European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 29, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 columns the stars and stripes March pension reformers blasted by readers in reply to the study urges i pension i would like to urge that private group to study something they know More they certainly dont know the first thing about a military life i dont know of Many companies that separate you from your family for or years at a most often in a foreign and i dont see any company or Union asking a person to work 24 seven Days a week for the survival of the company or to give the ultimate sacrifice of personal anyone who faithfully dedicates 20 to 30 years under these tasks of the along with maintaining a professional deserves the Benefit to balance the one of the most important is David Fierstine Raf England i repeatedly see examples of figures for colonels and Navy captains and rarely anything on the average 20year now the Public is convinced we All make half to three quarters of a million dollars a piece in i can assure you the typical 20year reservist is not a 1 emphasize reservist not Retiree at 20 years because that is exactly what he the military or i use male pronouns for not sexism who transfers from Active duty at 20 years is in the inactive reserves for another 10 years before he is placed on the retired he is subject to recall and regardless of they still get recalled when the military has the the favorite opener is to talk of 50 per cent retirement pay 50 percent of base pay is not 50 percent of current entitlement and actually equates closer to 30 percent of earnings prior Tot leaving Active you Tell me if you can live on 30 percent of what you Are just getting by on right youre darn the 20 year reservist goes Back to Morris uss Eisenhower 1 bet the folks who comprise the non profit Center for budget and policy Priori ties probably never spent Remote Tours of duty in Vietnam or Thailand far away from Fame i wonder if these folks Ever visited radar Sites in Remote locations in the like Point Arena a f or Dillon of where there Are no commissaries or exchanges and no additional compensations or allowances to buy on the its amazing How some folks become experts overnight on matters they know nothing i suggest that these folks find other ways to save How about doing away with unnecessary committees and groups like the nonprofit Center for budget and policy priorities i bet some of my tax dollars directly or indirectly support just think of All the Money that could be Richard Bettencourt Prem Germany do not place us the ple in the same class with the non working and t and others like never thought of How big a payoff we could just knew there was a dirty Job to be i Only thought about the big payoff after the Center for budget and policy was opened and started trying to take our take another look at the 41yearold who gets out at 20 in most cases a line an e6 or who looks and feels like 60 years most enlisted Mem Bers stay longer than 20 Are the ones coun tearing our nations for i am thinking of getting out to get a no overpaid Job like yours Bjk in the any of you Are invited to spend a my sex to let you see if we Are overpaid Frank staff Page Ken Cut without Ramstein Germany statements such an army colonel or Navy Captain will collect an average of in Are constantly being Given to the civilian what about the majority the military the enlisted Force there Are a lot More enlisted than most people not in the military dont spend one year or More isolated from their loved ones or How Many civilians go to Remote places and get paid what we do what does the average civilian make who has been in Job 20 years and filling a management Job compared to the 20year military member How Many civilians work 10 or More hours per Day and dont get overtime pay if the average military member was paid time and a half for every time he worked Over eight then the military budget would be you say the system needs to be Struc tured to provide but you keep taking our incentives Hospital dental care and every time we turn around the commissary is being the article most retirees begin new careers 29 percent went to work for defense after being in the with our can you blame the defense contractor for not hiring us weve sacrificed so those in the civilian Community May enjoy the Freedom which we help we As military members pay a High Price for their free Edward Sharrett Torrejon Spain the article is very misleading and the article makes it look like everyone retires from the military with 20 years of services and at age in my own Case i receive at least 48 percent less than under the plan in effect when i on top of All the social Security has been Cut twice since i even before being eligible for also for tax the credit for the elderly has been i keep Reading about the Reagan administration not wanting to change the system for those already retired and grandfathering those about ready to Well dont anyone believe that the system is been changed Many times in the past ten years and i expect it will be changed again and More than All of you Active duty people better pay for All the misinformation published on How great our retired pay i retired As an e7 on a length of service pension and have yet to receive a w2p Over i also pay income tax on retired pay As most do after we a Good piece of it goes right Back in the governments pock so if you want to protect your earned you had beter get your writing skills withheld Ramstein Germany like All studies of this this report sought to distort the facts by using the retired pay of an o6 As the so called i understand that these people provide an available target for groups such As but i feel comparisons of this kind do an injustice to the greater majority of retired military the Bottom line of All of these studies seems to be the fact that Many military people begin second careers when they re i will not question this Contention As i know it to be very what is not pointed out by any study i have is that most of these individuals must begin new As their Overly Gener Ous retirement checks simply do not allow them to sit Back and live a life of ease after the question is then Why do they retire Early if they cant afford to live on their pensions i feel this should be the question asked of the the answer is of course simple and almost Al ways most people who retire have no Choice in the we have a system in the enlisted ranks called to Cap which forces people out if they do not reach certain grades within a specified number of although if not most would rather stay on until they reach 30 the greater majority Are prevented from doing so by All of us feel that something should be done to help the country hold Down the National and if changing the military retirement system will so be we have had to sacrifice a great Deal Over the years to keep our country even though we would not enjoy a change in our we would find a Way to live with it is my Contention that the elimination of the Upo rout provisions in both the enlisted and the officer ranks would save a great Deal More Money in the Long keep Many More highly experienced people in the this change might just be a Good Quick fix for Norman Stephenson Torrejon Spain they say its far More generous than civil service what about All the Money civil service get when they make a move they Are paid expenses for Selling a a trip to look for a new Home and other gis get hardly any of those the statement that gis pay nothing toward their pensions clearly puts us As second Freedom is As the president has you cant put a Price if gis pay nothing for their pen what about All the people who died in the line of were their lives Worth nothing i Call that a pretty Complete pay and we live each Day in the military ready to put our lives on the line if called upon to do can the civilians claim the same i dont know where they got the Statis tics on lifetime payments but if they Check the obituary column of air Force times they May be shocked at How Long people live after retirement before they military pensions go to a relatively Small and elite and its such a Good Deal Why Arent people beating the doors Down to stay 20 or 30 instead of the 13 percent As the article states its because it take a special kind of person to Hack everything associated with military and a special kind of family to support the military Larry Anders Ramstein Germany i dislike having my earned retired pay compared with i have never asked for nor received any kind of welfare i did serve 25 years Active duty through and Vietnam plus 22 years in the no and reserves for a total of 47 six of my 25 years Active duty was in combat and my physical and psychological scars Are the Price 1 paid so that groups like this can live in Freedom and write their report the military there and always has something unique and special about the we have been and misunderstood but Al most never we Are fully aware that we provide the rest of the nation with some of its most notable myths and atom we dont pay too much attention to such drivel from these self anointed groups because we know  find a cure for whats bother ing them some Johnson Germany nothing irritates me More than to see and hear the press and our senators in Congress Chip away the Backbone of our nations service members members who put their lives on the line daily for 20 years or More in order for them to retire with a modest pension from the this is the thanks they it is Nice to be Able to sit Back in the comforts of a Home in the and criticize our service members for the Opportunity to retire after 20 years at the age of Congress fails to understand that we must still support our families and return to the civilian Community with an already flooded Job a great majority of the service members still have to Purchase a Home and modify their lives in the civil Ian with the interest rates and Cost of living in the we Are Lucky if our pensions cover a mortgage so before our leaders criticize the Mili tary pensions and the morale of our armed forces think very seriously of the service members who make it possible for us As americans to be Able to enjoy the com forts of Pur own the Freedom of speech and to live in a free country leaders ask yourself this would you be willing Able to change places with us i would love to receive the pay you take Home to your Parker Frankfurt