Hagel: ‘Modest Adjustments’ to Pay System Needed

To meet training and readiness needs during the current climate of tight budgets, the Pentagon needs to rein in soaring compensation costs, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told lawmakers on Capitol Hill during a March 6 hearing. “We need some modest adjustments to the growth of pay and benefits,” Hagel said to members of the House Armed Services Committee, in testimony relating to the Obama administration’s proposed 2015 defense-spending bill now pending before Congress. The 2015 bill, and future budget requests, will continue to include pay-raise provisions, but the will not be as substantial as in years past, Hagel told the panel. The budget request includes $341.3 billion for day-to-day costs, including pay and benefits compensation for service members and civilian employees. Other provisions would reduce off-base housing subsidies during the next few years and increase costs for health care coverage under TRICARE for retirees and family members, he said.