Military, civilian raises would be 4.4 percent in 2000

Military leaders on Monday called for a 4.4 percent pay raise for military personnel in 2000, followed by 3.9 percent pay raises through 2005. Federal civilian employees would also get a 4.4 percent raise next year, under a proposal President Clinton announced in August.

The military pay proposals will be part of President Clinton's fiscal 2000 budget plan, said Defense Secretary William Cohen and Gen. Henry H. Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, yesterday. The two DoD leaders called the raises the largest military pay hikes in nearly a generation.

"The compensation system must help the services recruit, retain the high-quality men and women that our defense requires," Cohen said.

In addition to the across-the-board raises, the base salaries of noncommissioned officers and mid-grade officers will be bumped up even more on July 1, 2000, the officials said. The extra raises for officers will range from 0.5 percent to as much as 5.5 percent on top of the 4.4 percent raise. Military pay tables will also be reformed so that promotions garner members larger raises than longevity.

"If you look today at our system, if you take one of our great staff sergeants that has eight years of service, you'll find that one of his subordinates, who may be a sergeant, an E-5 pay grade, who has 14 years of service, makes as much or more than he does," Shelton said.

The third part of the plan is to improve retirement pay by making pensions worth 50 percent of salary at 20 years of service for all service members. Currently, service members who enlisted after 1986 get a lower pension.

Cohen and Shelton pledged to work with Congress to get the pay changes approved. One possible stumbling block is the price tag of the pay hikes. The package would cost $30 billion through 2005, said a senior Defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.