commandant Limits Assignments of Tattooed Marines
9/16/08 - Marines with so-called “sleeve” tattoos are no longer eligible for special duty assignments as recruiters or Marine Corps security guards. The Commandant, Gen. James T. Conway, USMC, issued the new order (MARADMIN 494/08), an extension of the Service-wide ban on such tattoos he issued last year. Marines who had sleeve tattoos already and documented their body art by July 2007 were “grandfathered” and are not in violation of the prohibition. The MARADMIN cites the “significant impact on public perception” that recruiters and security guards have as the reason for the extended limitations on such inked-up Marines.

Stop-loss Numbers Back Up in Army
5/08 - One of Defense Secretary Robert Gates' initial actions was to limit “stop-loss” cases through a directive to the Joint Chiefs issued in January 2007. By May of that year, the number of soldiers affected by involuntary extensions had dropped to a three-year low of 8,540. But since the surge began, and as tours were extended to 15 months, the number of soldiers affected by stop-loss is back up - 12,235 in March 2008, an increase of 43%. According to the Pentagon, these soldiers serve an average of an extra 6.6 months. LTG James Thurman, USA, deputy chief of staff for operations, said he hoped that wartime demand for troops will decline enough by the fall of 2009 to end the stop-loss requirement.

Marine Deployment Ratio
The Commandant of the Marine Corps set a “deployment to dwell” ratio of 1-to-2.  This means that for every 4 months spent deployed (deploy-ments must be a minimum of 4 consecutive months to count), active duty Marines will have 8 months at their home base or station. Reserve Marines have a 1-to-5 deployment to dwell ratio. The deployment clock starts running as soon as boots hit the ground. Training, deployment certifications, pre-deployment exercises and other routine local operations may occur during the dwell period.

Wounded Warriors Say Medical Care on Right Track
3/08 – In a Zogby poll, a majority of severely wounded servicemembers say they are more optimistic for recovery since arriving home from deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan.

A Kind of GI Bill for Spouses?
The new Military Spouse Career Advancement Initiative provides up to $6,000 for qualified military spouses enrolling in education or training programs ($3,000 per year). This money can be used to pay for expenses such as tuition, books, equipment, and credentialing and licensing fees in nationally identified high-growth, portable career fields such as education, health care, information technology, construction trades and financial services. Eligible program participants are military spouses with sponsors in pay grades E1-E5 and O1-O3 who have completed some college, or who have obtained a high school diploma or GED.

Military spouses may apply at One-Stop Career Centers on or near participating installations' Voluntary Education Centers. More information about the program, including locations, can be found online at: http://caa.milspouse.org/.

Supreme Court to Review Navy Sonar’s Impact on Marine Life
6/08 - The nation’s highest court will review a dispute between the Navy and environmental protection laws. The case involves Navy training exercises using sonar off the southern California coast. A federal district court ruled that the Navy cannot use sonar within 12 miles of the coast and must also restrict its use when marine mammals are within a certain distance of its ships. A Navy study has been released examining the potential damage to marine wildlife when using sonar, available online here. The Administration argues that the sonar restrictions put the lives of sailors and Marines at risk by preventing realistic training, while the Natural Resources Defense Council argues that sonar use clearly can kill or injure marine mammals, and that common-sense safeguards can be followed without compromising military readiness. The case, Winter v. NRDC, will likely be heard by the Court in the Fall. In the meantime, the court is allowing Navy training to continue under its restricted conditions.

Coast Guard Commandant Leads Service into Web 2.0
9/26/08 - ADM Thad Allen, USCG, urges Coasties to embrace Web 2.0 technology in a YouTube video.

Length of Deployments Decreases
7/31/08 – President Bush announced the duration of troop tours in Iraq will be cut from 15 to 12 months effective today. He declared progress in the Iraq war, saying terrorists "are on the run" and a generally improved security environment should permit further troop reductions. He said this "will relieve the burden on our forces and it will make life easier for our wonderful military families." The President's announcement comes in the 6th year of the war in Iraq and with violence on the ground substantially decreased. About 147,000 servicemembers remain on the gound in Iraq.

New GI Bill
7/2/08 – A new GI Bill, which will mean greatly expanded benefits, including the ability to transfer the benefit to spouses/children, was signed into law as part of the supplemental war spending bill passed by Congress before its 4th of July recess. Check out the new GI Bill fact sheet (pdf) here.

NOAA Addresses Fleet's Fuel Shortfall
7/24/08–NOAA’s Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO) is taking action to address the FY 2008 shortfall caused by rising fuel costs. Scheduling earlier refuelings before 4th quarter price increases or deferring fueling of ships with sufficient fuel aboard until the start of the next fiscal year, and fueling at DOD depots rather than Defense Logistics Agency facilities will help reduce the shortfall. Two NOAA ship projects have been cancelled: a 60-day GORDON GUNTER voyage and a 6-day HI'IALAKAI project. Flight hours for NOAA aircraft will not be cut, and the re-maining shortfall of about $1.6 million will be covered by the NOAA budget office through other de-obligations rather than cutting additional sea days.

Full Replacement Value Protection for PCS Moves
The method of reimbursing servicemembers for lost or damaged household goods in government moves changed to full replacement value protection at the end of 2007. The moving company is liable for either $5,000 per shipment or $4 times the net weight of the shipment (up to $50,000), whichever is greater. Guidelines are available here. 

Military Wife, Surrogate Mother?
4/2/08 - A Newsweek cover story on surrogate motherhood reports that many military wives have become surrogate mothers, some looking to supplement the family income while their husbands are serving overseas. Several surrogate agencies and in-vitro fertilization clinics reported a significant increase in the number of wives of servicemembers applying to be surrogates since the invasion of Iraq. Agencies in Texas and California reported to Newsweek that military spouses make up half of their surrogate mothers. Some military wives can earn more with one pregnancy than their husbands' annual base pay. And military wives are attractive candidates to carry another’s baby because of their healthcare coverage under TRICARE. TRICARE says surrogate mothers should declare the amount of payment they are receiving which can then be deducted from their coverage – but it’s doubtful many are doing this. Surrogate agencies are targeting military wives in their marketing efforts, including distributing brochures on base and advertising in publications serving military communities.

Conduct Waivers DOUBLE Among Army Recruits
The percentage of Army recruits requiring a waiver to join because of a criminal record or other misconduct has more than doubled since 2004 (from 4.6% in 2004 to 11% in 2007). So far in 2008, 13% of recruits entered the Army with conduct waivers. Another long-standing measure of recruit quality has also declined sharply – only 79% of Army recruits have high school diplomas compared to 91% in 2001. Most conduct waivers involve juvenile misdemeanor convictions, though a few involved crimes like sexual assault, armed robbery, and arson; and there were 3 cases of involuntary manslaughter. Standards for granting waivers are stringent, and are typically based on recommendations of the recruit’s teachers, coaches or others who know the individual well. Waivers are not granted for serious offenses, and convicted felons amounted to less than one percent of the total (about 115,000) soldiers and Marines recruited in 2007.  A 2007 Center for Naval Analyses study found that those recruited with conduct waivers were “quite a bit more likely” than other servicemembers to be discharged for misconduct within two years of enlistment.

Postal Service Discount for Mail to Servicemembers
3/08 – The US Postal Service unveiled a priority mail large flat-rate box for mailings to overseas service-members. The box measures 12 x 12 x5 ½ (800 cubic inches) and the cost is $10.95 for delivery to an APO/FPO address - $2 less than for domestic destinations. The new box is available in post offices, can be ordered online at usps.com/supplies, or by calling 1-800-610-8734.