Coming: Lowest Pay Raise in 12 Years

Congress has bowed to the Bush administration’s request for a Jan. 1 military pay raise of 2.2 percent. This will be the smallest military pay increase since 1994. The House earlier had endorsed a 2.7 percent raise proposed by a House Armed Services panel, but the 2.2 figure won out during a joint House-Senate conference. The result will leave a gap of 4.5 percent between military pay and salaries in the private sector, according to some estimates. The committee did approve the administration’s plan for targeted pay raises for all warrant officers and for certain members in pay grades E-5 through E-7. Those hikes will be in addition to the 2.2 percent rise, and also will be effective Jan. 1.