The Army pushed out almost 1,200 Army captains and 550 majors last year as it cut its military strength.
Captains and majors are a particularly tempting group to cut, because they have not yet reached the 18-year mark of service where their lifetime medical and retirement benefits hit a “sanctuary status” and can’t be touched.
Captains are promoted to major around their 11-year mark, and majors to lieutenant colonel around their 14-16 year mark.
They happen to be the men and women who signed up to serve in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
“It’s not a humane decision, it’s not a kind decision,” said retired Air Force Col. Phil Odom, deputy director of government relations for the Military Officers Association of America. “These are experienced, trained people departing. But that’s where the money is.”
It’s a well-known secret among the ranks that the military retirement system is a benefit few of them ever see — only about 17 percent of the men and women who sign up serve the full 20 years to be eligible. Even though relatively few receive the benefit, the amount of unfunded liabilities for the system is increasing, since the system wasn’t built to support a group of retirees who receive full benefits after 20 years and then go on to second careers and live longer than the system intended they would.
Later this week, a commission looking at how to reform military pay and benefits — including how to reform the military’s retirement system — is expected to report its recommendations. But it is not clear how the reforms will be received in Congress, where military pay and benefits are largely viewed as sacrosanct. One option under consideration is shifting the retirement system to something along the lines of a thrift savings plan that service members would have more control over, and would vest into on different timeframes than the current plan.
If no reforms are made, the military will continue to meet the numbers handed to them by Congress by cutting where they see cost savings. That may mean cutting into another crop of officers well on their way to retiring with full benefits but who have not yet hit the 18-year sanctuary mark.
When the Air Force announced it would cut 352 captains and majors in November, Air Force Lt. Gen. Sam Cox, deputy chief of staff for manpower, personnel and services called the reduction in force “just the latest example of the tough choices we’ve had to make given current budget constraints.”
When the service members are cut, they receive some involuntary separation pay, Odom said, but the reality is the decisions based on finding budget savings “end a career and cost their retirement.”
To the officers cut, it’s an unexpected and truncated ending to their careers,” Odom said. “They came on to stay on,” Odom said.
