FAIL: Army Delays Pay Raise For Soldiers Days Before It Was Expected To Arrive

The Army is putting an upcoming pay raise for deployed soldiers on ice just days before it was scheduled to arrive.

The initial plan, as outlined in a memo obtained by Military.com last week, was to bump the pay of troops deployed abroad for more than 30 days by anywhere from $210 to $450 a month, depending on their rank. The raise was expected to roll out next week, but details of the plan were never fully worked out, causing officials to pull the plan until outstanding items could be addressed, according to Military.com.

The memo in question was looked over by commanders as recently as this month, officials told Military.com. At the time, the plan contained several eyebrow-raising provisions and uncertainties, including questions over how the Army planned to fund the raise or whether it would be compounded with existing bonuses for certain troops.

The memo also appeared to say that hospitalized troops would lose their bonus pay, which was likely an error, according to Military.com.

“We got ahead of our skis here. It was inappropriate to brief leaders on clearly underbaked policy,” one Army official told Military.com, speaking on condition of anonymity given the sensitive nature of the matter. “This should’ve never made it as far as it did.”

Such pay raises would typically be worked over at the Pentagon and discussed between high-level officials for months, but rumors of the raise made its way into the ranks of junior troops currently deployed abroad, according to Military.com. Commanders privately urged lower-level servicemembers not to rely on the pay raise, given the uncertainty around whether it would even be rolled out.

“The Army is reviewing the Operational Deployment Pay policy and, as such, we will not be implementing the policy on Oct. 1,” Army spokesman Bryce Dubee told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “When the review is complete, we will provide additional guidance.”

A raise would come at a time when the Army’s deployments around the world are high, with footprints in the Middle East, Africa, Europe and the Asia-Pacific, according to Military.com. The pay raise in question would only apply to the Army; some branches have their own unique duty day standards.

More broadly, the delay comes amid concerns that pay in the military is not keeping pace with the private sector. Worsening matters are years of high inflation and cost of living rates under the Biden administration’s leadership.

Roughly 57% of servicemembers or military families polled by the Military Family Advisory Network in 2023 said they’d recommend joining the service, down from 74% in 2019. Pay and benefits were among some of the top reasons those respondents said they wouldn’t recommend the service.

Only about 27% of the respondents said that their family health was “excellent” compared to approximately 41% in 2021, according to the Military Family Advisory Network poll.

A congressional committee previously proposed giving all junior enlisted troops — who often are paid the least among their ranks — a pay major raise that would cost the government roughly $24 billion over the next five years. The White House rejected the proposal in June because wanted time to conduct its own compensation review.

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