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At 50 years of age, our association is at a crossroads.  We have been a part of many great successes over the years and perhaps those successes are leading to what I see as severe apathy in the ranks.  Our International Vice President, CMSgt (ret) Tim Litherland just passed the word that out of 263,000 enlisted members currently serving in the US Air Force only 37,000 are members of the Air Force Sergeants Association, a mere 14% of the entire active duty enlisted force.  I have to wonder why the active duty force has such apathy for this organization, one that has stood up for them for 50 years to improve the quality of life for the enlisted Airman.

Maybe the 220,000 plus Airmen that aren't members are perfectly satisfied with the benefits they currently enjoy on active duty.  I'll fully admit that pay and benefits are pretty nice in this day and age.  We have 100% tuition assistance, a great GI Bill that allows us to transfer that entitlement to our dependents, our Airmen live in the best dorms the Air Force has ever had, we can retire after 20 years of service with 50% of our High-3 pay, and we get a pretty good medical package when we retire from the service.  Honestly, it is tough to find anything to really bitch about with our current benefits and things have been pretty sweet for the last decade.

This wasn't always the case, the care and feeding of our Airmen has come a long way in the last 40 years.  When I was a E-1 in the early 80s I made $200/pay period and this was after a 25% pay raise through the 1981-1982 fiscal years.  Do you know who was at the forefront fighting for that pay raise?  The Air Force Sergeants Association was there for you.  Over the last 15-20 years AFSA has fought for pay increases that have netted a 20% higher monthly pay than what the DoD recommended to Congress in the annual budget.  Reduce your monthly pay by 20% and see how that would affect your family's quality of life.  Be thankful that AFSA and other military organizations have been there to fight for you.  

While things are pretty nice right now, we have to be vigilant during this time of financial hardship our country is facing.  Many of the benefits we enjoy can be gone with one stroke of the pen.  A great example of this is what Congress tried to do in 1995 to military members who were on active duty and fell under the "Final Pay" retirement system.  To save money on future retirement costs, Congress worked very hard to push through a change from the "Final Pay" computation to one that would average out a member's final 12 pay checks and base their retirement pay on that number.  Had this passed, this would have cost the average retiree about 3% of their retirement pay each month.  

Click here to read about it:  Political Heat Melting Support for High-1 Retirement Cut

The current retirement system is getting a strong look along with many other benefits.  Don't be naive to think that you will be grandfathered in if there are changes to the current system.  In 1995 Congress was not going to grandfather anyone, they were going to break a promise made to these individuals when they enlisted.  Our country is in a much tougher financial situation than we ever were in 1995 and AFSA is going to be there to make sure Congress knows what is important.  The problem is when only 14% of the active duty force is a member of the association, Congress isn't going to readily lend an ear to hear what we have to say.  In effect, you are telling Congress that you don't care what they do with your benefits.  The time to be vigilant is now, the time to be a member of AFSA is now, not after we lose critical quality of life benefits that may never be regained.

In closing, I ask you to please think about becoming a member and don't assume that any changes to our current benefit structure will include a grandfather clause.  Do you feel comfortable gambling with receiving a retirement at around age 40 or are you willing to wait until you turn age 62 to start receiving your retired pay?  Congress tried to pull the rug out from under the feet of our service members once before, do you trust them not to try it again?

Gary Swanson, SMSgt (ret), Division 89 Trustee

Congress’ ongoing work on the National Defense Authorization Act for FY12 (HR 1540) has created a whopping 145 amendments to the original bill.  Although many of these amendments have been rejected by members of congress, one in particular, Amendment 88 introduced by Rep Mike Coffman from Colorado has been approved for inclusion in the House Bill and could directly affect the bottom line for enlisted Airmen.  This amendment calls for the Secretary of Defense to submit a report to Congress within 270 days on methods to increase the efficiency of the Tuition Assistance program.  The report is required to include:

• A description of the effect of the program on recruiting and retention within the Armed Forces; 
• An analysis of other programs that provide benefits similar to those provided through the program, including the use of educational assistance programs under chapters 30 and 33 of title 38, United States Code, for education and training pursued by members of the Armed Forces serving on active duty while they are off-duty; and 
• A description of the effects of modifying the program to require members of the Armed Forces participating in the program to pay for 25 percent of their education expenses and the Secretary concerned to pay the remaining 75 percent of such expenses.

So what does all this mean?  First off, recruiting and retention are at all time highs primarily because of a poor economy.  With the economy expected to continue without much improvement over the coming years, I would think that a reduction of Tuition Assistance within the Air Force isn’t going to have much effect.

Secondly, some people are starting to question why service members are getting Tuition Assistance when they have a very generous GI Bill they could be using to take those same college courses.  Using TA to get your four or six year degree while on active duty and then transferring your GI Bill benefits to your dependents is also being looked at as double dipping into the system. 

Third, there is a historical precedent that 75% tuition can be instituted and allow the military to meet mission requirements.  Prior to the current 100% TA payment rate most military members paid 25% of tuition costs out of pocket in addition to their costs for books and supplies. 

Each of these points coupled with a Secretary of Defense that is being pushed to the wall to find deep cuts could result in a permanent decrease in TA.  Where that final cut ends up is hard to tell at this point but I think that military members will be fortunate if the cut only goes to 75%.  A generous GI Bill that can be used while on active duty just begs the question why it isn’t used as the primary payer for a military member’s education.

I would advise anyone that feels TA is an important factor in their continued service in the Air Force to contact their elected officials and let them know how you feel on this subject.  If you don’t let your voice be heard, we may lose this great benefit and have to solely rely on the GI Bill to pay for off duty education.

Gary Swanson, SMSgt (ret)
Division 89 Trustee

Congressional Record, Section 574

Recently I mailed in a membership renewal application for a member and didn’t think twice about looking at all the details of his personal info.  But, as I looked closely at the application I realized this member was born in 1929…82 years ago!  I started to think “what benefit does this member stand to gain in continuing his membership with AFSA”?  But, my focus quickly turned to the 21 year old Senior Airman or even the 42 year old Chief Master Sergeant who is not a member. 

 Who stands to prosper more in being a member?  It’s not the 82 year old retiree living on a limited budget and has not seen a Cost of Living Allowance increase for the last three years.  It’s the Chief who has been getting annual pay raises every year since enlistment.  It’s not the retiree who has to pay $460 a year for TRICARE, plus faces the reality of a 13% fee increase and future increases based on inflation.  It’s the Airman who doesn’t have to pay for TRICARE.  It’s not the retiree who was stuck with VEAP as a dismal education program.  It’s the Active Duty Airmen who can take advantage of the Post-9/11 GI Bill or transfer their education benefits over to his/her dependents.

The 82 year old retiree who knows there was a time when the voice of the enlisted Airman was nowhere to be heard… until the spring of 1961.  So, the next time you ask someone to join AFSA and they say, “What’s in it for me?”  Think about the 82 year old retiree who served 20+ years and is living on a fixed income.  Explain to them the importance of being a member not only protects their benefits of today, but also protects the benefits of those Airmen who served before us and the future generation of Airmen to come.

SMSgt (ret) Steve Zalesky
Division 89 Vice President   

Your guess is as good as mine on how this will fall out.  On 2 May, Military.com reported that the TRICARE increases were moving forward.  During the week of 9 May both AFSA and Military.com reported that a House measure would block any increases to TRICARE.  This week, 16 May, both AFSA and Military.com are reporting that the House Armed Services Committee is giving the go-ahead on the increases proposed by the Obama administration.  If we stand any chance at all, we must contact our elected officials and let them know your vote is tied to their vote on this issue. 

This is where we stand at this point; TRICARE Prime will increase by $60/year for Family coverage or $30/year for Individual coverage in FY12.  Future increases are will be based on the annual increase in COLA so expect that if we ever see a COLA increase again, a portion will be eroded by the increase in your TRICARE payment.  The only positive I can see coming out of this increase is that maybe, just maybe, DoD will get off the TRICARE Increase soapbox for a decade or two.  I doubt it, but I still have my hopes this issue dies once we eat the increase.

AFSA is watching this very closely but the organization needs you to contact your elected officials if we stand any chance of killing this effort.

SMSgt (ret) Gary Swanson, Division 89 Trustee