Military Housing Pay Boost Urged

Before several hundred cheering Marines, Defense Secretary William Cohen announced Thursday that the Clinton administration will seek congressional approval of a major increase in the housing allowance for military personnel.

Inability to afford adequate off-base housing is one of the top reasons cited by troops from all the branches for not reenlisting, Cohen said. Lagging reenlistment rates are considered a major problem and a threat to combat readiness.

“We can never pay you what you’re worth to this country,” the secretary said, “but we can pay you more than we have [been].”

The military housing crisis is considered particularly acute in Southern California, where rents are high and vacancy rates low. Cohen said his proposal would be phased in over five years and cost $3 billion.

He added that within two weeks he plans to unveil a proposal to address another reason cited by personnel for leaving the military: inadequate family health care.

The current health care system, relying heavily on private physicians, “is not working as well as we hoped,” Cohen said. Among the complaints are long delays in receiving care and the paucity of available physicians.

In political terms, the housing and health care proposals, along with a 4.85% military pay raise that became effective this month, could help Vice President Al Gore if he becomes the Democratic presidential candidate.

Republican presidential hopefuls Sen. John McCain and Texas Gov. George W. Bush have both accused the Clinton administration of ignoring the needs of the nation’s 1.4 million military personnel and their families.

Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-El Cajon), a leading spokesman for his party on military matters, has charged that the Air Force will soon be short 2,000 pilots and the Navy 18,000 sailors, and that the “separation rate” for Marine Corps aviators has doubled in four years.

Staff Sgt. Gregory O’Neal, a 12-year veteran, said housing is a major topic when Marines talk to their spouses about whether they should reenlist.

“I’m lucky; my wife has a good job. But for a lot of Marines, it’s very tough, and it makes those opportunities in civilian life look pretty attractive,” O’Neal said. “Guys talk about it all the time, along with health care.”

The recent pay raise, aimed at encouraging reenlistment, is the largest since 1981. Congress increased pension benefits, authorized reenlistment bonuses and permitted a one-time increase in pay scales for about 75% of service members, in addition to the 4.85% across-the-board increase.

Under Cohen, the Department of Defense has taken several steps to alleviate the military housing crisis.

But at this point, the average wait for a sailor in San Diego to get on-base housing is still 18 months.

Moreover, many sailors and their families are unable to afford adequate housing in the private sector. Two-thirds of U.S. military personnel live off base.

By law, the military can provide a housing allowance of up to 85% of the median cost of housing in the area surrounding a base. But because funds have not been available, the allowance has been closer to 80% in recent years, although it varies somewhat according to rank and years of service.

Now Cohen has ordered the allowance returned to the 85% level.

Also, an updated survey of housing costs around military bases has been completed, and that will mean a higher dollar amount provided for most. The survey also factored in the high cost of utilities in hot-weather locations, such as the Twentynine Palms base.

The proposal that Cohen announced to the Marines--and that he promised to “fight all the way for”--would increase the allowance to 100% of the local median.

For the average Army or Marine Corps corporal, that would mean an additional $111 a month, tax-free, and for a staff sergeant, an additional $175.

The Department of Defense has also embarked on a program to rehabilitate some of the 200,000 military housing units considered substandard, including some in San Diego. Many were built as temporary quarters decades ago.

In addition, the department is signing agreements in several areas, including Camp Pendleton, with local developers to build privately owned housing to be rented to military families.