YONGSAN GARRISON, South Korea — As Sgt. 1st Class Michael Dolan approached 10 years with the Army, he took a week of vacation to look at his options.
He considered becoming a police officer in California, where the starting salary would have given him some $10,000 more a year. Then he looked at the military’s long-term benefits — including retirement checks that would start before he turned 40.
“If I stay longer, I’ll get my money,” he remembers thinking.
But under a new proposal from the Pentagon, newly enlisted and commissioned members would not have the same immediate benefit of retirement pay that Dolan and thousands of others count on.
Instead, servicemembers with only 10 years’ experience could collect retirement and extend career lengths to 40 years. But none of those servicemembers would get a penny in retirement payments until they turned 60.
To counter the later payments, people who stay in beyond 20 years would get “gate pays,” or bonuses. The military also would expand investment options for that retirement pay, including a 10 percent match for every dollar the member puts aside in the Thrift Savings Plan, the military’s version of a 401(k).
But if that had been the policy when Dolan hit 10 years, it would have been too little to keep him in the service, he said this week.
“It’s a bad proposal,” said Dolan, 37, who has 18 years in and works with 8th U.S. Army’s Headquarters and Headquarters Company. “There’s already enough problems with enlistment. I don’t see how you would keep people in past 10 years.”
Dolan and others interviewed at Yongsan Garrison in Seoul on Monday said they found little to like about the proposal.
The military, soldiers said, requires a commitment unlike many other jobs: constant moving, wartime deployments, dangerous training, long and varied hours. Getting retirement checks after 20 years of service helps offset such burdens, they said.
Army Sgt. 1st Class James Smith has 13 years in and plans to stay for 20. “That’s my house payment,” he said Monday during lunch at a Yongsan food court. “Back home, people [Smith’s age] have paid off their houses. That’s the least the Army can do.”
But others see the proposal as an opportunity to build a better cushion for retirement years.
Marine Lance Cpl. Steven Blancher, a military policeman with Camp Foster’s Provost Marshal’s Office on Okinawa, said the 10-year retirement plan would make re-enlisting tempting.
“It would play a major factor in my decision process,” said Blancher, who has been in the Corps for about 18 months and signed an initial five-year enlistment. “It would be a positive in me wanting to stay in longer.”
Blancher also said the shorter retirement time would benefit more military members, like those who get out after 12 or 15 years or those who are forced out.
Senior Airman Stephen Buckner, 18th Component Maintenance Squadron, Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, said the 10-year retirement plan would “give new options and things to consider.”
Buckner, in the Air Force three years with one more left on his contract, is leaning toward re-enlisting. He said a change to policy wouldn’t affect his decision to stay. The plan would be great, he added, for people in for 10 or 11 years and contemplating leaving.
Buckner didn’t like waiting until age 60 to see any retirement pay. “If you’ve put in the time, you shouldn’t have to wait to get the benefits,” he said Monday on Gate 2 Street, just outside Kadena.. “While we do have a lot of benefits, there are a lot of sacrifices, too.”
But, on the flip side, Buckner said, “Even if you only did 10 years, at least it’s something that you’re guaranteed when you hit 60.”
Air Force Lt. Aaron Kleiman, also on Gate 2 Street on Monday, said he doesn’t mind waiting until 60, because it’s not about the cash. He also likes the idea of serving more than 30 years.
“Money is not the motivator for me, I just love what I’m doing,” said Kleiman, who declined to disclose where he works. “They’ll have to kick me out or kill me … so if I could stay in for 40 (years), that would be great.”
As far as retention, Chief Petty Officer Daniel Spencer, officer in charge, Assault Craft Unit 1 at Sasebo Naval Base Detachment, sees no major problem.
“I believe many would entertain getting out at 10 and getting some type of benefit,” he said. “However, most think, ‘Hey, I’ve done 10 already. Hey, 10 more and I get 50 percent.’ That does serve as a motivation.”
The retirement pay would be 25 percent at 10 years, increasing to 50 percent at 20 years. The current plan maxes at 75 percent for 30 years’ service. The proposal would increase that to 100 percent for 40 years’ service.
Spencer also sees expanding length-of-service as a plus.
“That would be great and benefit servicemembers as well as the Navy,” he said Monday. “There are some great leaders lost” because of early retirements.
Army Sgt. Clarence Johnson, 26, with 1st Signal Brigade in Seoul, disagrees. He’s got five years in and plans to make the Army a career. But delaying retirement pay? “No,” he said, shaking his head. “I wouldn’t stay.”
Stars and Stripes reporters Greg Tyler and Fred Zimmerman contributed to this story.
Military retirement plan draft
A DOD panel of compensation experts unveiled the framework of the new military retirement scheme Feb. 28. The proposed changes include:
No one receives a retirement annuity until they turn 60.Those who’ve served for 10 years could get an annuity, rather than needing to serve a minimum of 20 years.The plan would not affect those serving now, though current servicemembers could opt for some aspects, such as the 10-year retirement plan.New pay steps would be created for those serving beyond 30 years.Government will match Thrift Savings Plan contributions made by members, but they will not exceed 10 percent of basic pay.To compensate for the delayed retirement for those who opt to stay 20 to 40 years, the military would pay bonuses or “gate pays” at certain points of a servicemember’s career.Source: The Defense Advisory Committee on Military Compensation
