European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 19, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 letters the stars and stripes july 1985 scorching some rumours about military pensions enlisted men should lobby for a new Mil itary retirement system and sever them selves from officers concerning retired int it a fact that the retired officer receives a bundle in retired pay while the retired he by comparison receives pea when David Stockman complained about military was he complaining about the pension for the retired technical sergeant or the retired lieutenant colonels pension witness the contrast Between the retired lieutenant colonels pension and the technical sergeants is it not a fact that an upon retirement from Active is automatically promoted to the next higher Grade and receives the pension of the higher if a major at the officer receives the pension of a lieutenant colonel though he never held that rank on Active duty and is it not a fact that pensions to re tired officers use up most of the military pension budget retired pm receive Only a Small portion of the pension pie is it not a fact that except by an act of con Gress there is no logical explanation for the difference Between the amount of the lieu tenant colonels pension and the technical sergeants keep in mind that the present military pension system is nonparticipating the service member on Active duty contributes nothing to a retirement fund though he contributes to social Security by Way of payroll military retirement is free the military Retiree has no vested in Terest in his pension and is fully the military pension is not remuneration for services rendered it is not the pension is not payment for a retirees prior it is not payment for his military it is not payment for his leadership and it is not payment for a retirees military instead the military pension provides a substantial inducement to the service member to voluntarily endure the special hardships of military these hardships Are the same no matter the rank the lieutenant colonel and the technical sergeant will endure the same a new Bill will be introduced to the 99th the Law promulgated by the new Bill will prevent a Retiree from receiving both a military pension and a social Security annuity at the same time the Law will not relieve the Active duty serv ice member of the Burden of payroll deductions for social the effect of this new Law will be to Elim replies to letter editors note the following response is from Les chairman of he House of representatives committee on armed services thank you for the Opportunity to reply to this which perpetuates a Host of myths about military officers Are not promoted to the next higher rank upon in they must serve in a Grade for at least three years prior to retirement in order to retire in that pensions to retired officers dont use up most of the military retirement though they do account for almost to be officers accounted for 31 percent of the no disabled retirees As of and received 47 percent of the total sum it is just not True that the difference Between a lieutenant colonels pension and a technical sergeants pension cannot be explained except by an act of the fact is that pensions private state and local govern and social Security Are almost universally linked to those who get paid More while working get paid More while i know of no Bill such As the writer describes to prevent a military Retiree from receiving both social Security and military retired five Bills related to retirement have been introduced in the House this year three would raise benefits for certain categories of retirees one would make retired pay payable starting on the 30th anniversary of enlistment and the fifth would reduce benefits for those who enter the service after the Bill is the last is the Only retirement legislation that has it has no Impact at All on anyone currently retired or currently in there Are an unbelievable number of myths surrounding military retired i suggest that your readers not rely on Barracks tales for their stars and stripes does a Good Job of informing readers of every major installation has a personnel officer who should be Able to answer and my office is always ready to answer letters from stars and stripes to confirm or often scotch Nate the free pension for pm Over the age of 62 and bring them under the social Security retirement officers will not be affected they will retain their free for this the Max social Security annuity payable to any one annuitant in any one year is about both the lieutenant colonel and the technical ser Geant under the new Law could receive a social Security annuity of were they to elect a social Security annuity to the exclusion of a military the technical sergeants military pension and his social Security annuity would be the same Given the the technical sergeant would opt for the social Security annuity because it is not taxable while the military pension is fully the lieutenant colonel will elect to keep his fully taxable military pension and forfeit his nontaxable social Security in effect the lieutenant colonel will receive a annual Bonus As a free military pension Over the earned social Security annuity received by the technical Stockman and other critics of the military pension have asked Why  the service member be required to support his pension by Way of payroll deductions As required by All other Federal retirement funds they could also ask Why the lieutenant colonel should receive a free pension while the technical sergeant receives no free pension under the new if a participating Federal retirement sys tem supported by payroll deductions were held up As a backdrop for the present Mili tary pension system it would highlight the differences Between the lieutenant colonels pension and the annuity of the technical it would become immediately apparent that the lieutenant colonels Windfall Doest end with the pension the technical sergeants but he also has benefited by having been relieved of the catalytic conversion questions answered i have a question concerning the Pur Chase of commercial plane tickets for per manent change of station if the military members orders authorize the Purchase of commercial plane tickets and also authorize the reimbursement for the Why must the member buy full Price tickets instead of discount tickets the reasoning is not Clear to since it would seem that the government should be delighted to spend less Money on permanent change of station travel by reimbursing less Money for i also have a question concerning the refitting of a catalytic converter on my automobile prior to shipping it to the United i have read that 1 must save my receipt from the refitting to prove to customs officials that the catalytic converter has not been subjected to the use of leaded Gas for the length of my Pence pal sought i am a 49yearold englishman interested in coins of the world ancient and and i would like to correspond and Exchange coins with any service member who May have similar Willand ii Shilliton close Bary Edmunds England i also read that the receipt should show the Date of the work and the mileage on my car at the time of am i authorized to have the catalytic converter refitted at my duty station prior to driving my car to Bremerhaven or is it advisable to arrange for refitting at the port to minimize the number of Miles driven with leaded Gas what is the maximum number of Miles the customs officials will accept be fore the catalytic converter is deemed to be destroyed withheld Kaiserslautern editors note a spokesman for the office of the Deputy chief of replies your question on reduced fares is a timely the basis of the rules prohibit ing the official use of reduced fares were developed before the airlines were Peregu airlines had to have approval for Selling reduced fares and each fare had to be targeted to a specific travel or the Dod instruction which limited the use of reduced was rescinded in april and the army regu lation 60811 that applied to Usa eur is expected to be rescinded or revised in the finance and account ing offices have been instructed to Honor requests for reimbursement for any Flag air Carrier tickets purchased by individuals for official travel when orders per the rationale for this decision is that it is the airlines not the to determine what category of ticket it May sell an with regard to the surest to avoid customs and Epa difficulties is to arrange to have the converters refitted at the european if it is refitted at your duty the receipt you describe is there is no maximum mileage Rule for using leaded the determination of acceptable converters is based on an emis Sions test using any leaded Gas could mean failure to pass the emissions the result would be the impounding and posting of a Bond equal to the value of the car at the the Best advice we can give you is unless you Are absolutely sure that Only unleaded Gas will be used in your refit the catalytic converter at the requisite payroll deductions to support his to Vest his pension Over a 20 year period the lieutenant colonel would have contributed about the taxpayer would also have contributed to match the lieutenant colonels and similarly the technical sergeant for an annuity would have contributed about since neither the lieutenant colonel nor the technical sergeant contributed anything to the military pension system these hypothetical contributions represent the technical sergeant actually receives no Bonus because he must opt for a social Security with a View of correcting the inequities of the present military pension system and at the same time reducing the Federal Defi consider the following suggestion establish a Baseline military annuity supported by social Security payroll the Baseline amount would be the Max social Security annuity payable at age 65 for this the new system would be administered by the social Security administration with two prime differences it would be Avail Able to the military Retiree regardless of rank after 20 years Active duty regardless of the annuity would be fully tax then establish a contributory military annuity fully self funding where any Active duty member can voluntarily contribute As much As he desires with the provision that the members up to 30 percent of base would be tax the annuity emanating from this fund would add on to the Baseline social Security Annu Ity in any amount desired by the contrib and it should be fully the Money reposing in the fund could be invested by the military into govern ment Bonds and the fund set aside to pro vide a surety for the new military annuity any Early withdrawal from the fund should trigger a penalty and the proceeds should be fully eliminate the present military pension for All new eliminate the present military pension system for All reservists no new system should be provided for for the majority of pm under this new system there would be no change since All service members currently contribute to so Cial Security by Way of payroll the officer would pay for his added annuity though the effective Cost would be reduced substantially because his contributions to the retirement fund would be tax a married lieutenant colonel earning filing a joint return 1984 showing itemized deductions and exemptions in the amount of could contribute per year 30 percent of to the fund to Vest an annuity of after 20 years Active As shown by the 1984 tax his Federal income tax would be reduced from to a savings of his contribution to the fund for 1984 would be not pm could also voluntarily contribute to the proposed new military retirement sys tem to receive a higher annuity at retire this same system could be extended to the entire Federal civil the foreign withheld Portugal pen pals i would like to correspond with people in other i am 16 years my hobbles Are going with singing and strumming the Ansag Rosalinda Dong 340 Veciano Road Dumaguet Negros Oriental 6501 Philippines would you please place my name in the pen pal my hobbles Are horses and trying new Almanza 309 Hoy Illinois 60098