A fter risking their lives and serving their country, soldiers do not deserve to be the subjects of cuts to a defense budget inflated by unnecessary expenditures elsewhere. It is therefore disheartening to learn of reductions in Army officers’ retirement benefits .
When $6 billion in cuts were announced as part of the bipartisan congressional budget deal in December 2013, the effect was supposed to be a one percentage point reduction in the annual cost of living increase. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), a co-author of the bill, said this would mean a loss of $100,000 or less over the lifetime of a soldier who enlisted at 18 and retired at 38.
But as the cuts have begun to take effect, officers seem to be forced to retire early, meaning they would not receive the benefits they’d anticipated. A soldier who served as a captain for less than eight years upon retirement would revert to a lower rank, which means a 50 percent loss of benefits for some soldiers. Those affected who hoped to financially support themselves and their families are now unable to do so.
The New York Times reported these cuts are three times as likely to affect officers who joined as enlisted soldiers rather than commissioned officers and that most of them had good records.
Our nation has spent enough on war. Let’s invest in those who have sacrificed so much on our behalf and stop paying back the bravery they have shown with neglect.
