COLA wars

        Interesting Facebook exchange last night and this morning. I am a member of a group called Navy Chief (ret) of which I am one. Last night, someone questioned how much the increase in retired pay would be this year, which is a totally reasonable query. Another individual responded, “not enough,” which is not.

        Before we delve into what ensued, let me simply enunciate my position. I know some of my readers are also retired military folks, so be offended or agree, it’s irrelevant to me. I agree that we owe many, if not most, veterans of the Armed Forces our thanks, especially in the era of the all-volunteer military. We owe our gratitude equally to many first responders, EMTs etc, who don’t have as strong a lobby.

        The GI Bill, the Veteran’s Administration, Tricare (Medicare supplement covering almost anything you can imagine), and the Tricare pharmacy plans) are some of the ways we, as a nation, thank military retirees and disabled veterans. Many veterans are retired or discharged totally whole, having either never been in harm’s way or fortunate enough to escape injury, but the notion, increasingly popular in some quarters, that all veterans are heroes is also false.

        Most of us did our jobs. Sometimes hard, sometimes rewarding, frequently requiring family separation, to the best of our ability, knowing, when we enlisted, that we were guaranteed a retirement based on our years of service and our basic pay at separation. 

       Truth told, the VA cares for those either injured and disabled while on active duty or who, leaving the military short of retirement, need medical care and are unable to afford it. This is unrelated to the current discussion. Unfortunately, there are and, sadly, probably always will be, healthy veterans who, some retirees, many not, who, for whatever reason, never move on beyond that. They can be seen in public settings, wearing their ball caps and/or vests. (I’d say, “like geriatric Boy Scouts”, but that would be wrong.)

        I do still wear a ball cap from my first (of three) submarines. I do so to keep the sun out of my eyes while golfing. I am in touch with a number of shipmates from that and later command(s), none of whom left the service and lamented the small COLAs, because retiree or not, they got on with their lives and had other careers. This is a group who served and who, having either retired to other jobs or separated prior to retirement and having other careers (complete with retirement plans) reflects fondly on the time spent as brother (or sister) in arms.

        Like all other Government  retirement plans, there is usually a Cost of Living (COLA) increase in retirement pay. This year it is actually a bit more than the annual increase in the cost of living. The story here is that if a person does 20 years (at minimum) in the US Armed Services, is separated healthy and capable and that retirement pay (drawn at, say, age 40-45) isn’t sufficient to support your lifestyle …wait for it… get another job. People do. If you are satisfied with a 20 year military retirement and care to live on it another 20 years before Social Security kicks in, be my guest. Just don’t bitch that your decision merits more than an annual COLA, because it doesn’t.  

 Now, here’s the conversation edited for duplicate or irrelevant responses):

XXXXX “How much pay raise are we gonna get ????”

MXXXXX “2.8% cola for military retirees”

RXXXXXXX “Same 2.8% for VA disability and Social Security as well!”

JXXXXXX “Not enough”

 (Here’s where I said “huh? And checked the CPI increase for 2017, finding that it was well under 2.8%)

Mike Dorman: “It is more than a COLA. What did you, in retirement, do this year to merit more?” (and yes, I knew this might trigger some response, but as explained above, …etc)

KXXXXX  “Do you enjoy being a Dick? Some of those retirees and wounded vets, earned a shit(sic!) more than your comment Chief. Sit pretty and safe, or did you just watch what others did? You want to start a "merit" based system? I'm all for that.”

(At this point another chimed in  with: 

FXXXXX:  "It’s not a raise. They just give you enough so you stay poor and not poorer." 
This is simply nonsensical. If you retire with 20 or more years of working life left and are healthy and the retirement isn't enough money, do something else!) 

Mike Dorman “No, I spent 26 years, most of it on sea duty, almost 4 years of that actually under water, for the right to point out that the current military retiree pay raise is more than the increase in the cost of living. Once retired, the "earning " of whatever is done. Sitting around griping is useless. And no, as a retiree who went on to teach high school for another 20 years, once I retired with the pension and health care coverage I was promised when I enlisted, I was just another healthy, ex-military retired person. If raises in that retirement were more than the cost of living increase, and sometimes they weren’t, I lucked out. Check and see how many other guaranteed benefit retirement plans have any guarantee of COLAs. The VA and Tricare are benefits unique to retirees and disabled veterans who have health related or medical financial issues and is unrelated to simple changes in retirement pay. And that's Master Chief to you, thanks.  

Cue the crickets.