Obama Pulls Combat Pay for U.S. Troops

[row333au]

According to Military.com, and the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012 (H.R. 1540-7 Sec 616) as of February 1, 2012, this new measure went into effect, and soldiers who are to received the additional $225/mo. combat pay ‘must’ be in immediate risk of harm. The measure is very specific in its criteria for receiving the additional pay.

http://shark-tank.net/2012/02/04/25210/

[Vessol]

Does arresting American citizens and putting them camps line up in that criteria?

[Vessol]

So wait, now you only get an additional 225$ a MONTH if you are getting shot at? Wow, fuck that shit. I hope this makes more people decide to NOT join the military.

[squarepusher]

haha $225

[Zippyjuan]

$225 a month is what they have been getting. What is being changed is how many days you get paid the combat pay. It used to be that if you spent one day of the month you got the hazardous duty pay for the entire month- now they want to pay only for the actual number of days in the combat zone- there for one day- you get one day's hazard pay, not a whole month's worth. They aren't "pulling" combat pay as in getting rid of it.

[XNavyNuke]

Okay Zipper. Are you a paid spokesman for the Administration or do you just honestly not grok why the military are upset by this? As it was pointed out over in the Foreign Affairs thread, this is about servicemen and women being continuously overdeployed while simultaneously being nickel and dimed out of pay. Hazardous duty pay has been continuously dropping in real economic power terms for the past 60 years. This new policy is a further step in that process. Maybe for you $225 a month is no big deal. For an E5 with a wife/husband and kids, who is deployed to "insert kinetic action spot here", losing that money is a big dent in their families fixed income.

I guess they can just fall into Romney's/Obama's safety net that may/or may not need to be repaired.

XNN

[mosquitobite]

yeah, this sucks. The President and Congress make how much while screwing up our country? And we can't afford $225 a month for our servicemen/women WHO ARE OVERSEAS??

If we can't afford to pay them $225 a month for being over there, perhaps we shouldn't even have them over there in the first place?!?

[angelatc]

Does arresting American citizens and putting them camps line up in that criteria?

I wish. But we're sheep. Me included.

[angelatc]

Okay Zipper. Are you a paid spokesman for the Administration or do you just honestly not grok why the military are upset by this? As it was pointed out over in the Foreign Affairs thread, this is about servicemen and women being continuously overdeployed while simultaneously being nickel and dimed out of pay. Hazardous duty pay has been continuously dropping in real economic power terms for the past 60 years. This new policy is a further step in that process. Maybe for you $225 a month is no big deal. For an E5 with a wife/husband and kids, who is deployed to "insert kinetic action spot here", losing that money is a big dent in their families fixed income.

I guess they can just fall into Romney's/Obama's safety net that may/or may not need to be repaired.

XNN

Eh. it's a volunteer military. If the pay isn't adequate, don't sign up again.

[Seraphim]

Good, reduce their incentive to go shoot innocent Muslims. As Vessol and Angelatc said in one way or another - if your life isn't worth 225$, don't fuckin' sign up. These people aren't being drafted.

[PreDeadMan]

Good, reduce their incentive to go shoot innocent Muslims. As Vessol and Angelatc said in one way or another - if your life isn't worth 225$, don't fuckin' sign up. These people aren't being drafted.

I agree there...

[QueenB4Liberty]

Eh. it's a volunteer military. If the pay isn't adequate, don't sign up again.

Yeah, I don't feel bad for these people.

[Edward]

Whether or not you agree with the legislation, the title is misleading as it is not just Obama who made this happen. The managing editor of SharkTank appears to be a neocon who I am sure is happy to blame only the Democrats for America's troubles. As always... consider the source.

[Pericles]

There have been times at which military pay at the lower ranks qualified a family for food stamps - the the Commasary system took food stamps.

[The Gold Standard]

The Emperor should just stop paying the troops anything. Then maybe we can afford a brand new war. All he has to do is force people to serve in his imperial armies for free.

[Icymudpuppy]

Actually, this shouldn't effect soldiers on the ground. It will, however stop those upper level officers... Colonels and Generals from flying into Bagram for a 6 hour meeting and getting an extra $225. That kind of dirt has been going on for too long. Most regular soldiers think it's crap that those brass get paid extra for nothing.

[klamath]

Cutting the combat pay but not the deployments. Yep, I hope they catch you before you get to canada because voluntees aren't going to do it anymore. YOU will be drafted to fight Obama's war and you can get shot at for less pay. Sorry but I might laugh.

[oyarde]

Ok , let us look at this ; say you are a PFC in a forward operating post in Helmand or Kandahar . About every night around dark , say someone shoots a clip at you . In the course of the month , you were paid eighteen cents extra for each time you were shot at . Ok , why are we in Afghanistan now ??