President Bush signed the $420.6 billion fiscal 2005 National Defense Authorization Act Oct. 28.
Features: eliminates the 36 percent Survivor Benefit Plan age 62 offset over a period of three and a half
years; accelerates concurrent-receipt payments for retirees rated 100 percent disabled (but see third
item); funds a 3.5 percent across-the-board pay raise for service members; eliminates average
out-of-pocket expenses for housing by increasing the basic allowance for housing; makes permanent
increases in hostile fire/imminent danger pay to $225 per month and in family separation pay to $250 per
month; raises Army and Marine Corps end strength by 20,000 and 3,000, respectively; allows the base
realignment and closure process to move forward; and eliminates a statutory ceiling on privatization of
housing, which allows DoD to leverage public money with private contractors to build and renovate
military housing.
